Gita Study Mumbai 2012 10.1-10.11 Knowledge about Krishna – the rarity the speciality and the methodology

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
The 10th chapter, what is it called as? Anyone knows? Opulence of the Absolute, yes. The 7th chapter was called as the Knowledge of the Absolute. So, even if we look at the title that Sri Prabhupada has given, it indicates that it’s proceeding deeper now.
So, initially, I want to know about God. Okay, I get general knowledge about God, I get knowledge about his relationship with the material world. But now, we are focussing on the greatness of God.
So, of course, the opulence is not just the greatness. There will be hints of his sweetness also. So, the word opulence is Sri Prabhupada’s translation of in that it is a translation of Aishwarya.
This chapter is technically called as Vibhuti Yoga. So, Prabhupada translates both these words as opulence. Both Aishwarya and Vibhuti as this one.
Okay, let’s start with the first one. So, the link between these two chapters is Krishna’s enthusiasm to speak more. Just like from the 8th to the 9th chapter, there was no impetus, no question.
Krishna himself was inspired to speak more about Bhakti. The 9th chapter actually focused more on Bhakti. The 10th chapter will focus more on Bhagavan.
So, in that sense, for the deepening of the devotional relationship, there has to be understanding of the glory of Bhakti and Bhagavan. So, of course, Bhakti will be glorified also, but Bhagavan will be a greater focus. So, let’s look at the overview of this chapter.
There are 42 verses in this chapter. This among the longer chapters, the longest is 18th chapter with 78 verses. Second longest is 2nd chapter with 72 verses.
Then the third longest is 11th chapter with 55 verses. In general, 42-43 verses is about the length of the longer chapters. the 4th chapter had 42 verses.
The 3rd chapter had 43 verses. This has 42 verses. So, this is among the longer chapters of the Gita.
The 5th longest chapter. So, the first 7 verses talk about when Krishna is saying, I want to give you this knowledge again. Actually, no one knows me.
No one knows Krishna as he is the source of all. So, what is the point of saying no one knows Krishna? The knowledge that he is going to give is very rare, very special. That is verses 1-7.
Then verses 8-11 in the Chatusloka Gita. So, if Krishna cannot be known, then how can we love him? No, he can be known, but through Bhakti by his grace. Krishna can be known only through Bhakti by his grace.
That is the essential verses of the Chatusloka Gita. Verses 8-11. After that, 12-18 whatever Krishna has spoken, Arjuna accepts Krishna’s glories and desires to hear more.
Please tell me more Krishna. There is an explicit question which will come. The 3 verses which come as a question.
2-3 and then after that, from 19-42, Krishna will speak his vibhutis. How to know Krishna through his vibhutis? So, the focus of this chapter is knowledge about God, knowledge of the opulence of God. So, what are the 4 features there in that? God cannot be known by anyone else, but he can be known by his grace through Bhakti.
So, then Arjuna accepts it. Yes, you can be known. Please tell me more about you.
And Krishna says, okay, I’ll tell you more about my vibhutis. And then he tells, that is the major part of the chapter. So, in this way, this chapter focusses on, actually Prabhupada says, the knowledge of the absolutes, the vibhuti, opulence of the absolute.
So, the vibhuti is actually from the parts 19-42. But the earlier part is also more like a bhakti vibhuti, a different kind of vibhuti. So, let’s move forward now.
What is… Bhuya eva mahabaho. Mahabaho. Oh, Arjuna, you are a great person.
Now, the word Mahabaho is used by Krishna for Arjuna also. Do you remember where? Asamshayam mahabaho Manodurnigraham chelan. So, Arjuna tells Krishna that actually I cannot control the mind.
He says, oh, you are very Mahabaho, you are very powerful. So, Mahabaho is a general reference to a general glorification of Kshatriya. It can be used for many Kshatriyas.
So, Krishna uses it for Arjuna. Arjuna also uses it for Krishna. Bhuya.
Bhuya means again. So, what does this again refer to? Actually, Krishna has spoken about bhakti already. But he is going to speak again.
Now, again, it’s not just a plain repetition. It’s an elaborate issue. It’s a greater illumination.
But still, the theme is same. That’s why the word is Bhuya eva Mahabaho Shruno paramam vachaha Shruno, hear me, and he is saying these are paramam vachaha. They are the supreme words.
So, that means he is speaking about the most confidential knowledge of bhakti over here. That is paramam vachaha. And why am I speaking this? Yatteham Priyamanaya Priyamanaya can refer to both ways.
That you are dear to me or I am dear to you. Just like we have Gopiji Krishna, one of Krishna’s name is Gopijanavallab. Jai Radha Madhava Kunju Gopijanavallab.
So, Gopijanavallab can be one who loves the Gopijans or one whom the Gopijans love. So, like that Priyamanaya can refer to both. So, it refers to the loving connection.
So, because I love you and because you love me, therefore I speak this for your benefit. Hithkamaya What is the Hith? In the previous chapter, Krishna had said that Bhaja Svamam Anityam Sukham Lokam Inam Prapte Bhaja Svamam Just become my devotee. But to become my devotee you need to So, becoming my devotee will lead to your greatest well-being.
So, to become my devotee, you need to know more about my glories. Therefore, I will speak about this to you. So, the Hitha is to know more about Krishna and we become more attracted to him.
That brings auspiciousness in our life. So, Srila Prabhupada gives an overview of the previous few chapters in his introduction, in his purport of this verse. Name Vidur Surganaha Name Vidur Surganaha Prabhavam Namah Harsheya Prabhavam Namah Harsheya Aham Adirhi Devanam Aham Adirhi Devanam So, now Krishna is, like he had done in 7th and 9th chapters, he is glorifying the knowledge that he is giving.
And he is saying that now from Arjuna’s perspective, Arjuna is a Kshatriya. Now, the Devatas, especially the administrative Devata, like Indra, Chandra, Surya they are all Kshatriyas. Brahmaji is considered to be a Brahmana.
But the administrative Devatas, Brahmaji is not like a functional manager. Brahmaji is considered a Brahmana. But Indra and other Devatas are considered to be Kshatriyas.
So, even the Kshatriyas greater than you, you are a Rajyushi, but even these great Devatas, they don’t know me. And okay, so from Arjuna’s perspective the Devatas are higher to him as Kshatriyas. And from Arjuna’s perspective the Brahmanas are higher than him.
So, he says even the Rishis don’t know me. That means, actually this knowledge is so rare, that neither the Devatas nor the Maharshis know him. So, after he describes this, neither know.
Why don’t they know? Because Aham Adhithi Devanam. I am the source of both of them. Just like a father may say, I have seen you right from your childhood, I know you.
But a child says, father, I know you. How do I know? You don’t know anything about my childhood. So, I am the beginning.
Therefore, I was existing before all of them. Therefore, they cannot know me. So, this is the verse which Srila Prabhupada would quote quite often to show how even the demigods and sages cannot know Krishna.
And now after describing, the theme of this is that knowledge about Krishna is very rare. And he will give it to him. Now, Arjuna may get a question.
Okay. This knowledge is so rare. Just because something is rare, it doesn’t make it special.
Isn’t it? Now, the Buddhist book record is filled with so many rare achievements. Somebody might have nails which are 6.5 feet long. You know, that is rare.
But just because something is rare, it doesn’t make it valuable. So, knowledge about you might be rare. But what is the advantage of knowing about you? How is it valuable? How is it beneficial? That Krishna describes in the next verse.
Asamuda Samarteshu Asamuda Samarteshu Hmm. So, actually this verse describes one benefit of what is the value of knowing about Krishna. so this 10.3 describes one part of it and 10.7 will describe the other part, so 10.3 says one will become free from sin but we don’t want to know Krishna just for that purpose, then 10.7 will describe, when we come to that we will see it will describe that now by knowledge of Krishna will become fully devoted to Krishna, makes one free from sin, all sin and then it makes one fully devoted to Krishna, so this was starting, so it gives one benefit of that knowledge of Krishna knowledge about Krishna itself is purifying, the more we know Krishna that contemplation on Krishna, that connection with Krishna purifies us, so that we become free from sinful reactions but there is greater benefit also which Krishna will talk about later, so actually both these benefits together where do they come, they come in 4.9, what is 4.9, so so now let’s move forward, so what should a person know, he understands me that I am unborn and I have no beginning, now why two words I use because even Brahmaji is called as Ajah, because he also is called unborn because he does not have any, he is not born in a normal way but still Brahmaji has a beginning, so Krishna is Ajah not like Brahma, he is ultimately Ajah in the sense that he has no beginning, and even the Atma may be said to be Anadi, this is no Vetti, Lok Maheshwara, so these describers are very specific over here, Ajah can be Brahma also but only Krishna is Anadi, and Anadi can be the soul also but only Krishna is Sarva Loka Maheshwaram, so in this way Sarva Loka Maheshwaram is Vetti Loka, not Sarva Loka, this Loka Maheshwaram, he is a lord of all planets, so in this way Krishna’s supreme position is distinctively pointed out in this verse and it is this supreme position that has to be understood, when this position is understood then the person becomes Sarva Paapai Brahmachyate, he becomes freed from all sins, so now after describing this Krishna will say that how actually he is not just the source of the Devatas, he is the source of everything in the world, he is the source of everything not just in terms of things but also in terms of qualities.
So, Prabhupada in the Purport gives a summary description of all these qualities, I will not go into that because that can become a separate class, which is one interesting definition, Prabhupada gives an interesting definition of knowledge, sorry intelligence, intelligence refers to the power to analyse things in their proper perspective, so knowledge is theoretical, knowledge refers to understanding what is matter and what is spirit, but intelligence means to see things in their proper perspective, this is less important, this is more important, so to have the proper sense of perspective is called as intelligence. So, Radhan Maharaj explains, intelligence means to understand what is central and what is peripheral, what is more important and what is less important, the ability to discern between the two, that is actually intelligence. Now, what is Krishna actually saying by giving this list of qualities, some of these qualities seem contradictory, Krishna is saying Bhaya and Abhaya, both come from me, so first he actually gives qualities which seem to be in the mode of goodness, but after giving those qualities, he moves forward and says that Bhayam Cha Bhayam and then he says Sukham Dukham, Sukha and Dukha also come from me, so essentially the focus of this verse is that whatever exists in this world comes from Krishna, so now the specific ways in which the qualities manifest in different people, that is not determined by Krishna, that is determined by individual karma, the principle that these qualities exist, where does qualities originate from? They originate from Krishna, so the essential point is that Krishna is the source of everything and he will make it more clear in the first Shloka of the Chaturthi Shloka Gita and why there are contradictory things described, actually even the dualities of material existence come from Krishna, so the good comes from Krishna, even the bad comes from Krishna, ultimately speaking, just as ultimately because of the sun only the light comes and because of the sun only the shadow comes, although the sun is not the cause of darkness, but still ultimately without the sun neither shadow nor light would be there, so like that Sukham Dukham Bhayam Cha Bhayam.
So now after describing this, Krishna will move forward, it’s a long purport and you can read this, so after Krishna describes, all the qualities come from me, so earlier he has said that I am older, I am older than the Devas and even the Rishis, but now it’s one thing to say that I am older than him, it’s another thing to say that I am the source of that person, so now Krishna will make it more clear, Aham Adiri Devanam Maharshi Nand Sarvacha, Aham Adiri means I am before them, but now Krishna says it’s not just like I am the older brother and they are younger brother, I am the father of everyone. I Prabhupada explained that this is synopsis of the genealogical genealogical synopsis of the universal population, so genealogy refers to the races, how different races, dynasties come down, so genealogy refers to that study, so synopsis, all the dynasties come down ultimately from Krishna, how they come down is described over here, so Vishwaprabhupada explains that actually some people say that there are the seven Gotras as per the Saptarishis, so all of us ultimately come from the seven Gotras, but according to traditional Hindus, they say that only those who are Hindus belong to the seven Gotras and those who are not Hindus don’t belong to one of the Gotras, but actually there is no such word Hindu in the Vedic scriptures and all living beings come ultimately, they are populated through Krishna, through Brahma, through the Gotras only, so that connection may have been lost historically, so we may not be able to trace from a dynastic point of view, okay, somebody is European, somebody is American, which Gotra that person belongs to, but still that person ultimately belongs to one of the Gotras only, but because that Gotra is not known now and traditionally people don’t accept that foreigners could be of one of the Gotras, Sushila Prabhupada would say that if any devotees are asked which Gotra you belong to, you say the Achyut Gotra, that is the Gotra that comes from, we are devotees of Lord Achyut, but that doesn’t mean that our whatever Gotra we are born in that changes, just like we may have a material surname, we become devotees, we get a new initiative, that doesn’t mean that we no longer belong to our material family, it’s something more that’s added to us, so these are the way the universes get populated and Krishna is saying that the emphasis is here, in this chapter we will see that Krishna assumes a lot of knowledge about the Vedic culture and the Vedic cosmology, so remember when we study the Bhagavad Gita there are different kinds of questions we can discuss, about the internal flow of the Gita, about the concepts that were assumed to be known by the Gita at the time of the Gita and about concepts that we need to understand in relationship with our current understanding, so this chapter will have a lot of those previous concepts, that’s why we will not go very much into detail of that, in the Bhagavatam, in the second canto and third canto the whole process of creation is described, so how these sages actually become the source of the creation that is described, but the important principle is that Krishna is the source of all of them, so now here Krishna will describe the second consequence of knowing him, second part of that benefit of knowing him, so of this there is no doubt, so where does this verse come? Something like that, same phrase, so actually speaking this sort of word comes because when anybody gives us promise in this world, we always have a little doubt whether the person will stick to his promise or not, so whereas when Krishna gives the promise, the promise is absolute, but however because of our experience in this world of people not keeping their promises, we may still have doubts, there is no doubt about this, so here Krishna is interestingly describing that knowledge will inspire us towards devotion, same word, so one does not have to understand Krishna just as a historical person or like we have this little Krishna documentary, people think of Krishna as just a documentary entertainment character, that sort of understanding will not do, that will not inspire us to become unalloyed devotees, when we understand Krishna as tattvataha, then we will, so avikalpena yogena, so what is the meaning of vikalpa? Alternative or option, actually if you understand Krishna is the source of everything and everyone, then there is no alternative left for us, there is no alternative left for us, so once Jaya Dev Maharaj was asked, one devotee asked, maaji what inspired you to practise Krishna consciousness, he said the philosophy left me with no alternative, the philosophy was so convincing that there is no alternative any left, so vikalpena yogena yujyate na atra samshaya, and we understand the glory of Krishna, this is what happens, yujyate, now Krishna will summarise what he has told, so he has told a lot till now, the next four verses Ramacharya calls as the chatushloki Gita and our Acharyas also follow that, so I am going a little fast here, because many of the things we have already discussed and there are not many new concepts involved, wherever they will come we will discuss, so now let us have a look at these four verses, first let me look at the connection of these four verses, so what is Krishna telling over here, aham sarvasya prabho mattah sarvam pravartate, now in one sense everything comes from me, I am the source of everything, mattah sarvam pravartate, all things emanate from me, it seems to be a little redundant, isn’t it, first and second lines seem to be saying the same thing, I am the source of all material worlds and everything emanates from me, so actually Krishna Chitrakoor explains that pravartate can also mean operates, so all things emanate from me and all things operate in me, so the first line says that, okay, all things come from, but it is not that after everything comes from Krishna, nothing goes out of control, everything are operating under him also, so pravartate means operates, that means it is under Krishna’s control as it was told in 9.10, so what is that operates in Krishna, now it is not just that say science has found certain laws like the law of gravity or what they operate, so yes, they also operate under Krishna’s will, under Krishna’s sanction, but also actually all the sadhanas for achieving Krishna, so all the processes, ashtanga yoga, dhyana yoga, karma yoga, karma kanda, all these also operate under Krishna, that means prabho means emanates and pravartate means operates, so this includes laws of science and methods of sadhana, so laws of science are about the material realm, methods of sadhana are of subtler realm, they all operate under Krishna’s control, laws of science, laws of karma, methods of sadhana, all of them operate under Krishna’s control, now interestingly Avaracharyas use this verse, Jiva Goswami and others that aham sarvasya prabho, they use it to say that here Krishna is telling that I am the source of everyone, that means Krishna is actually saying I am the source of Vishnu also, everyone means Vishnu also, so that means actually everyone and everything comes from me, aham sarvasya prabho mattah sarvam pravartate, and if somebody knows me thus iti matva, if somebody knows me thus what will happen, bhajante ma, such a person will become my devotee, budha bhava samanvitaha, so actually now how are these four verses connected, I will just come to that, yeah that’s what I said, yeah I said this is our Acharya’s commentary inside, this is inside, it is not explicitly what aham refers to is open to interpretation, all that I am saying is that this is what our Acharya is explaining, now bhava, what are the two meanings of bhava you remember, nature or existence and the other is normal meaning is emotion, so here what is the meaning that it refers to, bhava samanvitaha, with bhava, that refers to with emotions, so actually here when somebody understands Krishna’s position, then they will start worshipping him with the heart, bhava samanvitaha, so we will discuss how this process happens, but actually at the highest level our emotion is our existence, what does this mean, actually shanta ras, dasya ras, sakhya ras, they are emotions, but they are our very existence, so when we go back to spiritual world, all of us have a particular assign which we serve Krishna, so bhava samanvitaha means according to our emotion will become our existence, so this is indicating another word is sadbhava bhavitaha, sadatadbhava bhavitaha, so bhava bhavitaha is 8.6, so bhava bhavitaha means, bhava is subtle emotion, bhavitaha means gross existence, so from the subtle emotion the gross existence comes up, so if I have a subtle emotion of a lower animal like a hog which eats indiscriminately, then the gross existence of a hog will manifest as my body, so when I have the bhava of a Krishna bhakta, then my existence will be in the realm of Krishna bhakti, bhava bhavitaha, so budha bhava samanvitaha, so now let us look at how the flow of the shloka, before we move forward let us look at this, so what is the essential message of 10.8, those who know I am the source of everything become enlightened and worship me wholeheartedly, so this enlightened is budha, budha means enlightened, in fact the word budha is a variant of budhavani, so budha is the opposite of mudha, mudha is foolish, budha is wise, intelligent and devote to wholeheartedly bhava samanvitaha, this is the first words, now 10.9 describes how they become devoted to me and 10.11 describe how they become budha, so in a sense this verse is giving the entirety of the shloka and the remaining three verses are elaborating on it, so one who knows me as the source of everything, he becomes enlightened and he becomes devoted to me, so Krishna will first describe how they become devoted to me and then he will describe how they become enlightened, how they become completely enlightened, so let us recite the next verse and then we will come back to this flow, so it is interesting, Krishna is here also saying that knowledge will lead to devotion, so how does knowledge lead to devotion, actually it is not just dry gyani type knowledge, it is knowledge that is about Krishna and knowledge about Krishna increases our attraction to Krishna, so when the gyan is condemned sometimes, that is actually shushka gyan, that is the knowledge about nirvishesha brahman, that is not conducive to bhakti, but knowledge about Krishna is highly conducive to bhakti, so Krishna wholeheartedly recommends that over here. So, this was described how they practise bhakti, bhava samangitaha, and while describing this, how many of the limbs of devotional service are described over here, bodhayantaha, bodhayantaha is speaking, bodhayantaha and kathayantaha is speaking and hearing, so shravanam kirtan is there, and macchitta is smaranam, so these 3 chakravarti paths are the primary limbs of bhakti, if you see among the 9 limbs of bhakti, shravanam kirtanam, krishnosmaranam padasevanam, archanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atmanivedanam, so if you see among these 9 limbs, the most important are those which are directly, if you see some of these are activities atmanivedanam, so atmanivedanam is something which Bali Maharaj did once in a lifetime, and by that he became glorious, shravanam kirtanam, on the other hand dasyam, the example of this Hanuman, that is actually the eternal rasa of Hanuman, she is to be a das, and is constantly serving Krishna, so among these, at the sadhaka level, shranam, kirtanam, smaranam are extremely important, because they are directly connected with Krishna, so you see they are the most important, and then how they do it, nityam, constantly they try to do it, and Prabhupada translated this machitta as very beautiful, machitta somebody who just says think about me, their consciousness is me, but actually Prabhupada is so insightful, his translation is thoughts of my pure devotees dwell in me, so Krishna becomes the home for his devotees, and their thoughts constantly stay within Krishna, just as we may go out of home sometimes, but as soon as our work is done, we come back home, so like that devotees may have to think of something else, functional necessity, but as soon as that is done, they will come back to thoughts of Krishna, it’s a very precise and insightful translation that Prabhupada is giving, thoughts of my pure devotees dwell in me, machitta, and madgata prana, prana means that whole existence is devoted to me, so actually normally a sanyasi, he carries three dandas, what is the reason for three dandas, mind, body and soul, all three are devoted to Krishna, so like that, all three are devoted for a devotee also, so machitta refers to the mind, then madgata prana refers to the life itself, that means it refers to the body, so the lifespan is related with the body, and then immediately everything else, that refers to the speech, so a devotee devotes all these three to Krishna, right, and body, mind and words, everything he devotes to Krishna, and how does he devote it, so tushyanti cha, ramanti cha, so actually these two are increasing degrees, tushyanti means to be satisfied, and ramanti means to be delighted, so what is the difference between being satisfied and being delighted, actually tushyanti is something, it’s like a slightly lower level, okay, I’m satisfied, so for example, if somebody offers, we had a nice feast and somebody offers a little more, so I’m satisfied, tushyanti satisfaction, it is more of a, it is a congenial state, it is a joyful state, but still it is more like positive, so on the other hand, if somebody is dancing and singing, you don’t say I’m satisfied, I’m ecstatic, I’m delighted, isn’t it, so they’re not only tushyanti, they are ramanti cha, and our Acharya described that actually this ramanti is an indication of madhurya rasa, why, because ramana, Krishna is called as radhika ramana, radha ramana, so ramana is actually, the word is very strongly related with the conjugal attraction, so the male-female interaction is often the word, ramana is used with respect to that, so ramanti cha, so just as Madhusudana Saraswati is a sort of impersonal commentator, but even he says in his commentary that and Chakravarti Path quotes him also, even he says that actually, this is referring to the love of a boy for a girl or girl for a boy, so just as when a boy and a girl meet each other, they don’t say we are satisfied, they are delighted in their company, so like that there is positive delight, ramanti cha, tushyanti cha, ramanti cha, devotee delights in Krishna’s association, and another expression that is given is, this is another very beautiful expression of these two words is, tushyanti is satisfied with current level of advancement and delighted about what is going to come in the future, and that means as sadhakas, we may not always feel ecstatic, but we know we are on the right track, we are getting purified, so at whatever level of advancement, we are always satisfied, but when we think forward, the more pure we become, the more ecstasy we will experience, the more we will deserve Krishna, then we feel delighted by that prospect, tushyanti cha, ramanti cha, this way this verse very clearly describes how a devotee is bhava samandita, is absorbed with his heart in Krishna sense, after describing this, now Krishna will describe how the devotee becomes Buddha, this is one of Prabhupada’s oft quoted verses and he would often quote this when devotees would come up with some new ideas for expanding preaching, he says, yes, because you are sincere, Krishna is guiding you from within the heart of how to serve you, so dhami buddhi yogam, dhami, Krishna Prabhupada also uses it, when he was asked, Prabhupada, how are you writing so many books, Prabhupada uses this verse to say that, because a devotee tries to glorify Krishna, so he just sits in one place and Krishna gives him ideas, you can write this, you can write that, and he keeps writing books upon books and books, so like that, whatever service you want to do, Krishna will give the ideas, dhami buddhi yogam tam, this verse actually describes the dynamism of bhakti, what is the dynamism of bhakti, that when we try to serve Krishna, priti purvakam, when we try to serve Krishna lovingly, then he reciprocates by giving us intelligence about how to serve him better, how to come closer to him, so bhakti, sometimes people feel, oh bhakti, there are so many rules to follow, bhakti will become very mechanical, wake up in the morning, do this, do this, do this, although to some extent the rules determine our life, but rules don’t determine 24 hours of our day, and there are so many things, so many times, when we know standard guideline of how we should remember Krishna at that time, so actually speaking, if we try to serve Krishna, Krishna will give us his remembrance in various ways, according to time, place, circumstance, so the devotees sometimes preach in jail, so did I tell you about the Tihar youth jail, our devotees went and preached over there, so this Aroham Prabhu, he had gone there, he had been invited there to preach, and when he went there, he saw the young people were there, it’s a separate youth jail, why, because the youth are mixed with other prisoners, they will all become hardcore criminals, so you keep them, save them from bad association, that is the idea, but when they went there, all the youth were resentful, oh, the sadhu, why should we hear him, so when he started, he was wondering how to open their hearts, because if you have to give spiritual message, when they are suspicious, they are irritable, we can’t speak to them, how to open their heart, he said, I was praying to Krishna, and then he went there, the first sentence he spoke, not many of them clapped, and then they sat down, heard the class, and then in their kirtan, they all chanted Hare Krishna, took Bhagavad Gita, started chanting Hare Krishna also, so one of the first sentences he spoke, he said, all of you are not offenders, we are offenders, because we did not give you Krishna’s message before this, you know, nobody had spoken like this to them, and of course, this is not just some clever trick of the words that we use at that time, it is also an authentic video of the heart, but this cannot be planned, this cannot be rehearsed that I will speak this, how Krishna will give intelligence to a devotee at that particular time, if a devotee has a sincere desire to serve Krishna, Krishna will help in many miraculous ways, what to speak, how to act, what to do, all this will be guided by Krishna in extraordinary ways, when a devotee tries to serve Krishna, I will give the intelligence by which you can come back to me, so as devotees, we do know that we have to repeat the philosophy and we have to represent the parampara, but always, it is not a word that has to be repeated just as it is, on time, place, circumstance, they have to be sensitively worded, and that intelligence Krishna will give us, so this is the dynamism of bhakti, and to experience the dynamism of bhakti, we have to do our part by doing it priti purvam, so if we are not doing it in a loving, devotional attitude, if we are doing it in a resentful attitude, then we will not get any new ideas, any new realisations, and bhakti will become very dry, but if we are doing our part, then Krishna will do his part, and bhakti will become ever fresh, see this is not the freshness that comes when we start relishing Krishna’s beauty, that is at a very advanced stage, see for a pure devotee, he does not need the dhami buddhi yogam tam, ye namah upayanate, because he is already with Krishna, this verse is not talking about a siddha devotee, this verse is talking about a sadhaka going towards a siddha, so when we are entirely purified, just like Yamunacharya is saying that, nava nava rasa dhamanya uddhita manantu maasi, that I am relishing new new mellows in remembering Krishna, that is a very high level, but even at our level, if we try to serve Krishna, and try to with a devotional attitude, Krishna how can I improve my service to you, we keep thinking like that, then Krishna has so many ideas, how we can keep improving things, and that becomes our source of absorption, our source of satisfaction, our source of ecstasy also, so the idea is that even for a sadhaka, bhakti can become dynamic and ecstatic, because Krishna will give you new new ideas of how to serve, and that will make bhakti more joyful, so here Krishna is making it very clear, the Mayavadis have the idea that devotion is a tool to knowledge, and after you get devotion, then you come to jnana, and then you give up devotion, but Krishna is telling over here that actually knowledge and devotion are dynamically related, when the knowledge leads to devotion, and devotion leads to further knowledge, so what are the 10.8 says that when you have knowledge, and you will worship me with devotion, so actually there is a symbiotic relationship between knowledge and devotion, what is this, so what does 10.8 say, what leads to what, 10.8 says knowledge leads to devotion or devotion leads to knowledge, what does 10.8 say, knowledge leads to devotion, and what does 10.10 say, devotion leads to knowledge, therefore the relationship is symbiotic, you know symbiotic, symbiosis means one benefits the other, the other benefits the first, so Mayavadis have the idea that okay, actually you practise bhakti, when you come to jnana, you give up bhakti, it is not as simple as that, both are symbiotic, and actually Krishna says even knowledge is important, Krishna is not just saying that some, some, some bhaktas who are in sahajiya tendency, they say actually knowledge is not important, so only bhakti is important, that is not true, Krishna is saying knowledge is the foundation of bhakti, bhakti is independent, at the same time within bhakti, there is shravanam kirtanam vishnu, and for shravanam kirtanam, we need some substance, and that substance is the knowledge of Krishna, so actually speaking, the idea over here is that when Krishna is talking, there is jnana marga, there is bhakti marga, they are two separate, jnana marga will take one to Brahman, bhakti marga will take one to Bhagwan, but jnana marga does not have a monopoly on jnana, it is not that only jnana, those on jnana marga have jnana, even those on bhakti marga also have jnana, so the jnana about Krishna is different from the jnana of the jnana yogis on the jnana marga, so this jnana is an element of bhakti itself, yes bhakti is independent, but bhakti is independent in the sense that it is not dependent on jnana yoga, but at the same time, bhakti is also complete, bhakti includes knowledge within itself, so the words jnana can refer to jnana yoga or they can refer to knowledge itself, so bhakti is independent of any other paths, it is independent of jnana yoga, but at the same time, bhakti includes knowledge within itself, bhakti is complete, knowledge about Krishna, correct, yes, so bhakti is independent of jnana yoga, but while it is independent of jnana yoga, it also incorporates, incorporation includes jnana within itself, that is how, when we are talking about 7.4 also, several places knowledge in bhagavad gita has been talked about repeatedly, isn’t it, so knowledge is a limb of bhakti if knowledge is centred on Krishna, so jnana of brahman, impersonal brahman is pratipun to bhakti, but jnana of bhagavan is anupun to bhakti, they are different things, so now Krishna is not giving brahman jnana, he is giving bhagavad jnana, that is very anupun for bhakti, yes, Krishna is saying, I am speaking this knowledge, 7.2, jnanam teham sabhi jnana, I am giving jnana to you, so Krishna is saying, when you know this, nothing more will be there to be known, so it is important, a good point, actually Prabhupada will explain the purport, let’s move to the next verse, actually Prabhupada will explain, this is the next purport, that sometimes a devotee may not be very learned, but if a devotee sincerely serves Krishna, Krishna from within will give knowledge to that devotee, so now somebody may ask, how does this dhami buddhi yogam tam work, so here it was said that 10.
how they become buddha, so now the 10 describes, I give buddhi yoga and 11 describes, how Krishna gives buddhi yoga, how Krishna gives buddhi is present in the heart and from within the heart, he destroys the darkness and he lights the torch of knowledge and in this way he gives knowledge, so actually Prabhupada writes in this purport, that some people say that devotees are sentimental, they are not very scholarly, but he says that Goswamis are among the greatest of scholars, so devotees are scholarly, but it is not that devotees have to be scholarly, even if a devotee is not scholarly, the gamut of bhakti includes everyone, it includes the scholarly and it includes the unscholarly also, everybody can be elevated by bhakti, so if somebody is scholarly, there is so much that a person can study to understand Krishna’s goal, if a person is unscholarly, not so scholarly, then still the person can just try to serve Krishna, serve his devotees and Krishna will give him clues about how to make spiritual advancement and how to return back to him, so these purports are very illuminating, 10.8 purport focusses primarily on establishing Krishna’s supremacy, so if you read the purport, Prabhupada is giving so many pramanas for how Krishna is aham sarvasya prabhavo and then 10.9 he is describing practically how a devotee delights in serving Krishna and 10 and 11 he describes how Krishna guides a devotee, so these four verses in a sense, if you see how this is working out to be, there is sambandha, abhidheya and prayojan, so 10.8 is sambandha, 10.9 is describing abhidheya and prayojan both and 10.10 and 11 are describing abhidheya once again, I will explain this once again, so 10.8 is sambandha, primarily sambandha actually, in a sense it describes all three, sambandha, abhidheya and prayojan, it is a very condensed verse, how it describes all three, sambandha is that Krishna is the source of everything including me and then bhava samanvitaha, so to perform bhakti with devotion, now in the sadhaka stage we strive to do it, then it is abhidheya, when we have bhava, it is prayojan, so in that sense, all three sambandha, abhidheya and prayojan are described in 10.8, in 10.9 there is abhidheya and prayojan, how it is abhidheya, machita madgata prana bodhayanta parasparam, this is abhidheya and prayojan means raman ticha, when one actually delights in it, then actually that is prayojan, that is actually the stage of love of Krishna and the last two verses are abhidheyavan, describing how one practises devotional service, it describes the process of devotional service, so in that sense, the three broad categories of Vedic knowledge which Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has explained to us, they are incorporated within these four verses, so in this way, they are a summary of the Bhagavad Gita, so thank you very much, we will continue tomorrow.