Gita Study Mumbai 2012 07.15-23: Those who don’t surrender, surrender, and surrender to Krishnetara

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
As far as the flow of the chapter is concerned, we discussed how this chapter is essentially talking about the relationship of everyone with Krishna.
So, first it gave us knowledge about Krishna. Then it talked about surrender to Krishna. Fire is required to come out of the ocean.
And now it will describe how some people don’t surrender to Krishna, some people surrender to him. So, let’s look at these verses. As of now, I am comfortable.
I don’t hear the noise now. What do you prefer? Krishna said earlier, the previous verse he said that those who surrender to me can go beyond maya. So, then actually Arjuna gets the question, why is it that some people don’t surrender? A large number of people don’t surrender.
So, Krishna in response describes But there are mentalities that prevent people from surrendering. So one may think that these are four kinds of people. But it’s not that people are permanently of certain kinds.
People are changing. So these are four kinds of mentalities which prevent people from surrendering. And the whole process of spiritual life is about education and transformation by which those who don’t want to surrender may also become ready to surrender.
So now this is one of the purports where practically every Acharya’s commentary is almost entirely different from every other Acharya’s commentary. The reason for that is that in general refuting the current standard of avidya, the current version of avidya is the tradition of the Acharyas. So that means in the society the Acharyas are living in, whichever are the prominent mentalities that are preventing people from surrendering to Krishna, they will be expressed.
And the Acharyas will say this is the mentality, this is the mentality, this is the mentality. So Sri Prabhupada gives a very contemporary understanding of this purport and he explains these four kinds of mentalities. So what are the four categories over here? So they are… Dushkrutina is a common word.
It is not a category over here. So dushkrutina is something which applies to all four. And Krishna and Prabhupada explain the purport.
Kruti means one who can do external things. I’m just adding. But dushkruti means one whose energy is misdirected.
Dushkrutina. And among this dushkrutina, So namah dushkrutino prapadyante. So it’s like that.
You know, look at it from a meaning syntactic point of view. That the dushkruti do not surrender to me. These dushkruti do not surrender to me.
There are four types. Mudha, naradhama, mayapritya jnana and asuram dhavam ashram. So actually the Gopal’s purport is also divided into four parts where he is describing each of these categories over here.
The word mudha comes quite frequently in the Bhagavad Gita. Do you remember when mudha comes? Yes. Abhijanati mam mudha.
That’s 9.11. Very important verse. Then Krishna says Mudhananubhashyanti vishyantiyanachakshisha It’s in 3.11. And so in this chapter only he will say again Aham prakash sarvasya yogamaya samavata Mudho yam nabhiyana He is saying for many times, right? Mudho yam nabhiyana So the word mudha comes quite frequently. And then in contrast Asam mudho That will also come.
In 15.5 Krishna says that one who surrenders to me they become asam mudha nirmanamoham iti santa dosha atyag nitya nitya kama tad dvairvimukta sukha-duhkha samvedakshanti mudha sattvam upayam mudha mudhaha So one is free from delusion. Similarly, at the end of the 15th chapter it is yogam eva asam mudho janati kurusho uttama One who is asam mudho, is not in at all the right direction person understands me to be the absolute truth. That’s 15.19. So the word mudha and its variants comes several times in the Bhagavad Gita.
So now literally speaking the word mudha means an ass. So Srila Prabhupada explains the word mudha means people who have an ass-like mentality. What is their ass-like mentality? That they are constantly interested only in the harder work and only in material flickering results that they get by that hard work.
Srila Prabhupada is quite sarcastically awkward So here he describes Srila the ass sings poetry and philosophy sometimes but this braying sound only disturbs others. So he says that he says how such a person they work very hard day and night to clear the border of self created duties. And they say they have no time to hear of the immortality of the living being.
So what is this burden of self created duties? See there are obligatory duties and there are self created duties. Obligatory duties means I have a family so I have to maintain my family. And I have to take care of my family obligations and responsibilities.
But self created duty means say my neighbour has this big house, I have to get a bigger house. And especially when the household like energy becomes a very strong spur for trying to influence something. So my neighbour has got this car, I must get this car.
My relative has got this car, this particular TV, I have to get this TV. My relative has got a 3 storey 3BHK house, I have to get a 4BHK house. So that completely propels a person.
Propels a person. So they ask, Prabhupada explains that they often don’t understand ultimately even from material point of view the material pleasure is limited. So how much can we eat? How much can we sleep? Ultimately we need a small bed, a small basic size of bed to sleep on.
We have some basic quantity of food to eat. So this whole idea of trying to have a status in society. So because of trying to have a status in society so people have self-created duties.
That means if I am a manager in my company then a manager means I should have this kind of car. If I am a general manager then I must have this kind of car. And if I am a I should be staying in this kind of houses.
I should be staying in this kind of wearing this kind of dress. So as a person grows up say the corporate ladder he may earn more but the mere expectation the mere pressure forces him to spend more. That’s why the person never has enough.
No matter how much he has always self-created duties. I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this. So self-created duties, these are not necessary for our bodily maintenance.
They are certainly not necessary for our spiritual advancement. But they are created largely by the pressure from family members from relatives, from peers, from our social circle. And that’s why Narada Muni advises Narada Arjuna in the 7th Canto about how a householder should live.
So he says that the householder will always get suggestions from everywhere how to improve the householder. How we should get this kind of house, get this kind of car. So Yudhishthira Maharaj says exactly.
But Narada says just nod them and neglect them. Nod at them and neglect them. So he says nod and neglect.
Because if you don’t nod then you’ll get angry and force all the more. And if you nod and then don’t neglect then you’ll get in time. So just nod and neglect.
So these are self-created yudhis. And these sap the energy of the body. So nowadays when there are these, there are jobs in software, there are jobs in call centres.
They actually sap the body, sap the mind. They are all time unaltheasked, love working. And somehow the yudhis are working in such environments it’s very unnatural for them.
But when everybody is working that way what happens is one is forced to work that way. And sometimes not only our health, not only our mind, even our spirituality gets very damaged by such things. So as devotees when we are sharing this consciousness with others we generally we have to tell people that certain material lifestyles are not congenial for spiritual life.
And if they are at all necessary for certain kind of institutions they should only be for expedient temporary purposes. Research in certain material careers. So in general if a career is involved in making up the four principles that should be given at the beginning.
But if you are not involved in that but it is involving very excessive work hours or unnatural work hours then that is also not conducive to spiritual life. And especially if one is planning to have a pre-darbhas darshan it is important to plan this way. So naam duṣkṛtir ahūdhā prapadyante narādhamā So actually probably you can read what Prabhupāda says Narādhamā is so naradhamā, the lowest among mankind.
So this is an interesting discussion. Prabhupāda says these people are just not interested in spiritual life. It’s not that they are busy, it’s just that they are so lazy spiritually that no, I have no interest in this.
So actually spiritual life is not a matter of interest it is a matter of necessity. Just like we discussed earlier a patient says that treatment may interest me. The treatment is not a matter of interest, the treatment is a matter of necessity.
And if a person doesn’t take the treatment, if somebody says treatment is not compulsory, fine, but suffering is compulsory. So one continues on the cycle of birth and death because of that. So this is the specific purpose.
Śrīla Prabhupāda talks about how the child in the womb is suffering and he prays to God and that’s how they so Bhaktivinoda Thakura talks about it and he says that song so he says that actually how I prayed to my dear Lord when I was in the womb but when I came out I forgot Him. So actually that song of Thakura says that one child of us, you give me up. Actually it’s not that the Lord gives us up, it is that how it works is when we are in the womb then we despair pray to the Lord and the Lord responds to our prayer, the Lord appears before us and then the Lord gives His vision and then the natural course has to go forward.
But when we are born, then what happens? आदरेन चेले सुचने रखोले मस्या का तन्काल संसार लागे दो भाल I became very happy and I enjoyed life. So I had asked Adamanda this question that if we pray to Krishna and the soul’s prayers we can do are very touching then why don’t we want to be born in this womb? He said, let me state this to you, I remember you at that time. So I asked him, is it that Krishna doesn’t respond to our prayers? The soul is praying over there and I don’t want to forget you so I go into the world and forget you again.
So then why does Krishna send us into the world and he lets us forget us? So Maharaj replied, Krishna responds to the prayers and he comes over there but then after that that is a prayer that is offered under the pressure of misery. So that surrender is immature. That surrender is not worth living.
So even in life, why do you speak of the womb? Even now, sometimes when we have terrible bodily diseases, Krishna just takes care of himself, never again do any simple activity. But then that is fine, anyway we call out to Krishna but then again the misery goes away. So it is good if we surrender to Krishna when there is suffering but the test is when there is no suffering what do we do? So actually in one sense suffering tests our devotion but enjoyment tests our devotion later.
Because in general if a person is biassed at the time of suffering, the person is not going to become atheist. The person has some basic faith in God so he will take care of Krishna but when enjoyment comes then the person gets tempted the person gets distracted. So that is the great test.
So when the opportunity comes, therefore even when we are healthy like now all of us are trying to surrender to Krishna when we are young that is critical. Certainly when people become old, at least at that time when they surrender to Krishna and hope on the Lord Krishna that is good. People don’t even do that.
So but if somebody can do that when they are young and that means it is the opportunity to enjoy and one gives up the enjoyment for Krishna’s sake. That is actually the test of devotion. So the material value is so antithetical to the devotion of that.
I wrote an article with impact called 10 reasons why we should surrender our youth to Krishna. One of the reasons basically is that it is an entirely antithetical attitude. That means when I become good for nothing then I become good for Krishna.
When I become good for nothing materially. No, I can’t earn. I have a job and earn money.
I can’t take care of my grandchildren at home. I can’t offer any help to my son or daughter. Then they say now you can go to the temple.
That is antithetical devotion. So actually the soon as the questions are voluntary. Now Narada Ram means the concerned becomes complacent by material situations and feels that I don’t need God.
I am happy here. Let’s say God is happy there. I am happy here.
Let us stay as it is. Let’s not want to stay as it is. Because our happiness will change in this way.
It just takes one moment. In our situation in this world we are suspended between the unknowable and the unavoidable. We are what? Suspended between the unknowable and the unavoidable.
Now what is going to happen tomorrow? What is going to happen day after tomorrow? We don’t know. So that is unknowable. Our immediate future to us is largely unknowable.
And whatever we can look through in the looking glass of future what we can see we don’t want to see. What are we going to see? Vidya jaragadi. So that is there that we don’t want to see.
So actually speaking, we are suspended between the what? Unknowable and the unavoidable. So there is no room. If a person is sober, there is no room for complacency which a person will understand that actually there is no question of not having interest to God.
Because it is essential for me. So I don’t want to write all the reasons, but just one or two reasons over here. So somebody says it’s a very common interest.
I don’t have any interest in spirituality. So what are the reasons I mentioned briefly over here? One is for patient treatment is not a matter of interest, but of necessity. Then to offer oneself to Krishna and become good for nothing is is a totally non, is a very non-devotional attitude.
And lastly, we are suspended between the unknowable and the unavoidable. So we are in a very precarious situation. And because we are in a precarious situation, I’m actually going to say that I’m not interested in spirituality is the height of ignorance.
So this is Naradhana. And after that is maya apartha jnana So maya apartha jnana means that these people have jnana, but their jnana is destroyed by maya. So if they have jnana, how can jnana destroy their maya? Actually, the essence of jnana, the purpose of jnana, that has destroyed the maya.
So maya apartha jnana So remember, Prabhupada elaborates on this verb, maya apartha jnana in Ishopanishad. He talks about annamitam abhishekti ke avidyam upasati. Sorry? Because Prabhupada is basically talking about those who have, that purpose of talking about how those who have knowledge enter into deeper health.
Vedavad Ratha and maya apartha jnana are classified as deputed but are deputed about the essence and purpose of knowledge. So knowledge in terms of, they have knowledge of factual figures. So there are many atheistic scientists who have phenomenal knowledge.
So in general, in the lecture, Prabhupada criticises scientists. It’s not a critic of science that he had. It’s a criticism of materialism.
So to a large extent, in the scientific establishment as well as in the popular culture, science has been equated with materialism. But it doesn’t have to be like that. It’s not that science is inherently materialistic.
But materialism has appropriated science to promote its own ideology. So, and materialism to atheism is just one statement. Because materialism, what does it mean? That means, materialism means that there is only matter that exists and nothing apart from that matter.
So if nothing apart from matter exists, that obviously means that there is no God. So, we can alienate a lot of people if we seem to them as anti-scientific. And we are not anti-scientific.
So, materialists, they are devotees of matter. They are devotees of matter. Some materialists say that even if there is some mind, there is some consciousness, that just comes from matter only.
There is nothing beyond that. And some other materialists say there is no mind out there. Only matter.
So, these materialists are not just devotees of matter, they are fanatical devotees of matter. So, they are materialistic fanatics. So, materialism appropriating science to promote its own ideology.
That means that there are materialistic people who feel that, yes, by science, we can show that there is no God, or we can portray that there is no God and no soul. Science’s greatest success has been in the material world. And because of that, science has produced a database, science has produced internet, laptops.
So, people think that science is able to understand the material world. To some extent, it is true. But it is not.
See, whether the material is the only reality, that is not a science. That is a philosophical question. Whether something exists beyond matter or not, that is not a scientific question.
Because science is basically a method which involves observation, hypothesis, experiment. There is a confusion. So, now, things will take place with a certain framework.
Science itself, for example, is proposing the existence of a God particle. It is not observable. It is not observable by even the most high-tech microscopes.
All that can be observed is its effects with the most sophisticated particle accelerators. So, therefore, the point which I am making over here is that science in and of itself is a tool for acquiring knowledge. And it gives a certain kind of knowledge, but I will write this down in the next minute.
So, whether anything exists beyond matter or not, that is a philosophical question. Because science will basically observe, hypothesise, experiment in that loop. So, now, whether there is something which is beyond our observation or not, science has no jurisdiction for saying that.
So, that’s why materialism is a philosophy. Science is more or less a tool for acquiring knowledge because it is a scientific method. So, now, of course, knowledge that is acquired by the scientific method can be called science.
It is called science. But science in itself is not philosophy. Now, basically, what is the difference between science and philosophy? Science is basically the knowledge that is acquired using the method of science.
And the method of science doesn’t claim any way to reveal to us any absolute truths. This is what we observe. This is what we hypothesise.
So, actually speaking, whether anything exists beyond matter or not, for that, science cannot say anything. For that, we need philosophy. So, what has happened is, science, if you remember earlier, science is like a map.
Remember I discussed this earlier? A map. A map gives us a partial description of the territory. As far as that goes, it is fine.
Now, the map in and of itself cannot tell me whether on the territory something beyond the map is there or not. And if it is there, what is that something beyond? The map cannot tell. So, materialism in one sense assumes that actually speaking, that there is nothing beyond matter.
Now, science is a map because it holds observational influence in primary studies. But that doesn’t mean that it is a scientific tenet that there is nothing beyond matter. It is just something just beyond the reach of the scientific map to depict.
That’s all. So, there are many people who are mayapritajnan. There are many people who are atheists in their thought process.
But they are not ready to accept the conclusion that atheism leads to. What is, for example, Darwin in 1859 said, survival of the fittest. There is struggle among all the species and there is survival of the fittest.
So then, 80 years later, there was a person named Arnold Whittler who wrote a book called Mein Kerr, My Struggle. And he, along with many intellectuals and scientists and researchers, they all came up with the idea of what eugenics. So, eugenics was basically, it was called social Darwinism.
Darwin had said that there is struggle between the species. So, Hitler and Germans saw there is a struggle between the races. And they said, just as in nature, the unfit species die out, so even in the world, the unfit races will die out.
And, what nature is going to do? We will help nature on the way. So, we Germans are the fit species and Jews are the unfit species. So, let us help nature on the way.
So, actually speaking, it is undeniable that there are, in the writings of Hitler, as well as in the ideology they promoted, there was a clear idea that so many people who were killed, it was based on the idea that our self species is the fittest species, our race is the fittest, that is what should survive. So, they killed so many people. And, actually, there were these ghastly ass chambers in which people were killed.
But, a lot of people were killed in hospitals. First, what they did, in 1930 onwards, Hitler started getting power. So, first thing he said is, all those parents who are less intelligent, we should make them forcibly sterile.
Because we want only intelligent people in our population. So, all those who are less intelligent, make them sterile. Similarly, then he found, all those people who are not physically strong, their progeny will also not be physically strong.
So, make them also sterile. Then, after that, he said, all those people who are blind, who are lame, who are actually, because their genes are faulty, so they are like that. So, kill them also.
So, actually, it was a systematic attempt. It was born out of it. So, afterwards, of course, scientists abandoned that.
So, now, when atheists are asked, would you like to live in a society that is run by Darwinian principles, they say, no, it will be fascistic. And then, why do you promote Darwinian evolution? Why do you believe in evolution? They say, yes, evolution applies to all species except humans. So, it’s very self-serving.
Very self-serving. They say that, actually, the genes are pushing everyone, but we humans don’t have to be pushed by the genes. So, it’s a very strange idea.
So, they are ready to propagate the idea, but they are not ready to accept the consequences. So, now, the biggest experiment with atheism that happened in the world history was in China and Russia. Both these countries officially adopted communism and communism was officially atheistic.
So, now, what happened behind the Iron Curtain, these two countries, as if behind the Iron Curtain, they had Iron Curtain, that means, the cloth curtain, I can pull it. The Iron Curtain, it can’t be pulled. So, what happened in these countries is not known.
So, according to several researchers, in those two countries, the number of people who were killed was seven times the number of people who were killed in the second world war. Huge difference. And what was the idea? Their idea was that most of the people who were killed were religious people.
Because somehow, they had the idea that humans, by the course of evolution, for those people who were weak, they had the idea that they needed God as a mental crutch. But now we don’t need God as a mental crutch. And those people who need God as a mental crutch, they are unfit.
Either they should become fit and give up the crutch or we will finish them. So, the most systematic persecution of religion happened in that time. And what was the result? It was the greatest human mishandle for under-government exploitation.
And as soon as that stopped, without much effort, religion exploded over there. So, the point here is that there are many people who embrace materialism, atheism, but they are not ready to accept its consequences. So, maya parita jnana means they have jnana, but they don’t see what are the consequences of the kind of jnana they take.
That is why they are not able to accept. They are eager to push forward their theories, but unwilling to accept its natural consequences. If I don’t believe in God, if I don’t believe in immortal soul, if I don’t believe in divine providence, then all that happens is that all of a sudden lumps of chemicals and if some lump of chemical tastes good, then cut it, delete it.
If some other lump of chemical comes in the way of my enjoyment, just put a syringe in it and kill it. So, what is that for? There is a journal of physics, I put it as my handiwork, journal of physics, journal of America. So, they said that there should be if a woman wants to kill a child, we don’t use the word kill obviously, wants to avoid pregnancy after she has delivered, she is allowed to do that.
After the child is born, she can allow to kill. Now, when this article was published, they created a bureau but then these scientists, that’s not an extreme scientific opinion, but what they said is, actually speaking from scientific point of view, there is no difference between the child in the womb and outside the womb. In the same, there is a difference between the child in the womb and outside the womb.
So, if you can kill him inside the womb, what’s wrong in killing him outside the womb? Actually speaking, there is no sense of values in science. And the last thing is Asurabhavam Asurabhavam. They are not explicitly atheistic.
They are materialistic. You don’t understand what I am saying. But Asurabhavam means they are explicitly atheistic.
They are demoniac. And such people are the people who try to kill God. They try to destroy people’s faith in God, people’s faith in spirituality.
And they do it in various ways. So, the question is, these kind of people can never surrender to God. Now again, these are not discrete categories.
That means, one person may have several of these also. One person may be Buddha and every Asurabhavam also. They will be very materialistic and may be demoniac also.
But these are broad mentalities which obstruct people from surrendering to God. Some of us may say, we may also have some of these. So, some of us may be infatuated with material knowledge, sovereign, material pleasure, which has a lingering energy towards this truth.
Most people, even after becoming devotees, will be more interested in our bodily comforts and bodily care than in things in the spiritual concept. So, these are all within our devotional life. We can find that.
So, Buddha would be what? Even if you are too interested in material pleasures, nothing more than that. So, an Asurabhavam ashram will still have any way of devotion. So, all these are possible in our own way.
So then, let’s move forward to the next verse. Chiturvitha Bhajante Ma Chiturvitha Bhajante Ma Janasukhrtino Arjuna Janasukhrtino Arjuna Jnanichaman Tarshamha Jnanichaman Tarshamha So, Chiturvitha, these four kinds of people surrender. It’s interesting, Krishna is not using the word Prapadyante, he says Bhajante.
Because Prapadyante is very high. Previous verse says these four people don’t surrender to anybody. So, these four people start worshipping.
From worship to surrender is a slow progression that will take a long time. These people start worshipping Chiturvitha Bhajante Ma. They are Sukhrti.
They are, they have Kriti but they are using the Kriti in right directions. And what are those characters? Aartho Jijnasurartharthi Jnani So, in Ayurveda, the example for a Jyoti system is quite well known. So, I will not tell you which are the examples for all these four categories of people.
From scriptures, Aartho is Bhajante. Good. Aartharthi, Dhromaraj.
Okay. Let’s go first to Jijnasurarthi. Aartho, Jijnasurarthi, Aartharthi.
Aartharthi, Aartho means distress, only distress. So, Aarthi. Aarthi means when we worship the Lord, we become free from distress.
We offer our heart to Krishna, then heart becomes free from distress. So, Aarthi is also a variant of Rathri. So, this illuminates the torch.
At that time, what happens? The light from the middle light pushes the torch in our own eye into the torch to illuminate the Lord. Actually, the Lord is self-illuminating. We are not able to see Him.
So, similarly, within our heart, we cannot see Him. So, there is a stress that Nijasikar opens through Dhromaraj. And Jijnasur is Maras.
They are Brahmins, Shana Kada Rishis. So, they are asking questions. Shana Rishis themselves are evolved, but there are the sages who are also there.
They are Jijnasur. You want to know what they are all about. Now, in Bhakti Samaj Hindu, Krishna is classed as a perfected devotee of Krishna.
So, he is given as an example, not of Jijnasur, but of Shravan. So, in the assembly at Nimeshwara Dhyana, not all of them were realised. There are different levels of transcendentalists.
That’s why some of them were inquisitive. So, now, we can see these four as motives by which people come to Krishna. Now, above these, Krishna will explain, the best is the Dhyana.
But we can see that these four also become spurs for us to make our Krishna-Mohishapu’s more serious. So, these can become spurs for us to become more serious in our Krishna-Mohishapu’s. Sometimes when there is some suffering, sometimes at that time, during our devotional time also, we take Shatru of Krishna more.
Sometimes, when I have to give a class, then I become Jijnasur. Both of these are very distressing. And then, sometimes within our service, when we need to do something, we become Atharthi.
You know, like Prabhupada always you go and raise this money and then only come back later. How do I do that? In a house of Prabhupada, he was told, just go and get 10 people. He said, who will give money like this? Just go.
And he went and they would get money. So, Atharthi. For Krishna, here Atharthi not for us, but for Krishna.
And the idea is, actually when we understand that we get spiritual knowledge, that inspires us to study the Krishna consciousness so that we can surrender more to Krishna also. Then, Krishna described how this progress happens. Desha, among those people, Jnani is the best.
What kind of Jnani? Nitya-yukta-eka-bhakti. Look at this Krishna has given, which indicates that he is not just ordinary Jnani. The word yukta means engaged, connected.
So, he is connected with me. Mayya-siddha-manah-partha-yogam yunjan-madhashya. Yunjan is also the same root.
So, he is always engaged, always connected and he is single-mindedly devoted. So, he is a very special kind of Jnani. That means, by his Jnani, he has come to the connect with at the level of devotion.
Eka-bhakti-vishishthe. So, he is special, he is vishisha-yogam. And he is very dear to me.
Priyo-yogam, he is very dear to me and I am very dear to him. So, the first time in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is expressing his affection directly. He will express it again in the future, but slowly we see the bhakti element in Bhagavad Gita is increasing more and we will discuss all these three verses together.
So, they are all udara. So, Prabhupada translates udara as they are magnanimous. So, Ramacharya explains what does this magnanimous mean? He says that Bhagavan is so bhavagrahi, he is so hungry for devotion that even if somebody offers a mixed devotion, that mixed devotion also satisfies, at least to some extent, the hunger of the Lord.
And that’s why the Lord feels so grateful. So grateful, Oh, you have worshipped me? I should have said to them, you are so generous that you are worshipping me. So, actually speaking, Krishna is hungry.
In Bhagavad Gita, when the 64 qualities of Krishna are being described, at that time, one quality is gratitude. And what is the example of this gratitude? It says that Krishna tells to, I think, Mahabharata or one of the Puranas. And he says, when Draupadi was in distress, she called out to me fervently.
And because she called out to me so fervently, I have become indebted to her. And that debt is increasing more and more and more. That means, when a soul calls out to Krishna, Krishna feels grateful and the soul is reposing his trust in him.
And Krishna feels grateful for that. Maybe he is indebted by that. So, he says, similarly, oh, you are coming to me? What’s so odar? So, he says, and they are all good.
But again, he is coming to the point. Among the Gyanis, just like me, he is well situated. Because he understood that I am the ultimate goal and he is going to achieve this ultimate goal.
So, now, he is glorifying the Gyanis so much. Now, Krishna gets a question. Yes, these Gyanis are going to come to you.
What about your other categories? How will they come to you? Will they come to you eventually? Will they surrender to you? Will they go beyond life? He says, yes, that will happen. But after many lifetimes. So, Samaatma Sudurlava Samaatma Sudurlava So, now, after many lifetimes, such a person, practising this in devotional service, will come to the level of pure devotional service.
Gyanama Ma When he becomes Gyani, he will understand that actually, I should not approach God for anything else except God. I approach Krishna to get Krishna. That’s all.
So, when the Yogi comes to that level, then he will surrender to Krishna. Sarvamiti Everything that I get from everywhere else, I get all that and more from Krishna. Such a person will come to the realisation that Sudurlava extremely needed.
So, now, here Krishna has described how people surrendered to him gradually. So, 15th verse describes those who surrendered to him. Then, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th describe those who surrendered.
Sorry, 15th describe those who did not surrender. 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th describe those who surrendered. And how they grow forward.
Now, from 20th, Krishna will describe those who surrendered but do something else. Some principle, some other person, other than him. So, we have discussed these verses in our Yogichitta course.
So, I hope you all remember. Ramayastaiste Vitargyana Ramayastaiste Vitargyana Prapadyante Anyadevata Prapadyante Anyadevata Tam Tam Yamasthaya Tam Tam Yamasthaya So, Ramayastaiste Vitargyana So, what is the difference between this category and the earlier category? They also had material desire. They also had Artharthi or Artha.
But, for these people, their material desire was so strong that they no longer had Artharthi. That means, their material desires had become so much controlled they had taken so much control over them that they can’t conceive of worshipping the Supreme Lord. Of course, their material desires were not totally destroyed.
They were totally destroyed and they would just become grossly, sinfully materialistic. This will not become sinfully materialistic but they are going to some other devatas. This is Vitargyana.
So, that means, this is actually a very strong strong at one level, condemnation of the Lord Krishna. Everyone is saying, death of worship is towards the Vitargyana. So, the absolute point of view of the Vitargyana is that this is not beneficial.
Prabhadyante Anvidevata We surrender to other gods. So, Prabhupada, in the 4th chapter, he says actually all kinds of services apart from the service to Krishna is too tight. Whether it be national service, social service, cultural service, automobile service, dog service, cat service.
Now, this is social service of no one. Dog service, automobile service, that is so mundane, so materialistic. But from the absolute perspective, everything is a distraction.
Your social service can be a distraction to Krishna. So, Prabhupada is serious on that perspective. Similarly, from the absolute perspective, you don’t surrender to Krishna.
As compared to those who are Gyanavar, those who don’t understand Vasudeva Sarovar, they are Vitargyana. They go to other devatas and according to their own natures, they try to worship. Then what happens? Shraddhayaar chitturichchati Shraddhayaar chitturichchati tasya tasya chalam shraddha tasya tasya chalam shraddha taameva viddhaam jnanam taameva viddhaam jnanam So, Kalu refers to form.
So, whatever form they desire to worship. Shraddhayaar chitturichchati with faith desire to worship. Tantam tasya tasya chalam shraddha I give faith, I kill him with that form.
And taameva viddhaam, I kill that faith. And why does Krishna give that faith? Because actually they are coming in the house of Krishna. Remember I gave the example of a prince who has gone away from his father.
So then, he is not ready to come back to his father. His father sends a minister. The minister says, I have so much wealth and I am paying this much, come back to me.
So how is he having that wealth? Because his father wants it. But that’s what enables him to come closer. So Krishna gives faith.
And what happens Krishna when he gives faith, he gives something more also. Shraddhayaar chitturichchati with faith desire to worship. Tantam tasya chalam shraddha I give faith, I kill him with that form.
Tantam tasya chalam shraddha I kill him with that form. Tantam tasya chalam shraddha I kill him with that form. Tantam tasya chalam shraddha So, when you are worshipping with this shraddha, that particular devata, they get the results.
But how do they get the results? So now at this stage, somebody will say, okay fine. So this whole system is arranged by you only. You are only giving faith.
You are only giving fruits. So what’s wrong with it? In the next verse where he concludes, he is speaking about worship. antavattu phalaptesha antavattu phalaptesha padmavadya alpamedha saam padmavadya alpamedha saam deva deva jo yanti deva deva jo yanti So Krishna is saying that these are temporary fruits.
Although they get fruit, they are temporary. They don’t last for long. And therefore, one who seeks a temporary is alpamedha saam.
He is having less intelligence. He has intelligence. But very little intelligence.
Alpam So now, Krishna uses another variant of the word alpam in a positive sense earlier. So alpam apyasi dharmas trayate mato maya So even little spiritual advancement at this stage is eternal. But here alpam has little intelligence.
I do not understand what is actually of eternal gain. You know, a wise person should not settle for anything less than the best. A wise person should not settle So alpamedha saam, because he settled for that same kind of worship, that same kind of effort, they directly told Krishna they could have got eternal result.
With the directive of temporary. Prabhupada explains the purport, what all is temporary? He says the demigods blessings, planets, their worshippers and demigods themselves all are temporary. Because of this focussing on this kind of worship is a sign of less intelligence.
If somebody has to do worship, imagine that there are two colleges and I will get an engineering degree from both colleges. And both have to more or less similar effort is there. I have to study, I have to pass the exams, I have to follow the rules.
But one college is going to give the degree which is going to be available only for 5 years. Another college is going to give degree which is going to be available lifelong. If somebody settles for a 5 year degree, then he is alpamedha saam.
So, alpamedha saam means what? Want to settle for something less than the best. Something eternal or something temporary. So, now we may not have any experience of college that gives degree that is only valid for 5 years.
But there are courses, especially if somebody goes in the field of software, somebody learns a course and then that field itself becomes obsolete after some time. You know, you have somebody studying some languages which were used earlier after some years when the person got the job actually. It’s like a country that is speaking a different language of it.
The language that we knew earlier without much use. So, there is this whole field where a person gets caught up in just working so hard for something temporary, so free to do. So, it’s alpamedha saam.
Madh bhakta yamati naam. Don’t worship me, they come to me. Krishna has already mentioned that he is transcendental.
Jyot is an aprayatma. He is eternal. Taparataram naam.
So, in this way, Krishna has compared demigod worshippers with his devotees and has shown how surrendering to him is better. Next verse, which we will discuss tomorrow, we will talk about impersonalists and he will show how actually worshipping him is far better than worshipping the impersonal government. So, any questions? Thank you very much.