Gita study Mumbai 2012- 04.10-17 Understanding Krishna’s nature

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
about how Krishna is the source and the goal of all paths.
So 4.1 you can talk about how Krishna teaches and establishes Dharma. And the ultimate purpose of Dharma is to help all those who wish to return back to Dharma by becoming attracted to Dharma. So now Krishna will talk about how different people respond differently.
Krishna has one goal ultimately in coming that everybody should come back to me. Then why doesn’t everybody come back to me? Krishna gives the principle. Why do different people have different destinations in life? Krishna will tell that principle underlined in this verse.
… … … … … … … … … … This is the first time Krishna has used such a direct word of surrender to Him. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … that how I act, this is the new dimension of the Bhagavad Gita that we have introduced and Krishna will not introduce this again till the 7th chapter. In Bhakti there are two aspects.
One is that how we try to reach towards Krishna. The second is how Krishna tries to help us. So, till now in second and third chapters, Bhagavad Gita has only talked about how we should make Krishna our ultimate goal.
But what Krishna does, that was talked about earlier in this chapter, Krishna says, I come down to establish dharma. I come down and if you know me, then you will come back to me. But Krishna’s active help, that is not yet been talked about in the Bhagavad Gita, how Krishna helps us.
So, now Krishna is saying over there, Mahapratyante, as all people surrender into me, the Bhagavad Gita has a new dimension starting. And this will be again explored in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th chapter onwards. As people surrender, surrender in a very strong, emotional world, Pratyante, because in the earlier cases, even the impersonals, they may fix their mind on Krishna, so that they can ultimately merge in Brahman.
That is also possible. Here Krishna is in a very devotional world. Pratyante, they surrender into me.
So, there is a famous verse which has a similar verse, Sarva Dharma Pratyancha, Amey Kam Sharanam Pratyancham. So, this is a very strongly devotional act. And this will come, this comes for the first time 4.10. Again it will come in 18.62. Amey Kam Sharanam Pratyancham.
Then finally 18.66. And now, as all people surrender to me, now comes the 3rd one, Ajam Devam. I am the rewarder. And I reward according to the way they surrender.
And then he says, Om Bhuva Vartamanu Vartam Te Krishna Artha Sarvesha All people follow my path. So now, I have mentioned the same half phrase, half verse comes in 3rd chapter. 3.23 Om Bhuva Vartamanu Vartam Te Krishna Artha Sarvesha So, So, it was 3.23. It is 4.11. So, both last two lines of 4.11 are same.
But, here is a good example of how merely understanding Sanskrit language and grammar and dictionary is not enough to understand what is being told in the Quran. Half verses are identical. Up to the, nothing, grammatical form they are identical but the context makes an entirely different.
Actually speaking, there is no similarity. Then, what is Krishna telling in 3.23? Then, this verse basically says, If I don’t do my duty, Yathu Karmanya Tantrita Yathu Karmanya Tantrita If I don’t do my duty properly, then all people will follow me. And then next verse will describe, they will also not do their duty.
And then each day you will remain low. And everything will be disrupted. So, on the other hand, in this verse, Krishna is saying that, all people are following the path given by me.
That means, they are on the path which will ultimately lead to me. Let’s look at the differences between these two verses. Although there is, the grammar is similar.
Let’s look at the difference between 3.23 3.23 and 4.11 4.11 is Yathu Karmanya Tantrita 3.23 is Yathu Karmanya Tantrita So, what are the differences? There Krishna is So, I hope it is clear why we are discussing the differences between these two verses. But, what is the reason we are discussing the differences? The words are similar. Not similar, they are identical.
Similar means there are some things which are similar. Something may be different also. So, identical means there is no difference at all.
But still, the meanings are substantially different. So, there in 3.23, what is Krishna’s position? What is the position of Krishna in 4.11? Krishna’s position is exemplar of the right path. An exemplar means one who teaches by example.
The word exemplar is a noun of example. One who teaches by the right path. Here, 4.11 is the goal of all paths.
Fundamental difference. One case is the model, another case is the goal. So, the context, the letters are same but the context makes it very different.
Then, mamavartamanu vartante manushyamaparthasarvashyam Here, we are talking about the word mama. Then, it is the pending word in the path. So, what is the difference between the two? Actually, there when Krishna is using the word path, Krishna is actually using it more in the sense that action done by Krishna.
That is, whatever action Krishna does, that everyone else will do. That’s the way the word is used over here. Whereas, here in 4.11, mamavartamanu vartante manushyamaparthasarvashyam Here, actually, it is talking about the various paths for spiritual advancement.
Various paths. mamavartamanu vartante manushyamaparthasarvashyam And, here if you see, one more difference is if you want to look at it another way, Krishna’s position in this is that Krishna not only has the goal, he is the charter of the path. He is maker of all paths.
Maker of all paths. And, he is also he is the goal of all paths, he is the maker of all paths. Whereas, Krishna is only the exemplar of all paths.
There is a substantial difference between the two verses. So, now, in this case, what is Krishna telling? That, it is I am the supreme lord and different people approach me with different purpose. So, according to the way they approach me, I will reward them accordingly.
I will reward them accordingly. So, I hope these differences are clear. So, the word mama and vartmanu all of these two are the key words over there.
The differences are substantial. Now, if you look at one more difference, there is the word sarvashaha. Now, the word sarvashaha there refers to all people.
So, now, what does that refer to? It refers to all you can say common people. All common people, they will also follow. So, Krishna is not talking about sarvashaha, there in the sense of all spiritual seekers.
Whereas, here he is talking about all seekers on all paths. Sarvashaha also has a very different meaning over here. So, in the previous world, people do not have to be on any particular path.
This is their common people. Okay, they say etha raja, etha praja. See, this is the way people are behaving.
This is the way we will be behaving. So, that’s why, although the word is similar, the meanings are entirely different. There is no similarity in their two meanings.
That’s why it’s very important that when we understand a text, it is also important to understand the context. So, let’s just say context is totally different. Text and context, both these have to be taken into consideration when we have to understand how a particular person, or what a particular person is.
Now, let’s look at something more over here. So, till now, this verse has two parts. We will discuss the second part.
Now, let us look at the first part. So, A-B refers to the first line and the second line. So, A is So, here it’s completely different people.
So, Chakravarti part is described very beautifully over here. What does this mean It is Who is the person? What is his conception? And according to his conception, what will be his destination? So, say the person is a materialist. And if he is a pious materialist, pious materialist means a dharmakani.
Pious materialist. His conception is, Lord is fulfiller of my desires. Krishna then what happens to the person? Returns to material world.
Not returns, continues in material world. So, then whatever he wants, he can have. Now, Krishna says there are the Mayavadis.
This is very poetic. He says that the Mayavadis think that Krishna’s form and activities are maya. So, Krishna says I reward them and I make their form and activities into maya.
What does that mean? They continue on the realm of maya. So, they think that I am going to continue on the realm of maya. So, basically then there are the devotees.
They say that Krishna’s form and activities are eternal. So, he says I reciprocate with them and I make their form and activities eternal. I make their form and activities eternal.
In this way, Krishna reciprocates. Now, the whole Bhagavad Gita will go ahead and make this more clear. Now, Chakravarthi is a much bigger analysis.
As the Bhagavad Gita closes, we will discuss his analysis more in detail. It’s a broad consensus. So, I want to talk about the difference between the Brahmavadis and the Mayavadis later.
So, what happens is the Brahmavadis think that, ok, this Krishna is a manifestation of Brahman. And this is ok, you think that’s Brahman. I will take you to Brahman.
So, you go to Brahman. You stay over there in Bhagavad Gita. That’s how it is.
So, they don’t have a conception that Krishna is maya. But they think that Krishna is just a man. Basically, Brahman is the reality.
And we will talk about mayavadis a little later. We will come to Brahmavadis and come to them. Slightly different category.
But basically, this is the principle of reciprocity. So, you remember we discussed in our Aishwarya Vijaya classes how is Krishna partial or is he impartial? Do you remember what we discussed? Is Krishna partial or is he impartial? I think I will look at that example. Did I not discuss this? I want to know how Krishna is.
Krishna is impartially partial. Did I discuss this? I think I discussed it. See, is Krishna partial or not? He is, I remember the title is also in Aishwarya Vijaya books.
Krishna is partial to his devotees but he impartially allows everyone to become his devotees. So, he is impartially partial. Impartially partial.
He is partial, no doubt. But, it’s not that somebody is permanently left out. You want to join in those who are impartial, you can also join.
I am not stopping you from that. Krishna is impartially partial. He is, I am partial to my devotees but I give everyone the opportunity to become my devotees.
So, in that sense, it’s not like what is partiality. What is partiality is favouritism. There is a big politician he will give all jobs and most to his relatives.
Now, actually his relatives are relatives. Others cannot become his relatives. Some people are permanently his enemies or his rivals or competitors.
They will never get any favour from him. Krishna says, yes, I give favour to my devotees but you can I invite you to enter my circle. Enter my circle.
I allow everyone to enter. So, we know that. So, Prabhupada once asked that do you love all your disciples including me? So, Prabhupada said, yes.
Very poor. If somebody comes forward to enter service, I reciprocate. If somebody comes forward to enter service, I reciprocate.
That is natural. See, if we if we are thinking of the absolute truth as a just a concept or object or force or principle then neutrality is ideal. Neutrality is ideal.
Yes, it should be neutral. It should be unbiased. It should be impartial.
So, for example, the government should be impartial. Government is like an impersonal entity. The government should not be impartial.
Like the law of gravity is impartial. But if we are thinking of the absolute truth as not as a concept or a principle or a force or a power then neutrality or impartiality is in and of itself not a very attractive entity. It is fine but a person also needs relationships.
If a person is neutral to everyone equally neutral to everyone that means he will never have any relationship with anyone. So, relationships are based not on neutrality but on reciprocity. Relationships are based not on neutrality but on reciprocity.
So, Krishna in that sense is not neutral but he is reciprocal and reciprocity is the duty of Krishna. For a force or a principle neutrality is the ideal. For a person reciprocity is the ideal.
One time one devotee asked the Guru Prabhupada, are any of your disciples special for you? Prabhupada said yes, every one of them is special. Everyone is special. The speciality also has its variety within it.
So, every individual is unique and Krishna has every individual in a different way. This is the definition of uniqueness. So, imagine that if we approach some person and whoever approaches, whatever that person speaks this person is just like a statue.
Done. No respect. Or whoever approaches, whatever the person says has a stupid smile on their face.
Sometimes people have stupid smile. Whatever happens, there is a smile. It’s as if their face is permanently frozen into a smile.
So, that also is not very attractive. Initially the person is always smiling but then there is reciprocity. There is reciprocity.
So, a smile can broaden sometimes. A smile can change into concerns. A smile can change into a frown or disapproval.
So, basically if there is a sensual being with consciousness and emotions then the relationship can be developed based not just on neutrality but also on reciprocity. Neutrality is a valuable ideal for people who are accustomed. Kondi is a material partiality.
Partiality means favouritism. Some people are discriminated against and some people are favoured unnecessarily. But once there is no selfishness involved on the relationship of your platform the relationship can develop only when there is reciprocity.
So, Krishna is telling I am reciprocal. As all people have done it I have involved them out of me. So, now after Arjuna hears this Arya Narada thinks that ultimately Krishna if all people are on your path and you reward them if they surrender to you according to the way they surrender then why do all people not come to you? Krishna says all people are on my path that means some people are coming towards me some people are going away from me some people are just stationary where they are.
It’s like say we are walking on a highway and one highway is there some trains are going towards some cars are going towards Mumbai and some cars have just stopped there and a driver has managed to go there. That is also possible. But it’s all one expressway.
One expressway. It’s like that. You put the door and there is Krishna.
There is one expressway. One expressway ultimately. The demigods are one level.
Brahmaji is one level. Brahmajyoti is one level. It’s like one expressway.
It is a very strong word which actually indicates that Krishna is saying that there is one path not many paths. One path with multiple levels in it. Multiple levels is not even talked about specifically in this verse.
What has been talked about? That path leads to me. It’s my path which leads to me. So then Arjuna has to question him.
Why don’t everybody acknowledge you? You were born according to their surrender. Why don’t they approach? Krishna answers in the next verse. Kamshita karmanam siddhim Kamshita karmanam siddhim Yajantahya devata Yajantahya devata Kshitram himanshe loke Kshitram himanshe loke Siddhir bhavati karma ja Siddhir bhavati karma ja Kamshita Kamshita Karmanam siddhim They desire the results of their work.
How do they desire it? Chitram, immediately, immediately result, quickly they want it. So, Krishna also gives Mata Vibhita as results, but gradually, gradually. So, on the other hand, they want it quickly.
Chitram Niham Shivam. And then, because they want the results quickly, so, Yajanvitha Iha Devatah. They worship Iha Devatah, the gods of this world.
So, here again, Krishna is clearly differentiating between himself and the gods. Prabhupada makes that difference very clear by using the word any gods. And even in the Bible and the Abrahamic religions, there is a reference to God in the singular and gods in the plural.
So, Krishna is using Devatah. Now, here, where else he would use the word Devata earlier? Goetha, you know? Devan bhavitam ena. Devan bhavitam ena.
Those who worship the Devatahs. And then, you should satisfy the Devatahs, and then you will have this material needs satisfied in a proper way. Then, now, in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna has not talked about his relationship with the gods.
What is the relationship he has not talked about? In one sense, we can say that Bhagavad Gita is indirectly indicated as the goal of all paths. But he has clearly indicated that he and Devatah are not same. The way the Bhagavad Gita is teaching, it is not indicating all the gods are just one god ultimately.
They are different entities. That is very clear. And when we come to the 9th chapter, 7th chapter, and that time we will see how Krishna clearly establishes himself as the supreme all.
But here, all that is being said right now is that if you worship the living gods, you get the results quickly. चित्तुर्हिमानुशेव। So, Krishna is using the same word Siddhi. First line, he says Siddhi, and then fourth line, he says Siddhi.
Siddhi means result. They want the result quickly, and they worship the Devatah. The proper extent is to our context, by saying that this worship refers not only to living gods, it also refers to other powerful and influential people of the world.
There are people who may be politicians, business barons, or they may be in other ways influential, and by that contact, they try to develop a contact, and they try to get things from that. चित्तुर्हिमानुशेव। So, if you want to get a job in a company, you have contacts. चित्तुर्हिमानुशेव। This is what it is.
चित्तुर्हिमानुशेव। Basically, you want to have contacts. So, material level, they try to work out. Why they worship Devatahs? Because they get the results quickly.
What does Krishna do? Krishna also wants the result, but Krishna purifies it. Krishna purifies it, and then he gives the results. So, because people want the results quickly, so they worship the Devatahs.
Now, this whole system of living god worship is quite systematic, and we will be discussing it in some chapter. Once again, we have to be… We will be discussing it in some more details. So, Prabhupada establishes the position of Krishna.
So, he talks about… People have the idea of anthropomorphism and zoomorphism. What is morpho? Morpho is form. Zoo is animal form.
So, they say, animal… You worship animal god. Who is the animal god? Hanuman, we are worshipping. He is a monkey.
Or, anthropomorphism, that is, worshipping human beings as god. So, they have the idea that Ram and Krishna… Initially, they said Ram and Krishna. One day, his father said Ram and Krishna.
Actually, mythology wasn’t there. But afterwards, at least for Krishna’s existence, there is undeniable historical evidence. Lord Ram… Indian history, the history itself, does not go very far back.
Even, what to speak of Lord Ram, who was in an earlier age, even Buddhas did, when Buddha appeared. Now, there is not much doubt that Buddha was a historical person. All the historical evidence is there.
But, when he appeared, it’s a huge debate. Roughly, they said 2.5 K. But, 2.5 K… 2500 years ago, around that time, he appeared. But, they have no further details.
Now, there is no historical person. So, if you go back to 5000 years, it’s even more difficult to know. So, they have this idea that these people were historical.
But, later on, they were made into Gods. Now, that has happened in the Indian tradition. There are so many sadhus, who are afterwards called as God.
But, they had to go to Krishna because that is not the way all the Acharyas have understood. There are not many scriptures at all. And more importantly, Prabhupada will explain.
Prabhupada, this is not an out-of-the-book fact. It is not that after Krishna appeared, Krishna did something extraordinary, that people believe in Prabhupada. There are many scriptures, which talk about Krishna’s divinity even before Krishna appeared.
Talk about Krishna’s divinity even before Krishna appeared. So, the Bhagavatam talks about, in Dalal Maharaj’s pastimes, it is called as Vrishnagraha Vrihataatma Vrishnagrastha. So, it’s called Vrishnagraha.
Dalal Maharaj’s pastime was before Krishna’s appearance. So, that particular idea is called a euhemerism. The idea that a man was there and later on, he was made into God.
All these are misconceptions. Now, Krishna will talk about… So, now he will talk about the system of demigod worship, which is called Mimamsya. Now, Vedic culture has this particular system of demigod worship for getting people’s religious names completed.
But then there is also this socio-cultural system, social-cultural system, by which people can make their mom’s name. So, Krishna said, I have to look into this. He said this.
Then, after a particular meeting, I tell the connection more clearly. शातुर्वर्ण्यम्हयासुष्टम् गुणकर्मविभागिषमा तस्यकर्तार्मविमा विद्यकर्तार्महुम्यम् So, this is a very important verse. Normally, we quote the V part of it.
गुणकर्मविभागिषमा that this division of चातुर्वर्ण्यम् into the four tasks is according to गुण and कर्म. It is not according to चन्म. So, that is the important part.
Krishna is quite explicit about it. And the चन्म, is it important or is it not important? It is important, but it is not all important. It is like a family.
He is born in a doctor’s family. He has a greater facility to become a doctor. He will automatically become a doctor.
Certainly, birth can matter, but it is not all important. Now, in the context of this verse, this flow, the गुणकर्मविभागिषमा is not as important as कर्तारम् नामिथ्य कर्तारम् What is Krishna’s emphasis over here? In eleventh verse, he said that I reward people according to the way they approach me. In twelfth verse, he said, some people don’t approach, some people approach and we don’t because they want good results.
Now, originally, if all people are on your path and you reward them according to you, then you see that different people are situated in different positions. Different people, some people are wealthy, some people are poor, some people are intelligent, some people are not so intelligent. You see, so much diversity in this world.
So, why is this diversity there? Why are different people sitting in different places? Krishna says that, I have created the framework. The framework of Varnashrama, I have created. तस्य कर्तारमविभागिषमा I have created the framework.
विद्या कर्तारमविभागिषमा I am not ready yet. Why I am not ready? Because I don’t position the people in the framework by my arbitrations. Actually, they get positioned there according to their guna and karma.
So, what is happening in this particular section of the Bhagavad Gita is Krishna is telling that I am the creator of the framework. Just like, if you have a college. In a college, some students are in first year, some are in second year, some are in post graduation, some are in Ph.D. Now, the college administration has created the whole framework.
But some student is just in the first year and others in Ph.D. Does that mean that the college administration is unfair? No, because according to their qualifications, their level of knowledge, their competence, that one is in the first year, another in the post grad, in the proper studies. So, Krishna is saying that I have created the framework of Chaturvadi. So, in that sense, I am the Karta.
But at the same time, I don’t myself place everyone in that according to just my arbitrations. Actually, they get placed there according to guna and karma. And therefore, I am not in that.
Because they get placed according to their own guna and karma. So, now Krishna is talking about all of humanity. So, the previous verse was addressing, okay, Krishna, in the 11th verse says, all people are on my path.
But then some people don’t appear to me on your path. Yes, that’s because they want the result from the demigods. But even demigod Vakshi is also one kind of path ultimately to Krishna.
How that is being discussed, we will get a little later in the movie. But here Krishna is saying, okay, different people have different levels, different talents, different abilities, different mentalities. I am there.
I have created the framework. But people have placed themselves there according to their own guna and karma. So, this is akartaram.
So, now, Krishna will tell one more point about himself. So, what is Krishna doing over here? Arjuna had asked Krishna the question that how am I able to remember? How can I understand that you spoke the message to Sun God? Because you are younger to me. So, in the response to Arjuna’s question, Krishna is revealing his own position.
How he is translating it. So, till Now, some, different acharyas have a different understanding of this. Some acharyas say that Arjuna and Krishna’s answer ends at verse 5. They immediately bow down to Arjuna.
Other acharyas describe that actually, we are not going to get reasonings. So, they say that Krishna’s answer will end with verse 14. Or we can say 15.
So, why? Because till verse 14-15, the focus is on Krishna. And afterwards, again the focus goes back to Karma Yuga. So, in that sense, logically to say that actually, the answer goes on till here.
Krishna in response to Arjuna’s question is revealing his transcendental position. He is continuing that revelation to the next verse. And he talks about his nature.
Namah Karmani Limpanti Nameh Karma Paleshpuhah Iti Maam Lobhi Jaanati Karma Bhelana Sabajyate This verse is similar to 4.9. There also it was said that if one comes to know me, then, of course, I will be liberated. And we will come back to that. Krishna says, Sabajyate, I will not be bound.
Similar to that. And what is the focus on knowing? But here Krishna is even more specific over here. There Krishna says, you should just know my work and my activities.
Here Krishna is elaborating, what should you know about my activities? Namah Karmani Limpanti Nameh Karma Paleshpuhah Normally, when we do work, there are two kinds of attachment. One is to the fruit and second is to the work itself. That means, I like to do distribution and I want to distribute more books than everyone else.
So that, my name will be announced as the top distribution. So that is the result. And others will say, ok, I will do distribution, but I won’t do any other service.
Even if my name is not announced, I don’t mind it, but I will do only distribution. So, we can have either the attachment to Karmapala or to Karan. So, attachment to Karmapala is in one’s gross materialism.
Attachment to Karma is a little subtle element. Because we are still attached to our psychophysical condition. Of course, we can rotate in Krishna’s service, both we can rotate in Krishna’s service.
But Krishna is telling about himself, he says, I am not attached to work, I am not attached to Krishna. Namah Karmani Limpanti Nameh Karma Paleshpuhah Because I do not desire the fruits of work, therefore, Karma doesn’t come to me. Now, what is Krishna’s motivation for work? That is, in the material world, it is out of compassion.
In the spiritual world, it is love. It is a condition. So, Krishna says, the law of Karma does not bind me.
Nameh Karma Paleshpuhah Because I am not attached to the fruits of work. And if you understand this, then you will also attain. How? How we will just understand that Krishna is beyond karma and make us free? Because if we understand that Krishna is beyond karma, then we will understand that I need to take shelter of Him.
Take shelter of Him and by His mercy, He can free us from karmas. So, how this will happen will actually be revealed in 2.66. I am not going to answer what will be more important. But Krishna is a big provider.
Now, in this section, the focus is on understanding Krishna’s position. So, Prabhupada quotes Vedanta-sutra over here, where he says that, actually speaking, Vaishyam vena eva jnana sape eksha Actually, there is a Supreme Lord in our Parashur. In our parashur, sape eksha means He does not take any kind of function.
He is equal to everyone. And Prabhupada, he will quote here, this verse, and he will also quote about this thing which I am again going to read now. This Krishna is only the Supreme Source.
He is not the immediate source. It’s like, when the rains fall, after rains fall, the different grains grow on the, the different forms of vegetation grow on the ground. But the rains are not responsible for which vegetation grows.
Why? Because depending on what has been sown, whether it is good seeds or it is just weed seeds. That will do. Like that, Supreme Lord is not responsible because He does not determine which seeds are sown in our heart.
He gives us the percentage, and accordingly, people get situated wherever they want to be situated. So, this is a continuation of the previous verse Akartaram means that I am Akartaram. See, if you say that the word Akartaram is true, it means that I don’t do anything.
Krishna is already doing something. Krishna is speaking for me that much. So, what does the Akartaram mean? It means that I am doing action without attachment to anything.
And therefore, I don’t get bound by the ground. So, Akartaram means that it is action that does not mean boundage. We will discuss this in 4.18 once again.
Now, Krishna has concluded this action that in this way, people have understood Him and they have actively acted upon Him. evam jatvam pritam karmam evam jatvam pritam karma purvair api mokshubhi purvair api mokshubhi kuru karmai matasvatvam kuru karmai matasvatvam purvai purvataram pritam purvai purvataram pritam evam jatvam Knowing in this way, pritam karmam, do your work. purvai api mokshubhi They have also done their work like that.
And therefore, kuru karmai matasvatvam. So, pritam means, it indicates the past tense. Knowing this, in the past, people have acted.
Who have acted? Mokshubhi. Those who were seeking liberation. So, here the significant word is that the mokshubhi were also doing pritam karma.
The mokshubhi did not announce the word before the first one in liberation. They worked. The mokshubhi also did work.
So, Arjuna, you are also mokshubhi, appreciated. But, to be liberated, what you have to do? You also should work. kuru karmai matasvatvam.
How should this? purvai purvataram So, this verse is very similar to mahajana in ratasamantha. Following the path of the great souls. Now, this verse, mahajana in ratasamantha comes in the Bhagavatam.
It also comes in the Mahabharat, in the yaksha yudhisthira sauman. At that time, the yaksha asks in the shuddhahapanthaha what path you want to go? And then, Yudhisthira Maharaj replies, mahajana in ratasamantha following the path of the great souls. purvai purvataram tam So, who are the purvai over here? Jnanak Maharaj in the previous chapter.
In this chapter, there was Svan, Ikshvaku and Manu. So, all these are purvai purvataram All these people have acted in the past. So, you also act following in their footsteps.
Any questions you need to ask? Why don’t we give sanskar to everyone and elevate everyone’s vision? Actually, there is the kind of conditioning on different kinds of intensity. So, now, all people are getting rid of sanskar. Sometimes, you may think that to be a brahmana is very nice.
You don’t have to do any hard work. And other people come and do meditation and all. They offer respect also.
Some people say, here also, brahmana is very nice. But, actually, brahmana is supposed to only do meditation. Sanskaras are not always the same.
Sanskaras involve strictly mental calculations, following mental conditions. So, generally speaking, if somebody is rid of all the sanskaras and a person has the qualities, the person can be rid of the particular sanskaras and can be made into a guruji. In general, the wise people in societies, they observe that if somebody has a potential, they will take that meditation.
Just like we can see in our society right now, there are many offerings to everyone who wants to take it. But, how do we prove it? You know, that famous past time that Lord Satyanand asked, can you make me a brahmana? Yes. It was very possible.
So, the idea is sanskar has to be done, but sanskar is not just a one time event that gets over and you suddenly magically catch it and transform into a guruji. Guruji has to become intelligent and follow the rules and regulations which must be obeyed. So, I interviewed him and he gave me an easy question.
What was the question? He said, you have like a passive coming. Oh, yes. Sanskar might appear like a passive coming, but sanskar also involves certain reorientation of the heart, certain transformation of one’s lifestyle as a result.
Only in the sanskar certain things in which it’s like there is that story that somebody gave to in a session where one person who was doing religious studies, young man in San Francisco used to do religious studies and he was investigating the meditation. So, he came to investigating and he investigating the meditation and he investigating the meditation and he was meditation and he was investigating the meditation and he so he found it very interest ing that meditation was part of so this guy was but it is not only passing. One particular ritual one has to attain, but as a consequence of attaining that ritual one has to reorient one’s thinking and learning.
So now Krishna will now talk about the further point. So Krishna has very expertly connected the topic with Arjuna’s question. So Arjuna’s question is, how could you have spoken this unlawful? So Krishna actually wanted to speak about Vishnangadhara.
Arjuna’s worry was, if I act, I’ll get sinful reactions, I’ll get bound. So how will I not get bound? That was Arjuna’s question. So Krishna was answering that.
So what Krishna was doing now, he reused it back. See, actually, if you ask me about my position, I’ll tell you about my position. But in the past, people have understood my position, but acting in that knowledge they have become liberated.
So similarly, as they have acted, you act. So Arjuna says, yes, but still, I have not understood how people will get liberated by knowing about you or by acting. How by action are they become liberated? He says, fine.
Right? The moksha, we act for liberation, they will get liberated. But how will it happen? How can action lead to liberation? Action will lead to banishment? So they have understood the secrets, but I want to understand it more clearly. So then Krishna has again come back to the point of talking about Karma.
So this is the section which starts. The first four verses in this section are quite enigmatically phrased. They are quite puzzlingly phrased.
Krishna uses Bhutvisatik language over here. Bhutvisatik language means that the words are often very short and their meanings are often quite complex. So the deep part of this Vidyatva Mokshase Shubhad will come again.
In the Gita it comes in 9.1 it comes. There are phrases which will come in like that. So now here what Krishna is saying, Mokshase means freedom, Ashubhad.
All auspiciousness will come to you if you understand this. So there in the verse comes where Krishna is talking about knowledge about himself and what to do. Here Krishna is talking at a lower level.
Swamiji won’t come here. Keeva Karma, Keeva Karme. What is action? What is inaction? Even the Vaikis are looking at this.
But they are talking about Karma. I have seen that. In the Mahabharata, after the war is over and then the Pandavas are about to perform the last rites.
So at that time, Yudhishthira tells Yudhishthira, Yudhishthira, please perform the last rites for Karna also. Because Karna along with all his sons have been killed. So there is no resemblance left for him to perform the last rites.
Yudhishthira is surprised. Yudhishthira tells Yudhishthira, Yudhishthira, please perform the last rites for Karna also. Yudhishthira, please perform the last rites for Karna also.
He does the last rites. He comes out in the rain. He is prompted.
He says, normally I have killed my cousins, my teacher, my grandfather. I have killed my own brother. He is my brother.
And that day I am asked by Yudhishthira, the kind of sins I have committed, I can never be God. I can never have freedom. And he says, I am going to renounce the world.
And he tells Yudhishthira, Yudhishthira, you can become that. I can go and renounce the world. Yudhishthira is so angry at that.
So actually in the Mahabharata, in the Mahabharata we just have the description of how nobody could persuade Yudhishthira Maharaj. But in the Mahabharata there is an elaborate description. It goes on.
So actually everybody tries to persuade. So we just know that everybody tries to persuade. But in the Mahabharata, everybody is anonymous.
First Bhima speaks. Then Arjuna speaks. Then Nakula speaks.
Sahadev speaks. Draupadi speaks. And nobody is there.
Then Bhima speaks again. He has a reliance. And Bhima says, Oh Yudhishthira, Oh brother, Bhima, Bhima knows one way of working.
So he says, Actually you have conquered your enemies. But I think the greater enemy has conquered you. And that is your own uncontrolled mind.
So he speaks for many people. He says that, Actually, if you don’t control your mind, you get conquered by this enemy, then you will be ruined in this world and the next world. And then Yudhishthira, till now Yudhishthira has just been here.
He doesn’t speak anything. Then he makes a lot of noise. He says, Oh Yudhishthira, he calls you, Oh child, actually it is not that my mind is uncontrolled, it is your mind that is uncontrolled.
But it will be worse than that. And then all the sages are assembled there. And the sages also start speaking.
And it goes on and on and on. And nobody is able to persuade Yudhishthira at that. Nobody is able to persuade Yudhishthira.
Because Yudhishthira himself is bewildered. Should I act? Should I become the king? Or should I not become the king? He thinks, If I become the king, I will be found. I am already found.
And I will be, Okay, I have done a misdeed. But if I enjoy the fruits of the misdeed, there will be greater karmic bondage. I have done a misdeed, but I don’t enjoy it.
I will renounce it. I will say, I am not getting further karmic bondage. So we see that, before the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna was Gopindan.
Before the Mujhendwar, Arjuna was Gopindan. After the Mujhendwar, Siddhiji was Gopindan. That’s how, it was very, very, complex and emotionally wrenching situation for all of them.
Because it was not a black and white war. Although, at one level, Vishnu was virtuous, and Krishna was vicious. But there were so many shades of Krishna.
That’s why it became very difficult. So, in the Dharma, what is to be done? It’s not easy to understand. But, I will tell you today.
Arjuna. Let us love Krishna. So, Prabhupada goes to Narayana.
So, Narayana will tell the story. karmaṇo yāpi gauḍaṁ yaṁ karmaṇo yāpi gauḍaṁ yaṁ gauḍaṁ yaṁ chavi karmaṇo gauḍaṁ yaṁ chavi karmaṇo akarmaṇasya gauḍaṁ yaṁ dhāna karmaṇo gati dhāna karmaṇo gati So, normally we quote this verse for the last part. dhāna karmaṇo gati We quote once again.
It is that kati, the progress. The move, the way karma acts is very problematic. It’s very difficult to understand.
When a person gets a reaction, when something happens to somebody, what actually causes that to happen? Which particular sinful action leads to the sinful reaction? Or which particular action will lead to a reaction, which particular action will not lead to a reaction? It’s all very complex to understand. So, to understand the definition, basically, I’m going to tell you three categories only. Karma, the karma, and akarma.
So, we discuss these three categories in Aishwarya Purse, in the second verse. So, in the number of that. So, karma is, and in this particular context, what does it mean? It means, su-karma, it’s pious action within the Vedic culture.
It means karma is that which leads to good reaction. And, vi-karma is that which leads to bad reaction. That is against scripture, against morality.
And, akarma, so akarma literally means inaction, but akarma can also mean action that does not produce inaction. So, we’ll discuss about this. Actually, both.
We have to understand all this. Why are we understanding this? Understand this, because it’s not so easy to understand. No.
It’s all very complex. So, all that we can understand in this is that there are a lot of principles. The details of how karma is going to act belong in the conclusion.
But, the conclusion is something very important. Because if we were to understand all the details, it would be so complex. You would be permanently caught in a internal analytical war.
For example, if I just am sitting over here and I get up and I see that I have fallen. You know, right? I have fallen. And, somebody comes and walks over.
How is that possible? And, suddenly, at that time I start remembering. It was just like that. And, I said, and, hey, I don’t want to do the policies, what do I do right now? Actually, it becomes very complex.
Because, everything that happens to us has sources that we don’t have. So, actually, it’s good for us that we don’t know to what extent why everything happens. So, if we are able to go into the causal link of everything, it would be extremely complex.
There’s every small action. So, what all actions do I want to know? Okay, if I say, I get cancer, I want to know, I got cancer. Okay.
That’s a very serious issue. Maybe I deserve, I have a right to know about it. But, then, instead of cancer, I get some disease.
Maybe I get cough. Then, how do you know why I got the cough? But, then, okay, there are a couple of problems. But, then, I’m just walking around and I scratch my hand.
And, I want to know forever. Now, if you see, the difference from a scratch on the hand to a cough to cancer is actually a continuum. And, it’s only a matter of between.
It’s not a matter of entirely different issues. So, in the continuum, if you want to know one thing, where do you stop? You have to know everything. If you don’t know everything, which history? So, you will be caught up in an internal war.
War means, you will be set lost inside. That’s why, rather than, we understand that God himself told me that, whatever is happening to me, is a result of something which I have done. From the details, we don’t know it.
We don’t need to know it. And, in many ways, it is good that we don’t know it. But, it will just complicate our lives too much.
So, we will discuss what Krishna talks about these three terms in the next class. In the next class. So, how did Varna come to be when Guna and Karma are changing? So, the change of Guna and Karma, for most people, is within some limits.
It’s a sign, because the sign has some limits. That means, a Kshatriya may have phases when he becomes very bitter to you. Kshatriya may have phases when he also feels a little renounced.
If it’s all within him, then Kshatriya makes it. Kshatriya feels beautiful also. I want to be in my own kingdoms.
That’s the kind of desire Kshatriya has made. Kshatriya will not get the desire that he is lonely. Oh, I want to learn how to construct buildings.
He will not get that kind of desire. So, that is a different kind of skill. That is a different kind of skill.
And we will see also in our life, we don’t get desire for doing everything. We may want the credit for everything, but we don’t get the desire for doing everything. We may feel, okay, I want to know some things.
I mean, I would like to learn how to do business very precisely. Now, I’ll tell you how we manage the accounts for the time. I don’t know how to do that.
But some people will not have that kind of business. So, our desire and business are determined by their range. To some extent, they may vary within a particular limit.
So, that limit is set by, so there is variation, but there is also instantaneous. So, Buddha, Dharma, are they changing? They are changing, but normally speaking, there are no transcendental elements involved. Then there are changes within some limits.
And that is within the particular duties of a particular Brahmin. So, in one sense, when we say that the Brahmin is in goodness, Sathya is in goodness, passion, Maheshwar is in passion, and Shudra is in hurts. Now, we can talk about in discrete terms, but not in discrete terms.
So, there may be some Kshatriyas who are more Brahminical, and there are some Brahmins who are more Kshatriya like. Similarly, some Shudras may be more Vaishya like. So, there may be variations within them, but there are overall changes.
And if no transcendental element is involved, then the evolution is very gradual. So, Kshatriya will look like a Kshatriya, and he will die like a Kshatriya, and then his form will change nicely. Although, certainly, the Kshatriya will develop some detachment, but within this life, unless Bhakti and Krishna come in another form, the world won’t change too much.
The world will change too much. You can imagine Krishna going to God, and Krishna going to God, and Krishna going to God, and Krishna going to God.