Gita Overview Mumbai 15.9-14 Krishna arranges for even our material enjoyment

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
We continue with the 15th chapter. We are discussing the second section which talks about transmigration. So, we discussed 15.7 of how the soul who forgets Krishna, doesn’t surrender to Krishna, continues on material existence and then we discussed 15.8 which talks about how the soul continues.
So, Vayur Gandhanivarsaya. So, this example of Vayu and Gandha, I was explaining that Gandha, first of all Vayu itself is subtle. We don’t see with, we feel it.
And Gandha is fragrance. That’s something which is not perceivable directly again with our eyes. We just feel it again with a different sense.
But we know that one subtle object, almost subtle, it is not totally subtle, but one not so easily perceivable object carries another not so perceivable object. Vayur Gandhanivarsaya. Similarly, the soul which is not perceivable to us, carries conceptions.
So, that’s what is talked about Vayur Gandhanivarsaya. Was there something which I was going to talk about Manishkum in the start of this class? Some question which we left off or some point which… No, no, no. Something which we left off in the afternoon class, we are supposed to complete.
Anyway, nothing is there. So, now… Ah, right. So, you know, all over the world there have always been thinkers who have come up with different metaphors to talk about how this existence, our present existence, is in some ways unreal or insubstantial or artificial.
This has been an insight which comes up for thinkers in many ways. One way could be that when we see somebody who is right there among us and suddenly that person dies. So, you know, we take life so much for granted but there is only a sort of an invisible thin line of maybe just a moment which separates the life from death.
And suddenly when somebody dies, it jolts us out. Is this what I am living, real? What is it actually? Are worlds still if there are natural calamities? When suddenly sometimes, you know, a whole locality or a whole city gets wiped off. But that also shakes our faith in the reality of the world that we are experiencing right now.
And you know what causes people trauma is that, you know, for example, when there are some natural disasters like tsunamis or earthquakes, the whole city was there and in one few fateful moments, the city just gets reduced to rubble. It’s just gone. The change is always disorienting.
But when change is gradual, the disorientation is less. But when the change is sudden and thorough, it is not just disorienting, it is devastating. And when such moments come up, even ordinary people start thinking, is the life that I’m experiencing for real? Or as Shakespeare said, the world is a stage, you know, and life is just like a drama in it.
So this sort of thoughts come to different people. So in the Greek philosophy, Socrates was such a thinker. And he came up with a cave metaphor.
So it’s a metaphor which illustrates how we are experiencing the shadows of life. So he says visualise a person who is tied in a cave with his face facing the wall of the cave. So he can’t turn around and see.
Now the cave is here and his face is facing the wall and behind there is the sun. And the entrance is coming from the light is coming from the sun. And when the light comes in, the cave is sort of a little bit underground.
So when people pass by, when people walk by, the shadows of those people fall on the wall, which this person is facing, the bound person is facing. So he just sees these shadows passing by and he feels there is something more, there is something higher. But what is it? Who all are there and how I can get there? The person doesn’t know anything about it.
So his idea was that all of us are shackled in an unreal existence. And we have to move some way towards the real existence. So there are other philosophers also who have come up with similar conceptions.
So in the Vedic scriptures, this Upside Down Tree is one metaphor. Are there any other metaphors that you know of which talk about how this life that we are living is unreal? Yes. Tree metaphor.
Which one? That is the 10th canto. Actually tree metaphor. Basically it’s talking about how this world is like a tree.
That’s one metaphor. Puranjana itself has also stories there. Forest of Metal Enjoyment is there in Arjuna.
He argues those two, Hari Ashwas and Bahu Lashwas. He talks about the ocean and a hole in the ground in which once somebody goes, nobody comes back. So these are metaphors.
They are not very elaborately developed metaphors, although they are given. You know one common metaphor is like a dream. This life is like a dream.
Just as when we are dreaming, we feel the world to be real, whatever we experience to be real, but as soon as we wake up, it’s over. So similarly, there is the whole, like I talked about a metaphor, one common metaphor I talk about is virtual reality. This is a more contemporary metaphor.
So dream is there. Then the common example also is mirage. So all these metaphors try to convey to us that this world is insubstantial.
And we have to go beyond this world to some higher reality. So what is distinctive about the Vedic mystic tradition is that we are not only told that this world is insubstantial, but we are given a clear understanding of the substantial world, of the real substance, what it is. And we are also given a method by which to go from illusion to reality.
This is a fundamental difference between the Abrahamic religions and the Dharmic religions. You remember I talked about broad divisions of religions. So in the Abrahamic religions, in general, there is no systematic sustained sadhana for people to do, to move from this world to the higher world.
They have some prayers and there have been some monks and saints who have constantly prayed to God. But in general, for the common people, there has been no systematic process of sadhana by which people can move from this world towards God. Now in Dharmic tradition, we have nihilistic or monistic, nihilistic religions.
Nihilistic means those which reject everything higher. Buddhism, Jainism, which also have rigorous sadhana. For going from illusion to reality, we need a clear conception of the reality and we need a process by which to move from illusion to reality.
So in the Abrahamic religions, there is neither the clear conception of reality nor the process. There is primarily faith. Have faith in Jesus and you will be saved.
Have faith in God and he will deliver you. In the Dharmic religions, in Buddhism and Jainism, the process is there. They perform a lot of austerities and sadhana.
But the conception of the absolute truth is not at all clear. It just shows you. In Mayavad, in impersonalism, the process is rigorous.
But again, the conception of the absolute truth is not clear. Only in the Vaishnava path, in Vaishnava personalism, is the process clear and the conception of the reality also clear. That’s what makes the process very powerfully transformational.
Now there are many religious processes in the world, but not many people can so easily break free from bad habits and become so thoroughly devoted to God the way it happens within Krishna consciousness. Because we have a very strong process, very clear process and a very attractive conception of the absolute truth. So now Krishna is talking not about the reality so much.
He is talking about the bondage within the illusory world. So how the soul moves from one body to another is Vayur Gandhanivarshe. And now in the previous verse, 15.7 Krishna had talked about the mana.
So now in the next verse, he will describe how that mana plays a significant role in the process of transmigration. So the five senses are described. The five primary knowledge acquiring senses are described.
Shrotram, Chakshu. Shrotram is ears. Chakshu is eyes.
Sparshanam is touch. Prasanam is taste. And Granam is smelling.
So now actually in Ambarish Maharaj’s prayers also, Savai Manah Krishna Padaravindir talks about how all these senses can be used in Krishna consciousness. So he is saying these five senses are there. Now they are centred around the mind.
Adishtaya Manaschayam. So just like the palm is the centre of the five fingers, like that the mind is the centre of the five senses. That means the input from all the senses comes to the mind.
Adishtaya Manaschayam. You know even in modern neurology, it’s a great mystery how all the sensory inputs get integrated. They have no idea about it.
Have I discussed this earlier in time? For example now, if I see a parrot flying by over there. Now when I see the parrot, at that time I see multiple things. I see the shape of the parrot.
Then I see its colour. Then I see its motion. And maybe I hear its chirping.
There are four different inputs. There is the motion, there is the shape, there is the colour and there is the sound. Now scientists have found out that when these inputs, now three are visual inputs, one is audio input.
But even the visual inputs, when they enter through the eyes and go through the optic nerve to the brain, the areas of the brain that perceive and process the inputs of motion, the inputs of colour and the inputs of shape. They are different. They are not one.
And the area which perceives audio inputs is also different. Now there is no one area in the brain which is connected to all the other areas. So physically it is not possible that one area of the brain can integrate all the areas.
But still that integration happens. When we see a parrot, we don’t say, oh, I saw a green colour and I heard a sound and oh, it’s a parrot. No, you know, we can get a conception of what the asynchronized input would be if, sometimes if you have a homemade video.
Somebody just made a video recording of some programme or something and they put together. And then the video is there and they later on put audio on it. And the audio and video are not synchronised together.
So what happens is somebody is, maybe they are saying that maybe it’s an event that is happening. So the event gets over and afterwards the audio comes up. Sometimes even before the event is happening, the audio comes up.
You sometimes say there is somebody’s fist fight is there and somebody punches a fist, the person falls down and then after you hear the sound. So, or sometimes even before the person has moved a fist, you hear the sound. So that asynchronized input would make a complete mess of things.
Now, it never happens in real life that our input is asynchronous. So it’s a great mystery in consciousness studies and neurology, where this integration of all the sensory inputs takes place. So, as far as modern science is concerned, they have no answer to this.
This is unsolved mystery. In fact, in this science magazine, in 2004 or 5, something like that, they put a list of 100 things that science doesn’t know. 100 unanswered questions of science.
The most, the biggest mysteries of science. The number one was, where does the universe come from? And the number two is, what is consciousness and how does it emerge? So these two are directly, they are related to the God and soul. So these fundamental questions are still unanswered in science.
And even scientists know that they are unanswered. They acknowledge it. So one of the problems with consciousness is, even if somehow we assume that consciousness emerges from the brain, but still, we perceive consciousness as a unity, as one conscious experience.
So how that integration takes place is a great mystery. So that, the answer is, the mind is the integrating device. So just like I was talking about the virtual reality.
So in the virtual reality, suppose somebody is riding a bike. And when he is riding a bike, at that time, say the biker is going along and he hears the wind whistling in the ears. Or he hears the honking of somebody coming from the front.
So now, in a virtual reality setup, one may actually be able to feel all that also. One may feel the wind whistling or one may hear the sound. So, but all that we perceive on the computer screen.
The computer screen which is giving the virtual reality. So, the mind is the integrating device. The mind is like the screen of the computer.
Mind is the screen which integrates everything and makes it available for us to see. So, if you want to read more about it, Dr. Karmapu has written an article about this. It is based on the Puranjan analogy.
The mind might be compared to a multimedia computer software capable of integrating audio and visual materials into a single display making use of a variety of inputs and source materials. So, all these inputs come together, the audio and visual inputs. They come together from the various sources and they are integrated together and made available for us.
So, Now, let’s move forward. Any questions about this? So, let’s go to the next verse. Adishthata basically means supervisor or in today’s language boss.
You know, Adishthaya. So, the mind is like the boss of all the senses. In the 10th chapter also, if you remember, Krishna says, Indriyana manaschasmi.
Among the senses, I am the mind. He says that Arundha is the personified deity of the mind. Yes, that’s true.
That is, the different parts of the body are controlled by different devatas. So, Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Arjuna and Pratyumna, this Chaturveda, they control the four aspects of the subtle body. See, the four aspects of the subtle body are mind, intelligence, ego and sometimes this is foretold as chitta.
Chitta, as you remember, is the projected consciousness. So, remember, chitta and chitta, I told the difference. Chitta is my normal consciousness.
Chitta is the consciousness that is projected into the virtual reality. So, each of these is controlled by one aspect of Vishnu. So, they are basically predominating deities or controlling deities for each of these faculties that shape our interaction with the body.
Okay. Yeah, but in general, the demigods are also supervised by specific manifestations of the Supreme Lord. So, generally speaking, just as Jiva Goswami explains in Brahma Samhita commentary, Madhavacharya also talks about this, that, you know, Indra is not just the name of a Devata Indra.
Indra with Lord Vishnu is also called as Sarvanamavan. Sarvanamavan. He is the possessor of all names.
So, Indra, in a sense, is connected with a manifestation of Lord Vishnu whose name is also Indra. So, Indra doesn’t have to be the name of a Devata only. Indra basically means controller.
So, Indra can be the name of even the Supreme Lord. So, each of these Devatas, they are connected just like we say Vasudev, Lord Shiva meditates on Sudkarshan. So, that’s what the Bhagavatam says.
Similarly, each of these demigods are connected with a sort of their Aradhyadev, like in Gayatri, in the Gayatri Mantra, apparently we are praying to Suryadev. But Suryadev has his Aradhya form of Narayan. He is called as Suryanarayan.
So, when we are meditating on Gayatri, we are not just meditating on Suryadev. When we are chanting Gayatri, we are actually meditating on Suryanarayan. So, like that, each of the Devatas is connected with the Supreme Lord.
With a particular manifestation of the Supreme Lord who also has the same name. So, whenever the scriptures sometimes seem to glorify that particular Devata as Supreme, occasionally that sort of verses come up. So, actually that is a reference not to that particular Devata, but to be the form of Vishnu who is having that name.
And who is connected with this particular Devata. This particular Devata has the name of that particular deity. It’s a whole complex subject about demigod worship.
We will take it some other time. Let’s focus on 15th chapter here right now. So, let’s go to the next verse.
utkramantam sthitamvapi bhunjanam va gunanvitam bhunjanam va gunanvitam vimodhananupashyanti vimodhananupashyanti pashyanti jnana chakshu shaha pashyanti jnana chakshu shaha utkramantam sthitamvapi utkramantam means to leave, sthitam means to stay. So, how a living entity leaves the body or stays in the body. All this happens gunanvitam.
So, this is the connection with the 14th chapter. Actually, the whole material existence, the 14th chapter was gunatraya-vibhaga-yoga, about the three modes. So, actually those three modes nourish and cause the free of material existence to grow.
They cause this illusory existence to gunapravrdha-vishaya-pravala, to flourish. So, the existence of the living entity in this world is subordinate to the modes. gunanvitam utkramantam sthitamvapi bhunjanam The soul is thinking that he is enjoying but actually being forced to do this, do that, stay in this body, go from this body to that body.
gunanvitam vimodhananupashyanti The deluded soul cannot see all this. vimodhananupashyanti jnana-cakshu-saha So, you may say that I don’t perceive how this whole mechanism is happening and soul is interacting with the soul is transmigrating. Yes, those who are vimodhas cannot perceive.
But by jnana-cakshu you can perceive. So, that jnana-cakshu Krishna will give from 12th to 15th. But on hearing this verse Arjuna gets the question, what differentiates some people, so that some people have a jnana-cakshu, some people don’t have a jnana-cakshu.
Why can some people see, why can some people not see? That Krishna answers in the next verse. yatan to yogi nishcayinam pashyanti atmanyavasthitam yatan to apyakrtatmano nayanam pashyanti chetasaha So, yatan to, yatan to means to endeavour. So, both people are endeavouring.
The one who is, those who see and those who don’t see. So, Krishna is not talking here about materialistic people. He is talking about people who are trying to perceive the soul.
Vimodha they don’t see only, but some people if I say I want to see the soul. I want to understand how all this is happening. So, who will be able to see, who will not be able to see? yatan to yogi nishcayinam yatan to yogi pashyanti He sees when? atmanyavasthitam When that person situates himself at the spiritual platform.
So, now this seems a little paradoxical. To see the soul you have to situate yourself on the spiritual platform. What does that mean? Situate on the spiritual platform doesn’t necessarily mean become spiritual, self-realised.
Or become completely spiritual. It means that situate oneself on a platform which is conducive to spiritual perception. Which is conducive to spiritual realisation.
For example, now we follow the four aggregate principles. Which is sadhana, bhakti. All this facilitates the development of a spiritual vision.
On the other hand, yatan to api akrutatmano akrutatmano One who doesn’t do the activity that will situate oneself on the spiritual platform. nayanam pashyanti achetasaha Such a person’s consciousness is misdirected. achetasaha That’s why such a person will not be able to see.
So, what does akrutatmano mean? Akrutatmano means the person continues to live at a materialistic level. And if it’s just a theoretical level a person tries to perceive, then it’s not possible. Srila Prabhupada would give the example that if a person is blind, then the blind person just by yatan to, by endeavour, the person cannot start seeing.
Yes, sometimes in our modern society, just the willpower or sincerity or determination are over-emphasised. So, willpower is good. It’s important.
It’s in many ways essential. But if I’m blind, just by willpower, just by desiring or wanting, I cannot start seeing. But if I’m serious, yes, then I should want it.
And along with that, I should also go to a doctor who can cure me. There has to be a process by which when my eyes get cured, then I can start seeing. So, just willpower, yatan to alone is not enough.
The krutatmano, not akrutatmano, one has to become krutatmano. Krutatmano is one has to situate oneself in a process by which one can see this. And that process is the process of sadhana bhakti.
Or even if not sadhana bhakti, some kind of sadhana by which one can start seeing. So, that is the difference between these two categories of people. Both may want to see, but if they don’t follow the process, then they can’t see.
Only those who follow the process, they can see. Then, now at this stage, Arjuna gets the question that, okay, if people are not yet ready to follow the process, they are still materialistic, then how will they actually understand that there is a higher reality at all, beyond the material reality? Perceiving that higher reality will come later, but how will they understand that there is a higher reality actually, which we need to perceive? Krishna says that actually you can see that higher reality with gyan, glimpses of that higher reality, even in this world. If we look at this world carefully, we’ll start perceiving things that point to the higher reality.
Then he says how Krishna maintains us even in this material world. So, now we are talking about jnana chakshu over here, how Krishna assists us in our material existence and our spiritual endeavour. This is the jnana chakshu that Krishna will give us.
So, Like the sun, what does sun do? It illuminates the world, illuminates the universe. These same three elements which Krishna talked about in 15.6, the sun, the moon and the fire. These three illuminate this world.
And Krishna says where does their illuminating potency come from? It comes from So, how can we develop the jnana chakshu? Okay, I don’t know anything spiritual, I don’t care for anything spiritual, but even if I want to survive and enjoy in this material world, I need arrangements for that. And those arrangements are made by some higher design, some higher intentions. So, by looking at the universe and the world around us, and Krishna will talk about our own body, we can see that there is a higher arrangement.
And that higher arrangement will prompt our attention towards a higher reality. What is the higher reality? So, that’s how we can begin. Even materialistic people, especially those who live close to nature, those who live in cities, we often don’t see how much we for our needs are dependent on arrangements beyond the human.
For example, when power goes off, immediately we think, okay, let’s call some mechanic or some specialist or call the power supply agency. We just think that we live in a world which has been created by humans. And that’s why we think that for everything we depend on humans.
But if you live close to nature, we understand that there is much that humans cannot fix. If rains don’t come, you cannot just call a plumber and tell the tap is not working, please fix it. You cannot do anything like that.
So, we can very easily sense that there is a higher power, which is shaping us, shaping our lives in a very, very critical, even decisive way. So, Krishna will talk about four aspects over here. And when we look at the arrangements, what are these arrangements? Let’s talk about 15.12 to 15.
So, the 12th verse talks about the arrangement at the cosmological level. 13th verse will talk about the arrangement at the terrestrial level. Terrestrial means earthly level.
14th will talk about at the bodily or the physiological level. And 15th will talk about the spiritual level. Perceiving higher arrangement in material world.
So, Jnana Chakshi was what was needed. And we get this by looking at this world in a very thoughtful way. So, cosmological arrangement.
So, the sun and the illumination the sun provides is a representation of the whole arrangement that is required for us to survive in this universe. Cosmological level. And let’s look at the next level.
What Krishna talks about. So, he is talking about two things. First is the earth and the moon.
So, the earth is how is it suspended in space? How does it exist just floating around? Now, science may call it gravity. And you know in science, this is a little interesting. We will discuss this because this is related to the topic.
In science, there is this whole discussion of description versus explanation. Does science describe nature or does science explain nature? Now, what is the difference between description and explanation? So, yeah, yes, perfect. Describe is how? And explain is why? So, now, if I talk about this.
So, if for example, Newton said that, why are the planets moving in that particular orbit around the sun? Because of the force of gravity. Now, what is gravity? The force that causes planets to move around the sun. So, now, what is actually being explained here? Isn’t it? So, if you go down to the roots, nothing has really been explained.
So, when Newton himself was asked this question, how do you perceive that some force is almost like mystically going through empty space or thousands of miles and acting from one object to another object? So, he said, I don’t know that. He said, I am not talking about the cause of the space. I am simply giving a mathematical formulation to explain observed phenomena.
So, he’s not actually, he’s basically, he’s saying that mathematical formulation, not to explain, to describe observed phenomena, to map. Okay, this is the, if you want to find how much force this object will act on, this is the equation, this is how we do it. So, he did not go into the origin.
Now, within science, because there are often multiple explanations of the same phenomena, so therefore, science often, when it goes down, we are just giving theories or models to explain what we observe. But are those models, descriptions of, are those models actually the reality? Is that how things are actually? That science scientists don’t know. See, this is a little technical, but it’s interesting.
In science, there is the instrumental view versus the realist view. What does this mean, instrumental view? That science, is it actually giving us real description of the world as it is? Or it is just a model for us to explain how things work? It’s instrumental, it’s useful for calculating things. Now, when Newton proposed, he actually considered that we may not know, but whatever science was, it’s actually real.
Let me say, now I have this particular matter, it’s made of atoms. Atoms are ultimately, when I go down there are electrons, and there are subatomic particles. So now, that is what the normal understanding was, starting from Newton onwards to Dalton who proposed atoms, indivisible atoms, and then, of course, 50 atoms, and things went on in the history of science like that.
But, when the theory of quantum physics came up, according to quantum physics, there is no such thing as gross matter. Everything is ultimately just waves. So, there is probability functions, and Schrodinger’s equation causes the wave to collapse, you don’t have to go into the whole concept.
But the important point is, these two are very radically different conceptions of the world. One is, Einstein’s relativity theory requires solid particles to exist. One is, Einstein’s relativity theory requires solid particles to exist.
Whereas, quantum physics says there are only waves. Now, what is it actually? It can either be waves or it can be particles. Now, the problem with this is, that both work.
If workability was the criteria for deciding what is real, then you would say, which theory works, which theory doesn’t work. Actually, both theories work. So, then it becomes even more difficult.
So, which theory is a reality? Because the two theories are contradictory. So, then, because of this, most scientists today consider that science is not giving us any idea of reality. consider that science is not giving us any idea of reality.
Science basically provides us models for looking at things. And through those models, we can make things work. We can measure, we can quantify, we can predict.
But, are these models coinciding with reality? Nobody knows and nobody can do. So, some scientists propose that, actually, these are two models So, some scientists propose that, actually, these are two models and below these models, there is some actual reality which science will reach in future. But who knows, if you come to that, what we call as a reality, that might also be a model only.
So, there is no way that through science, we can actually arrive at reality. That’s why, what science, now science may say that, okay, planets are floating because of gravity. Gravity is a conception which has been created as a description for what science observes.
What scientists have observed and what we also observed. But, is it the actual reality? No one knows. So, in Krishna’s saying, He is saying that, it is I who sustain the planet earth.
He is saying that, it is I who sustain the planet earth. Now, at our level, we might perceive with our human current level of science Now, at our level, we might perceive with our human current level of science and we call that as gravity. But there has to be an original cause because of which things happen.
And that cause is the energy of Krishna. So, these two explanations, we don’t have to, when we are talking about this, So, these two explanations, we don’t have to, when we are talking about this, science is a valid way of looking at the world, but it is not a complete way of looking at the world. There is a difference between valid and complete.
Something can be valid without being complete. So, science works to whatever extent it works and we accept it. So, the instrumental view, which is what science, instrumental view, is valid but not complete.
It works at a particular level but it is not complete. It works at a particular level but it is not complete. And the reality is something different.
Therefore, scientific and spiritual views are not contradictory but are complementary. Contradictory means this is right and that is wrong. No, they are not contradictory.
You perceive reality at a particular level and you see it like this. But if you perceive it at a deeper level, you perceive it differently. But if you perceive it at a deeper level, you perceive it differently.
So, how many levels deeper, deeper can one go? In science we don’t know. But the scripture gives us at the deepest level. Deepest level is actually the energy of God.
That’s why, in a sense, only when science claims to have a monopoly on truth, then science comes in conflict with reality, with scripture or spirituality. But when we accept science as a model, it works. And as an instrumental way of looking at things, it is fine.
So, what do I mean? I will conclude this with an example of what I mean by instrumental. Say, if I want to come from Pune to Mumbai and I am driving my own vehicle, I need a map. A map is a representation of the territory.
But the map is not the territory. So, if I want to move around Maharashtra and I have a map of it. So, a map, if I mistake the map to be the territory, then I commit a serious mistake.
But the map is useful. So, the map is like an instrument for me to move around the territory. So, just like map is an instrument, similarly, every scientific theory, every scientific model, it’s like a map.
It’s a map of the territory. The territory is the reality of nature, what it is. So, actually, in any scientific theory, science has to shortlist what it will observe.
Just like if I am going to make a map. In a map, I cannot depict everything. If I want to depict a road map of Maharashtra, to go from various places, then on that road map, I will focus on those characteristics which are pertinent for road journey.
So, if there is a big building somewhere, for the road map, the height of the building may not be relevant. The colour of the building is not relevant. The number of people living in that building is not relevant.
So, whenever I make a map, I choose the purpose. What am I looking for? Focus on that and then on that shortlisted set of parameters, I create a representation of the territory. That’s the map.
Similarly, within science, actually, if science looks at nature, scientists look at nature, nature, there is so much to observe. So, what scientists do is they shortlist certain parameters. These are the parameters that we want to observe.
And based on these parameters, they create a model. So, with those parameters, the model is valid as far as it goes. But those parameters are not the exhaustive list of features of nature and that’s why they don’t describe the reality completely.
For example, now if I want to come from Pune to Mumbai to meet a friend in Mumbai and I have a map and then every time I follow the map, okay, turn left, here there is a river, you have to cross the bridge, here there will be a crossroad, here there will be a national highway and the more I follow the map, I develop my faith in the map more and more. Because everything that it predicts works. And finally, by following the map, I come to Mumbai and the map guides me and I come to my friend’s house and I knock on the friend’s house, I look at the door, okay, knock on the friend’s house and when I open the door and I see the friend, oh, welcome, he says.
And I look at my map. My map doesn’t show me. Therefore, you don’t exist.
This is stupid. Your brain doesn’t exist. The map is valid.
But I shouldn’t have developed so much trust in the map that I give up my common sense because of my faith in the map. Isn’t it? So like that, what has happened in today’s world is that material science focusses on material parameters. And when we move through material parameters more and more and more, then scientists, okay, they study nature and they find, okay, there are material parameters.
They look at the body, they find material parameters. Then you look within the body and you find there are mechanisms which make it work. Then finally you come to consciousness and then how do you make sense of consciousness with matter? It can’t make sense.
Then there are some scientists who say consciousness doesn’t exist. Actually speaking, this is the most ridiculous argument. Because to say consciousness doesn’t exist, somebody has to be conscious.
Isn’t it? So, it’s like saying that you use a map so much and develop so much faith in the map that you lose common sense because of it. That’s what unfortunately happens because of science sometimes. So, it’s not because of science, it’s because of excessive faith in science.
An honest scientist, an intelligent scientist will recognise the limitations of science. And there is a map which is a science as far as it goes, a very powerful map. And it works in many ways.
But what makes a mistake is when we extrapolate it beyond its jurisdiction. So, these views, these two views are complementary, they are not contradictory. So, now Krishna is saying, pushnami cha ushadi sarva somo bhutva rasatma kaha that the moon nourishes the pushnami or avshadha, the wild vegetables.
The scientists know that photosynthesis is required. They have the idea that the sun is required for the vegetation to grow. That is true, but sun does not determine the juicy content of vegetables.
Sun basically makes sure that the photosynthesis takes place where the vegetables are, where basically plants grow. So, there have been some experiments and this is as of now in the tentative stage. Scientists have found and in general all traditional farmers know that the growth of their crops is determined not just by the rain, not just by the sun, but also by the night sky.
Generally farmers say that actually that the night sky with bright moon and somehow the crops that grow are much richer. They are much better, the vegetables, the vegetables, the fruits, all these grow much better. So, now scientists have done some research and they have found that the condition of the overhead sky at night and the amount of say moonlight present in it makes a difference.
They are in tentative stages, but it is not that science has any way disproved it. Science has just not researched this adequately. But we understand from the scriptures that the moon is that the moon actually is the demigod in charge of the mind and also the demigod in charge of the vegetables, the plants and vegetables.
That’s why we will see in the 4th Canto as well as the 8th Canto when the Prachetas pastor comes along and the Prachetas burn up the plants because of their anger. At that time the moon god comes and moon god gives his daughter to the Prachetas. And then he says that I am in charge of that field in the forest, don’t burn it up please.
So, he comes to the rescue. The point is So, irrespective of what whether science finds a mechanism or not we understand that there is a higher causal principle that is involved. And Krishna is telling that the moon has the capacity to nourish the vegetables and that capacity is made by Maya arrangement.
This is the terrestrial arrangement, what we see on the earth. And then the physiological, within the body. So, Vaishwanar is the Devata in charge of the Digestive.
So, you know God gives and forgives we get and forget. That is our attitude. That means we have a digestive power we don’t think about the digestion till the time it stops working.
Everyday we eat and we think that Ok, I am eating, I am enjoying. But when researchers try now researchers are trying to make artificial bodily parts So, it might say if my hand is broken then I may get artificial limb. Like that.
So, a common problem nowadays is Digestion. So, scientists thought that if a person has bad digestion can we just, like we have a pacemaker for a person who is not able to, heart doesn’t function properly or there is a dialysis unit for somebody whose kidney doesn’t work properly So, can we create an artificial digestive machine? If a person is not able to digest food just put that machine inside and the machine will digest the food for that person. And then they started it and they found that the whole mechanism of digestion is so complex that a machine would not be enough you need a factory.
And not just a factory but a chain of factory that would extend two miles long. Now maybe with nanotechnology that miles may be lesser. But still the point is they realised it’s a whole complex mechanism.
And then the bigger problem that they came up was that it’s not just you need such a big factory just the length of the factory itself is complex but along with that when there is a factory you have to have a conveyor belt along you have to move the whole thing along that conveyor belt. Isn’t it? So, they found that the amount of processing that happens in the alimentary canal when food gets digested should require a huge amount of work to be performed for that. Now, if you know mechanics it says work is force into distance.
So, if I have to push something over a longer distance it requires a lot of work. If I have to carry a luggage for one metre, it’s not a big thing. Carry this bag for one kilometre the force and the distance is much more so it becomes more.
They found that actually the work required to digest one morsel of food I take one handful of food and eat it and when that morsel goes through the alimentary canal from the top to the bottom the work required in that is more than the work that an average human being performs throughout the day. So, actually who is performing that work? We just eat the food and we forget it. But the amount of work required in digestion is huge.
And who is doing it? It is actually the Supreme Lord who is doing that. He has made all the arrangements. Now, we may not know through modern science what is this mechanism Prana-Pana.
This is a different model of looking at it. The different airs in the body they move and that’s how digestion happens. Modern science has the idea that there is a diastatic motion when the alimentary canal contracts and expands by which this whole thing happens.
That’s one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is through the motion of the airs. So, Krishna is telling that the soul takes shelter of the body in order to enjoy this world and to live in this world.
But actually this body is sheltered by my arrangement. I am the ashray of the body. Krishna uses the word Chaturvidam specifically.
Why? Because these are the different kinds of food that we eat, we get pleasure through that. Food that is chewed, sucked, swallowed, licked, all that. Different kinds of food.
Chaturvidam. So, actually it is Krishna who is maintaining our body. And it is by whose arrangement that we are able to live and enjoy in this world.
So, in this way when we understand that it is Krishna who is the maintainer even for our material life, then we start feeling gratitude towards Krishna. You know, when a person wants to even enjoy sense gratification, actually, who has created the arrangement for sense gratification for us? You know, Ravana tells Sita, Ravana is trying to, you know, when a man wants to allure a woman, he allures her by praising her beauty. So, what Ravana tells her, he says, Sita, you are so beautiful that I think that after creating you, the creator must have retired.
Because he felt that he could not make anyone more beautiful than you. You see, even a demon like Ravana understands that I did not create the beauty of Sita. There is some creator, there is some creator who created the beauty of Sita.
Everybody thinks that that beauty is not meant for that creator, it is meant for me. Isn’t it? That beauty is meant for my enjoyment. So, you know, long ago in a Bollywood movie, there was a song which said the same Ravana thing.
You know, that song was what? Tareep karu ki ja uski, jisne tumhe banaya. So, this is typical Ravana mentality. Isn’t it? That means the point which we are discussing is even material sense gratification if you want, we have to depend on Krishna’s arrangement.
The beautiful sense objects are not made by us, they are made by Krishna. So, this vision helps us understand that even for material enjoyment we depend on Krishna. Dharma artha kama moksha.
Even when I want kama, that has to be preceded by dharma. If I have to acknowledge the reality of this world. So, by this Jnana Chakshu we understand that for my survival and for my enjoyment in this world, I am dependent on Krishna’s arrangement.
In the next verse, Krishna will talk about how the purpose of existence is not just survival and enjoyment in this world, it is returning back to the spiritual world. And how Krishna will do the spiritual knowledge, we will talk in the next verse. We will discuss that on Monday.
Akama sarva kama vada, Bhagavatam says that. Whatever we have particular desire not just worship Lord Vishnu. So, we don’t know what is Krishna’s plan for how he wants to purify and elevate us.
Certain problems may stay on. Rather than focussing on the solution of a particular problem, the process of devotional service focusses on the solution to the whole problematic material existence itself. But it is true.
Sometimes couples are unable to conceive. So, at that time they go to some astrologers or something like that. So, now there are devotee astrologers and the normal astrologer will tell you worship a particular Devata.
But the devotee astrologers they tell that those particular Devatas are subordinate to particular forms of the Supreme Lord. So, then they are told you worship that form of Supreme Lord. So, then by that worship also one can correct those astrological problems and get the results.
But as devotees we depend ultimately on Krishna’s will and we don’t demand to Krishna that you correct this problem. But that is the way that Gopal Bhatt Goswami in Hari Bhakti Vilas has spiritualised the Karmakandi Samskaras. Many times if you see a Yajna that is performed, Vaishnav Yajnas are performed, instead of doing worship of all the Devatas we do the worship of the great devotees and the forms of the Lord who are in charge of those Devatas.
So, that can be done. If one has some specific problems, one can worship the Supreme Lord and the particular manifestation of Supreme Lord. So, the whole process of devotional astrology is centred on this principle itself.
Thank you very much.