Gita study Mumbai – 2012 04.18-25 How the internal consciousness prevents bondage

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so 4.18 is saying basically something about action in action so you just open on the bottom and try to understand the person who is engaged like this Krishna means everything the word Krishna is different from the word Krishna Krishna will come several times in the Bhagavad Gita it comes when Krishna summarises material and spiritual energies in 7.6 he says that all material and spiritual they generate from it they are also using the word Krishna so Krishna means everything so Krishna Karmakriti such a person can take it in all kinds of world but means Yukta, he is well situated, he is connected Yukta comes from the word Yoga to connect so Yukta means he is well connected for achieving transcendence so such a person is intelligent so he is intelligent and he is well connected so Krishna is obviously holding the person who he is describing over here in high esteem he is a well situated person he is an intelligent person and he can do various kinds of activities so in that sense Krishna is saying Arjuna if you are this kind of person you can even fight and you will not get bound so what is this kind of person he is describing two characters he has a shape, what does he see Karmaniya Akarma and Akarmani Chakarmani Karmaniya Akarma means literally speaking one who sees action in inaction Karmaniya Akarma and Akarmani Chakarmani so inaction inaction and action inaction so this has been a confusing verse and we have discussed this if you remember in Adi Shobha lets go over here so does anyone remember what the word Karma has four different meanings I mentioned that do you remember what are the meanings literally the word Karma itself can have four different meanings sorry yeah correct you are on the right track reaction yeah Karma can mean action Karma can mean reaction so Karma means this is the kind of activity that I am going to do but Karma can mean action yeah Karma can mean any activity in general now all the ways we are doing Karma remember in 4.5 it cannot be situated without any activity at all so Karma can mean activity in general then among the various kind of activities that are possible Karma can refer to the specific activity that is pious so that will refer to Karma with Karma that contrast so at the broad level Karma can mean any action so when Krishna says you always have to do some Karma you cannot stay without doing any activity you cannot stay without doing any activity you always have to act that is Krishna is referring to the broad term Karma you have to do some action then within the various kind of action that are possible there is a specific pious activity which also is referred to as Karma that means there is Karma and Vikarma so all actions can be called as Karma but pious actions can also be called as Karma thirdly Karma can also refer to the reaction to our actions I am suffering my own Karma so what we mean by that is I am suffering my karmic reactions so Karma can refer to the reactions to the actions that we have done and thirdly nobody can escape Karma that means what nobody can escape the law of Karma then we can refer to Karma Karma is the system of action and reaction Karma is a flawless infallible justice so here we are referring to Karma as the whole system of action and reaction so Karma can have these two different meanings these four different meanings and our Karma can have two distinct meanings our Karma can at one level mean inactivity that we see Karma, our Karma and another meaning of our Karma can be activity that brings no reaction that means there is action but because it is un-reactive then it can still be activity that brings no reaction so that means among the four meanings of Karma first meaning of our Karma contrasts with the first meaning of Karma any activity in general that means Karma, Nakarma means no activity in general and the second meaning of our Karma roughly contrasts with the third meaning of Karma reaction to action, no there is no reaction to this kind of action then it is Akarma in this way the words Karma and Akarma can have different meanings in different contexts and now with these four meanings in mind let us try to understand what this verse is saying if we just look at the Sanskrit and try to read it or even if we try to read Prabhupada’s translations actually it is both a tongue twister and a brain twister if you want to say action in action and inaction in action it is difficult to pronounce also first of all and not only is it difficult to pronounce it is even more difficult to understand what does it mean, action in action, inaction in action so what it means is Krishna is talking about different word different meanings of these words let us look at it over here Karmanya Akarma Iha Pashye so Akarmani Chikarma let us look at the first one Karmanya Akarma Iha Pashye so Karmani means his reaction but a wise person sees that actually there is no reaction to that action so here Karma refers to activity and Akarma refers to no karmic reaction so in this verse so see in external activity there is actually no karmic reaction that means the person is doing activity here but because he is doing it in a detached beautiful way so it does not get found that is why it is not getting karmic reactions so Karmanya Akarma Iha Pashye in activity one sees that there is no karmic response, there is no karmic reaction an example for that is what Krishna wants Arjuna to do if you find it with a detached beautifulness then you will not be found so although externally you will be acting you will not be found and this is how Janaka and Vibhaswana and all the other great souls in the past were acting so now that is the first one Akarmani Chikarma Iha so here Karma refers to actually here it refers to I don’t know what I put the meanings of both of them here Akarma refers to no external activity but there is karma, there is karmic bondage there is karmic reaction here Akarma Akarmani Chikarma Iha there is no external activity happening but still there is karmic reaction that is coming and why is that that is because the person is contemplating on the sense objects and Krishna was warned about this kind of, Krishna warned Arjuna about this kind of person a person is not engaging in sense objects externally but he is contemplating on the sense objects such a person is a Vibhaswana so because he is contemplating on the sense objects over a period of time he will engage in sense objects and if a person doesn’t engage in sense objects especially if the person is in renounced order and even contemplating on the sense objects is contaminating the person and that will also lead to some kind of karmic reactions in Kali Yuga we are exempted from karmic reactions for our mental routines, for our thoughts but still they will also eventually transform into words and actions so we have to be careful so what is the meaning of these words Krishna is telling basically Arjuna go beyond external don’t just see externally whether a person is acting or renouncing go beyond external to see the basic principle that causes bondage or that frees one from bondage and what is that principle that principle is whether one is attached or detached so externally a person is acting but he is detached then you are not in bondage so he is externally acting but he is not getting any reaction because he is not attached he is detached, on the other hand somebody is acting he is not acting externally he is not acting externally but he is gone he is going to get karmic reactions because he is attached so basically this verse is telling Arjuna see beyond the externals you are thinking that fighting in the war is going to cause bondage and renouncing the war and going to the forest is going to cause freedom from bondage but that is not the case just don’t see the externals go beyond the externals to the internals to see the motivation to see the level of attachment or detachment is this clear so now let’s go to the next verse see a person can act in all possible ways but he will not be bound so Prabhupada explains that in the Prasanna point of view but here he says the sense of eternal servitorship to Krishna makes one immune to all sorts of reactionary elements of work so what does this mean the sense of eternal servitorship to Krishna because I have servant of Krishna and I do this for Krishna’s sake therefore I don’t become bound because I am simply following Krishna’s instructions now from after describing this principle of how a person can be acting but he is not bound karmanya akarma yapa shetan so the 18a now 18a is elaborated from 19 to 24 how a person who is doing action but doesn’t get bound Vishwa is elaborating the internal consciousness of such a person in the next 5 verses 19 to 24 6 verses 24 of course are famous general verse come to that so from that person ahum is said to be pandita which a person is said to be wise by the buddha so Krishna has given two words over here pandita is learned and buddha is also learned buddha here means those who are enlightened those who are awakened so the wise consider such a person to be learned but this is the first time Krishna is using the word pandita which is a similar word pragyamadams so now where does the word pandita come most famously Vidya Vijaya Sampadhi 5.18 from two chapters later Krishna has said the wise consider such a person to be learned so here in that sense Krishna is saying that I am buddha now I will consider you a pandita when you understand this when you understand this particular thing what is that thing? yes here that person sarve samarambha is all arambha means beginning samarambha means sarve rupena arambha that means one who begins the strategic level of attempts so one whose all attempts are they are free from the desire for sense gratification so now one may wonder actually everything that we do is with the desire for sense gratification so then what would be the motivation and the highest level of motivation would be the pleasure of Krishna and the karma yogi’s level of motivation is to develop one’s knowledge that one can contribute to material existence that is not considered kama at this level kama here refers to raw sense gratification kama sankalpa marjita so it is free from the desire for sense gratification and jnana means so this is a person now he is acting as knowledge what is the knowledge? I am not the body I am the soul so that knowledge jnana means taddha karmana taddha means to burn so the knowledge will burn up the karma normally we talk about bhakti burning up the karma isn’t it the famous verse in the Brahma Samhita is karmani nirdhavati nirdhuja bhakti bhajan so by the practise of bhakti the karma gets burned that is true now this jnana which Krishna is talking about will ultimately culminate in mukti so the jnana which actually frees all your karmic bondage is the jnana of how I am the servant of Krishna as to whom I talk about material existence at this level of bhakti what it refers to is that if a person understands that I am not the body I am the soul and I am not acting for sense gratification I am acting because the body requires certain activities I will do that but I am not going to get entangled Krishna talks about this in the third chapter sattva vittu maha bhava kodha karmam prahalo just after about 3.28 so if a person has that knowledge then that knowledge prevents his consciousness from getting entangled so jnana rudratna karmana even knowledge cannot entirely burn the karmic reactions but it can save one from karmic bondage right now there are two different issues over here bhakti will burn not only the present karma’s consequences but bhakti will burn even the past karma’s consequences but jnana if a person’s knowledge acts the person may not be free from past karmic reactions but action of the knowledge can save one from bondage increase in the present so that is what Krishna is talking about tamamu panchamitam Krishna Prabhupada explains again this point now this is the first verse first verse Krishna says what one should be free from the desire for sensual gratification now in the next verse Krishna will talk about further the consciousness like tatvakarmapalasangam tatvakarmapalasangam ityatruttonirashrayah ityatruttonirashrayah karmanyatravrttopi karmanyatravrttopi so again go down see what Krishna is saying naivaginjitkarodhisah he is actually not doing anything naivaginjitkarodhisah he is not doing even a little action there is no question of bondage for him karmanyatravrttopi even if he is engaged in karma so then tatvakarmapalasangam some kind of attachment he has given up the attachment to the fruits of action and then ityatruttonirashrayah he is not taking shelter of what you can see that this concept of shelter is talked about by Krishna in a different way from what we normally understand in we normally think of Bhagwan and the ashram but before we can understand Bhagwan and the ashram we generally understand that we need to understand that when we do activity in material life actually the karma follows our ashram that means our sportsman he wins the olympic gold medal and then when he wins the world cup and then he holds up the cup and asks since childhood i was dreaming that one day i will hold the world cup and that image was driving me throughout my life through all the ups and downs of life, through all the defeats and heartbreaks, that imagination kept me going on and on and on, so because he was so determined but actually what is he doing he is taking ashram of the karmapalam one day i will get the karmapalam and that is what will motivate me to go on and Krishna predicts this mentality in 6.1 he says anashruta karmapalam don’t take ashram of the karmapalam don’t do the action with the desire for the result now of course if you are desiring the result for Krishna that is different we have Prabhupada who would say that even when he was all alone in new york, he said there are temples and there are devotees, only time is everything so the way a bhakta acts is somewhat different from the way a karmayogi acts in terms of internal consciousness a bhakta will even dream but he dreams for Krishna dreams for Krishna’s pleasure so for us if we are motivated by a desire to please Krishna and whatever we want to do we want to offer it to Krishna ultimately that is not considered wrong but even when we are dreaming to offer something to Krishna we should not give up our vishy vishy emotional activities for Krishna’s because right now when we have a dream of offering something for Krishna we really don’t know how much of it is for Krishna’s pleasure and how much of it is for our because when we offer something to Krishna, yes it was for Krishna but I offered it, please remember that I offered it so we also want the credit for that so just every time when people give a donation they say my name should come hall of fame something like that so that we also want our name so if something inspires us to do devotional service, that is fine at the same time we also need to understand that even when I want to offer something to Krishna the most important thing that Krishna wants is my consciousness so if I am not chanting properly, if I am not interacting properly with devotees, then even if I do a wonderful service and offer to Krishna, Krishna will not be very pleased by that so yes we can plan to offer the phala to Krishna but Krishna is not concerned only with the phala, Krishna is also concerned with the karma how are we doing it are we doing it in a way that is pleasing to Krishna then our actions will be pleasing and then our roots will also be pleasing to Krishna so here Krishna has not yet introduced the concept of himself as ashram so he is here, that’s why he is talking in the nirashram, don’t have any material shelters, don’t take shelter from any material possessions or any other material people be satisfied Vishal Prabhupada talks about how such a person is not not even attached to his own possessions and this is what Prabhupada talks about in protecting his possessions so now nirashivirat chittatma nirashivirat chittatma tyakta sarvaparigraha tyakta sarvaparigraha kurvannatmati kilvisham kurvannatmati kilvisham so again kurvannatmati will not get kilvisham, any contamination who will not get? nirahasi, one who doesn’t have any desire chittatma, one who is controlled so here atma atma doesn’t always refer to the soul controlled is mind essence, chittatma self-controlled, it can be self-controlled it can be self-controlled chittatma is mind intelligence tyakta sarvaparigraha gives up all sense of possessiveness shari nam tevalam karma he acts only for the sake of equality of intelligence so here what exactly is Krishna talking about? now if Arjuna is going to win the war and become the king he is going to have nectar in palaces and maid servants and male servants serving him and he is going to eat opulent food so is that shari nam tevalam karma? no no no he has a big feast so many items he is eating paneer and so many other items is that shari nam tevalam karma? actually here Krishna is not talking about elegancy what would be shari nam tevalam karma will be a point of question for a kshatriya he is not acting just to entertain his boy kshatriya has a position which is also meant for his service to society and that position is there not just for his sense gratification, that position also brings him the respectability in public eyes by which he can execute his self-restriction so shari nam tevalam karma will vary according to person to person, just like Nisha and Vishal we have the concept of kota so what will be one’s kota will be different to person to person so if we talk about the rest of us to be real, there will be many more uttaras who don’t have to work very hard, they can have small simple house, they can have simple job that is fine in principle, but according to a person’s teacher according to a person’s culture a person is expected to have a certain level in society now if we want to attract elite class of people then if we are going to have ownership programme then if the kind of people who are having that programme whom we are going to attract, they are all having their own row houses, they will never come to a flat to attend a kota, we consider it below their dignity then they need somebody in their social economy bracket to relate with so if somebody is in their social economy bracket, they will be attracted so then for a person who has past culture and past circumstances has a particular stature bhakti does not necessarily mean that he has to show his stature he has to bring krishna within his whole sphere of activities and then connect everyone to krishna we all have a sanskrit shloka let me keep singing, why don’t you sing about krishna so now some people they may be inspired to renounce the whole world just focus on krishna consciousness generally speaking once we are renounced then we don’t have so many possessions and so much question of stature and everything, we all have the same colour dress more or less, the white or saffron, we have the same hairstyle no hair we don’t have so much external differences but in general if somebody is in the world then shariram tenam karam tenam kimjihaan, that will be really a call to consciousness and that has to be decided both to sides, 1 by individual sincerity and 2nd is What would be my future? I have to myself be sincere. What is it that I am looking for in life? And then one can doubt it once and for all. Prabhupada gives a little drastic example over here.
He gives two examples in this purpose. First he gives the example of a machine part. So he says, a machine is a machine that is well-oiled.
Every part functions in coordination with you. And when a person acts in that way, then the whole system can work properly. So now this may seem that this person has no sense of consciousness or individuality.
If you compare a human being to a machine, it seems to be quite a depersonalising, mechanising example. But the point over here is, Krishna already talked about how we are not the body and soul, we are consciousness. He is talking about harmonising with me.
The emphasis, the example is not the absence of consciousness. It emphasises the harmony of action. Just as the machine part coordinates with the robot like that, the soul coordinates with Krishna.
And that’s why every person is perfectly harmonious. And so Prabhupada gives a second example in the purpose. That is of an animal.
And he says that in an animal, there is a prediction of a master. The master will sometimes feed him, the master will sometimes feed him. And the master will sometimes send the animal to slaughter all of them.
But the animal exists. This is again the very old revolting towards consciousness. If it is Krishna like that, somebody will feed him, somebody will starve some females.
Here Prabhupada is absolutely so certain. Krishna is not that kind of master. He is just an animal.
Whatever the master does, the animal accepts that. So Prabhupada, he did not like the rest of the infatuation with dogs, which was there, where the dogs are elevated to a level of equality with human beings. Many times people sleep with their dogs.
It’s quite shocking. They sleep with their dogs and they sit and chat with their dogs and dogs travel about in their cars. So often you see these people travelling, they seem to be like the chauffeurs for their dog who is sitting in the wheel seat.
So Prabhupada did not appreciate it. He says Prabhupada appreciated in dogs the energy of human beings. So similarly here Krishna is talking about surrender.
And we have the example of, do you want to have to sing a song also? I am your servant and the servant example is that I am like your dog. The whole song actually. I will sit outside and I will bark at anyone who comes inside.
Whenever you call me, then I will come wagging my tail. What is the service that my dog is offering? So there the important principle is of the surrender. So the example of machine part conveys the idea of harmony.
And the example of animal conveys the idea of faithfulness or surrender. So Prabhupada gives an example to explain how stupids an animal is. And then further, now I am not going into technicalities.
Some people say that this was a sadhyaka stage, this was a siddha stage. It all becomes too technical. I am focussing here on how things apply practically to a soul.
So this series of verses is similar to the second chapter. There also Krishna is very important. So here all these verses have a common denominator.
That is such a person does not get bound. The exact phrase is very different. But the common denominator of all these descriptions is such a person does not get bound.
So how he doesn’t get bound? Whatever comes right to my own accord, he accepts that. The duality of this one is beyond that. Actually it is the everyday pre-existence of duality.
This person gets more harmony. More value. I give to others.
It’s all stupidity. We are giving class to this Krishna. And who is attending that doesn’t matter so much.
But when there is this duality in his nest, it reminds the heart. And it can go to more and more. So when there was a counsellor there, how many counsellors were there? How many disciples do I have? How many disciples does somebody else have? So when there is divansi raha, that is called duality.
Now, Vanduva, Ditto, Madana, Samana, Siddha, Avasthi, Kriksha. That they have been successful in previous, because of the equal voice. Kriksha, Vanduva, Ditto, Madana, Samana, Siddha, Avasthi, Kriksha.
Now how can somebody be equal voice? The person with equal voice will understand that actually, I am doing this for Krishna’s future. So what is Prabhupada’s consciousness? Prabhupada, he got so many disciples. He was thinking, actually I am the son of Sudhakar, my Guru Maharaj.
And our Guru Maharaj is sending all these souls to Sun. There is a very beautiful incident, 1968 I think, Ramdev described that. Akshara Shravan appears, they were there.
And that day, when Prabhupada gave a talk, and after the talk, what did he do? He read out the names of all his disciples. Prabhupada has read out. And then he said, all these are my offerings.
So, all these are my offerings. So the idea is that when a spiritual master is serving, spiritual master doesn’t think that all these are my sermons. He thinks this is actually, all my offerings to the spiritual master.
So, Ramdev was saying that, when you are getting initiated, actually all of you are becoming Bhoga, to be offered to Krishna. And, after being offered to Krishna, it becomes Prasad. So, after initiation, all of you should become Prasad.
What does that mean? All of you should become carriers of Krishna’s bliss. Not only do we dedicate ourselves, but we actually become carriers of Krishna’s bliss. That is a devotional understanding.
So, kutva means that the person has this understanding. Actually, we are looking for the same offering to Krishna. Then, it’s a person.
Isn’t it? Kutva. So, now Sri Prabhupada explains in the Purport, that all this does not mean that the person is not proactive in doing work. Now, Prabhupada was very active in initiating new projects.
And, Hyderabad’s election explosion said, one day they wrote to Prabhupada. And, Prabhupada, he had a small patch of land in West Virginia in Hyderabad. And, he said, now we have got a bigger land.
So, Prabhupada wrote that, very good. He said, now we have got a bigger land. In the future, you can purchase a bigger land.
And, in the future, you can purchase all of West Virginia itself. And, then you can make all of America Krishna conscious. So, he said, he wrote that Prabhupada would sit on a humble… Prabhupada would not even have a desk.
He would sit on the floor. And, he did not also have a wooden desk. He would have a… Long story short, in the early days at least, Prabhupada would use his trunk as a desk.
And, he would have his… He would sit on the floor, have his own trunk as a desk. And, from that, he would casually hand out plans to change the world. So, he just needed people who were ready to take up the task.
So, it would have been a very dynamic, one’s ambition was super ambitious. But, that is for the sake of new innovation. And, for that purpose, the devotees would be ready to take in everything.
Now, Shri Prabhupada, in one sense, he was very particular about food. Actually, the devotees had to cook for him. And, he had a specialised way of cooking.
And, there was a cook who would travel. And, the cook would be trained. Now, was that for the sake of his body? At one level, his body was a vehicle for serving Krishna.
So, in that sense, it had all the money. But, if you look at Shri Prabhupada’s life, earlier, when he was in New Delhi, and when he was in entire economic states, Shri Prabhupada had a choice. He had a bit of money.
And, then he would use that money to print back-to-point or print his books. Or, he would use that money to purchase his breakfast. And, Shri Prabhupada would use it to print back-to-points.
He would go to the printer, the printer would ask him, Swami, did you have your breakfast? Shri Prabhupada would not say anything. He would not say anything to anyone. He would say, you would order food, you would get food.
And, then he would order food accordingly. And, Shri Prabhupada would take that. So, when it was necessary for Krishna to serve, Shri Prabhupada would sacrifice his body parts.
But, then, when this body needs to become a way for him to train devotees, Shri Prabhupada trained devotees in the culture of cooking. So, for the devotees, the greatest motivation for learning cooking was that, we can operate Shri Prabhupada. So, that’s how Shri Prabhupada used even his bodily means to engage devotees in service.
And, cooking is a very important part of the culture of Krishna consciousness. So, Shri Prabhupada taught that. So, Shri Prabhupada was not attached.
And, this is practically the last several months of his life. He was not eating anything. Shri Prabhupada was just taking charanamukha and kriya.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. That was the mainstay. Shri Prabhupada was living without that for a long time.
In the final days, when Sardar Maharaj came to meet him, Shri Prabhupada was totally initiated. Nothing was there. The whole body was just a set of bones.
And, he was shocked. Shri Prabhupada saw that he was shocked. Shri Prabhupada just said, at that time, You see, you are a scientist.
You need proof. Throughout my life, I have taught I am not the body, I am the soul. Now, you look at me.
My body is gone. Still, I am there. So, I am proving to you what I have taught.
So, Shri Prabhupada’s consciousness was unlimited. So, a devotee may accept also that he is an optimist. But, that is for a Sikh or a Sikh only.
So, Shri Prabhupada was not concerned that he was good just for the poor Sikh. Just for the poor Sikh, he was concerned that, Yes, it is to be offered to Krishna. So, there is no big problem.
There is no big problem. He is fine. He is a clean devotee.
There is no big problem. So, that way, there was a transcendental understanding, even when the Sikh devotee is having unlimited opulence. And Krishna is basically analysing the same point of not being bound in different ways.
So, praviyate means to merge. Samagram means completely. There is complete merging.
Just like in Mayavada, there is ecstasy. Although, actually, there is no ecstasy in that philosophy. There is only Shanti.
But, what Krishna is saying in this Samagram Praviyate is, Karma samagram praviyate. Actually, the karma merges in the transcendence. Right as the karma merges in the transcendence, Nityanga Arjuna Karma.
Then one acts for the sake of Nityanga. This is a continuation of the theme which we have talked about in 3.9 to 3.16. Principle of Omnipotence. Nityanga Arjuna Karma, Nityanga Arjuna Karma.
Krishna will elaborate that over here in the next set of verses. So, to cut this, I am going to say this. One is free from some attachment.
One is Jnana Vastu. One is situated in knowledge. Such a person, when he acts for the sake of Jnana, for the sake of sacrifice, then it is not Jnana Vastu.
The person’s actions are free from all that. The person’s actions merge in the transcendence. That means, the actions are no longer material, and so there will be no material reactions.
That’s why when we do our various services, we can perceive the quantity at various levels. Sometimes, when we are doing our services, we may get attached to the results of the services. Why can’t this smiling person come? I should get excited for this.
And even if that doesn’t happen, we may sometimes get attached to the people with whom we are working. Or we may get attached to the environment, we may get attached to the position. Now, all this, because it is a realm of emotional service, it is certainly not as harmful as it is when we get outside into the material world.
But at the same time, along with the view of service, the form of service, ultimately what is most important is the object of service. The arena of service is fine. The arena of service for Shri Prabhupada, it was initially in New York, and then it was in New York, which are two radically different areas.
They are as contradictory as possible. So, they are as different as possible. Shri Prabhupada was attached to the arena of service.
Shri Prabhupada got attached to the arena of service. So, the arena of service, Shri Prabhupada got attached to the arena. And Shri Prabhupada got attached to the form also.
In the sense that Shri Prabhupada spent two years concentrating on the form. Shri Prabhupada supervised construction. Shri Prabhupada supervised management.
Shri Prabhupada had to care for devotees who had difficulty in following the rules of service. Shri Prabhupada had to sort out managing the rules. So, in a sense, the form was often troublesome.
The arena was unpleasant. But Shri Prabhupada concentrated on the form. All of this is richness because of that.
So, when we are doing service, what are the various factors? There is the form of the service. What is the kind of service I am doing? There is the arena of service. Where is the service that I am doing? There is the environment for the service.
With whom am I doing the service? But more important in all these is the object of service. For whom am I doing the service? This is an important practical point for us. So, if you see in the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna describes various factors that determine which modes are going to influence us.
He gives a long list of factors. By changing these factors, one can change the influence of the modes on us. So, we will not look at all of them.
We will look at broad principles. So, when we are doing service, there can be the arena of service. There can be the form of service.
There can be the association of service. And there can be ultimately the purpose or the object of service. So, all these are important for us.
And if all of them are confusing, that is not good. The arena means, let me say that, I like to do service where there are devotees all around, there is a devotional environment all around. So, what is Shrila Prabhupada? Shrila Prabhupada changed the arena from Vrindavan even to New York.
So, actually if you see, his arena changed to something which is quite unfavourable. It is quite anti-devotional. In the form of the service if we see, initially Shrila Prabhupada was doing commentation, translation and commentary.
But then Shrila Prabhupada often had to do conflict resolution among his servants. Conflict resolution is not at all pleasant thing to do. Because both people feel that they are right.
And Shrila Prabhupada said, so much of my time is going away, is dealing with managerial problems. And managerial problems are generally people problems. And if you look at association, Shrila Prabhupada had association with Vrajavasi.
And he left that association for the sake of for the sake of their peace. Shrila Prabhupada in one sense changed all the externals in a way that might seem quite negative. But what remained consistent was, Shrila Prabhupada was the object of service.
The object of service was only Krishna. So if the object is fixed, then the arena, the form, the association may be unveiled. So Anand Maharaj said, when I was studying in Uttar Pradesh, the kind of people he was studying with, he said, if I had my own teacher, I would never have to do that kind of thing.
But because that was the way I was served Shrila Prabhupada, he said, you don’t need those people. I said, you don’t need those people. Actually, I have a very good relationship with them also.
So ultimately, everything is important. The arena is important. The form is important.
The association is important. But most important is the object. And when we stay fixed on that, then the changes that happen, they end our services.
Sometimes it will be one department, afterwards it will change to another department. So initially when Rohini was here and the Wada project had to start off, nobody was ready to go to Wada. Because there was, Chowkari is a Bihar spiritual activity.
And that time Wada city was a four-seater place. And Raghavan Maharaj used to come to take a class at that time. He called all the teachers.
I also went there a few years ago. Inspired everything. And I really want to go there now.
That is becoming a vibrant spiritual centre. So the arena where we are getting services will change. But over a period of time, what will happen is, if the object remains fixed, then Krishna consciousness will manifest in my people’s faces.
And that’s how things go. So now, I’m talking about the Savatram Pravindhyaya. Everything remains transcendental if the object is Yajnavaya Arjuna.
Object is Yajnavaya Arjuna. So now Krishna will talk. The words that is the Mahaprasadya Govinddev also the Mayavadis.
This is the verse that they recited 40 years ago. So Brahma, Brahma, Brahma. They love this one.
They don’t love Krishna. They love Brahma. So Krishna is in retreat over here.
Brahma comes how many times? Six times this year. So Brahma, Brahma, Brahma. Brahma, Brahma, Brahma.
What is happening over here in this verse? Actually Krishna is giving us a transcendental vision of the process of Yajna. So, in the previous verse Krishna is saying Yajnaya Anchidantana Karma. Act for the sake of Yajna.
You remember earlier I talked about how words can have narrow meanings and they can have also broad meanings. So, did we discuss about the various meanings of the word Yajna also at that time? Yajna, at a narrow level, can lead to paya, mean paya sacrifice. So Krishna is going to broaden Arjuna’s understanding of the meaning of the word Yajna.
I think I have described it. So, Yajna at a narrow level means paya sacrifice. So, that is the understanding which Arjuna is having.
And now Krishna has said Yajnaya Anchidantana Karma. Act for the sake of Yajna. The ultimate direction and how will that go on in Yajna? Actually Yajna will go on in Yajna.
Then Krishna says that actually if your consciousness is non-generative, then everything is multidimensional because it is potentialised. Because ultimately everything material is connected to this world. And in that sense, the Mahabharata says that everything is just spirit.
But Krishna has understood that everything is energy also. In that sense, everything is potential Brahma. So, let’s look at this verse, meaning first.
We will go on. So, in a Yajna, what are all the components, ingredients of Yajna? There is a fire, which is lit. The fire requires some wood, which is actually to be lit.
The fire is lit. Then it requires ghee or some other, some other samagra, which is offered in sacrifice. Then there is the priest who is chanting.
Then there is the Mantra that is chanted. And then there is the flute that is released. Sometimes there is the Yajman.
There are various factors involved. So, Krishna is talking here in terms of the non-specific. Brahma, Brahma, Brahma.
But Krishna will take the same verse and describe it in a different way in the 9th Chapter. 9.18 So, Lord Krishna is talking about as Brahma over here. There, Krishna will describe as Brahma.
So, the Bhagavad Gita is progressing in its understanding. So, Krishna has not talked about and he or himself will not know much. Although he talked about himself in the start of the 4th Chapter.
The focus is not himself. The focus is how the Garbha yogi stays free from completion. And for that purpose, his simple focus is if you understand what you have fixed in front of you, then you will no longer be bound.
So, Arpanam. Arpanam means that which is offered. Brahma Arpanam.
Your contemplation what you are offering will become spiritual. Brahmavir. So, the Ahur Gita, the part of that is offered.
So, actually, in the western terminology, the word Ghee is unknown. Ghee is the central ingredient in Vedic culture. The concept of Ghee itself is not involved in western cuisine and western culture.
That’s why many times Prabhupada translated Ghee as clarified butter. When we hear the word clarified butter, we need a clarification of what it means. What is this clarified butter? But actually, the concept of Ghee is not there in western tradition at all.
Practically speaking. They have the idea of butter and that’s why that concept of butter became popular. So, we have Ahur Butter and things like that.
Butter was of course there in Vedic culture also. But, the concept of Ghee is not so common in western tradition. So, sometimes Prabhupada translates Ghee as butter.
Normally, it is Ghee. We translate it as butter, clarified butter. We translate it as Ghee also.
And then, Brahma, the fire. Now, Prabhupada’s conceptualisation of the word here is not consumption, but consummation. What is the difference between consumption and consummation? Consumption means that we consume everything.
It’s like if there is some food, I consume it and then it gets over. But, consummation means to attain perfection. Consummate.
Consummate means perfect. So, it is a consummate performance and then one attains perfection. And Ghee is perfect consumption.
And the consummation of a particular activity means that activity is taken to its highest. Zenith. To its highest level of perfection.
So, actually speaking, when the food is, when the Aghut is offered in the fire, it is not just consumed, it is consummated. It is not just destroyed, turned into ashes. It is ultimately consumed.
So, it is such a person who has this consciousness that ultimately I am Brahman. The Samagraha that I am offering, that is Brahman. The mantras that I am chanting, they are also Brahman.
They are also spiritual. They are also the energy of Krishna. If I have this consciousness, it is possible to attain Brahma.
Brahma Karma Samana. Brahma Karma Samana. That actually, that is such a person is performing Brahma Karma.
He is not doing any mundane activity. He is doing spiritual activity. Samana.
That is Samadhi. The word Samadhi has come for second time in the Bhagavad Gita. Not explicitly, third time Bhagavad Gita.
First it came where Samadhau Navi. They over here this term 2.54. Then it came in 2.53 when he said that Brahma Karma Brahma Karma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma Brahma is situated in the Brahma Jyoti. So you shouldn’t think Brahma Jyoti is totally in the spiritual sky.
Actually Brahma Jyoti is all pervading and when formed in the spiritual sky, the material universe or rather the whole of material existence, which means there are many universes, abutes by the planets and subsequent processes like experience, creation. Practically everything is situated in Brahma Jyoti. And when that Jyoti is covered by intuition or sense gratification, it is called material.
So when does something become material? When it is covered by sense gratification. So let’s look here. So material and spiritual is not provable example.
I am speaking through this mic. This mic is used for Krishna’s sense. Therefore, it is not spiritual.
So I am ensuring that material and spiritual, these words can be used in two senses. One is the compositional sense and the other is the applicational sense. So from the compositional sense point of view, what is it composed of? And the applicational sense is what is it used for? So what defines something as material or spiritual? First, from a philosophical point of view, we have to understand that actually body is material and spiritual.
This is ABC of philosophy. And without understanding this, we cannot even begin on spirituality. Now beyond this, when we come to an advanced level of consciousness, we start seeing that actually, yes, there may be the difference of material and spiritual, material and spiritual in terms of composition.
But even that which we want to do can be used in Krishna’s sense. That can also be used in Krishna’s sense. And therefore, if it is used in Krishna’s sense, it should be seen as spiritual, not as material.
So that is from the applicational perspective. So from the applicational perspective, Krishna Prabhupada wanted to have opulent services for Krishna. But at the same time, Prabhupada, the best way to live is to live in land.
A natural environment. Have your own land, have your own calm. So Prabhupada wanted to capture the material things.
He wanted the material things that were necessary for salvation. So we can use everything but in Krishna’s service. So we have to have philosophical principles.
So is this what the composition point of view? It is. But from the application point of view, it is natural. So as you know, Krishna Prabhupada is talking about matter covered by illusion.
Now illusion is not a particular entity that will come and cover matter. There is no particular entity called illusion. Illusion is within our consciousness.
Sometimes we say illusion is covered by illusion. It’s not like illusion is a physical blanket that covers something. Illusion is the covering on our consciousness that perverts our conceptions.
So what is materialistic illusion? Prabhupada is talking about the application point of view. Everything can be used in Krishna’s service. When the illusion is removed, then matter, removed matter, in this particular way, can be removed at once by Krishna consciousness.
That’s the offering for the sake of Krishna consciousness. You can assume that it is an offering for Krishna consciousness. The process of consumption, the contributor and the result are all combined together.
That means, for example, say we decide to build a big temple for Krishna. Then at that time we are building a temple. What are the ingredients? The consuming agent.
The offering for the sake of Krishna. We are building a temple. That is transcendental.
Consuming agent. People who are working hard for that purpose. Process of consumption.
They are going out and fundraising for that purpose. The contributor, the person who is doing that. So this is a temple for all these people’s transcendence.
All the transcendence of all that will ultimately depend on the transcendence of our consciousness. To the extent we are transcendental, to the extent we have transcendental consciousness, transcendent vision, we have to come to this point. Our Acharya Chakravarty Patanjali, not only this but later on he explains that Krishna is actually telling Arjuna to re-envision the whole battlefield as a yajna.
In fact, in Mahabharata, Krishna tells this. See this whole battlefield as a yajna is three. Arjuna and your Gandiva is the spoon and the Kauravas are the apu.
See, it’s a very beautiful analogy. It comes in the Mahabharata. It’s quite a graphic analogy.
And this analogy is in one sense confirmed by Krishna in the 11th chapter. So re-envision, re-envision means see it in a new way. Battlefield as yajna.
So battlefield is the yajna sthali. If you have a place in the ashram called yajna sthali, you should know about this. Nobody has to know about this.
When we take prasad, there are germs in our body. So what happens to those germs when they come in contact with Krishna’s body? So nobody says yes, they get benefited. When we take prasad, there are no social service.
We are doing social service. We are benefiting all the germs in the body also. But of course that is not the only way we get no social service.
There are other ways also. So battlefield is the yajna sthali. Then the ladle, ladle is the spoon.
Spoon is Arjuna’s Gandiva book. And the apu is the offering is the Kauravas. And who is the person accepting the offering? Accepting the offering.
That is revealed in the Bhagavad Gita, the Vishwamitra. Later on what happens in the 11th chapter, what does Krishna show Arjuna? That Vaktharani flower comes to his ears. Vishanthi, they are all entering into your mouth.
So there in the 11th chapter, Krishna demonstrates to Arjuna what he has to do over here. He says this yajna sthali and all these Kauravas are offering to me. Now I will show you a Kaurava and accepting you.
Vishnam, Dronam, Jayam, all of them are entering into that. Now what does this indicate? This indicates that not that God is a canticle who appeals to other human beings. That would be a very very cross idea.
When the court case was going on in Russia, at that time the ROC, Narasimha Arpada’s church, they took these verses and they said he is the emersion of cannibal God. Now such a cross perversion where one doesn’t even understand the basic will also be available. What is so proud about Arjuna is, kind of way everybody is going to die.
And there is no Vishwaroop specifically. There is no Vishwaroop and the spiritual world where Krishna is eating the cows. Something like that.
Next question is demonstration. Demonstration is that our work in this world is also a sacrifice. And for different people what is the output of the sacrifice will be different.
So here Krishna is telling Arjuna that even if somebody is consumed by Krishna, even if there is something that is literally happening, still that person will purify himself and the stars also will purify himself. But the important principle is that you will assume that this is yajna and whatever you are offering to Arjuna, that will be a part of yajna. So he used to say yajnaya ajnata karma.
So when Arjuna was actually using this karma and everything that he knew that he perfection by doing everything he said, Arjuna said, I am not aware of this kind of yajna. So that was the yajna and Arjuna didn’t offer two arrows. So then from the next verse onwards Krishna will tell, there are many different kinds of yajnas.
So from 25 to 33, next issues will discuss, these different kinds of yajnas and how to identify them with knowledge. Thank you very much.