Gita Study Mumbai 2012 09.1-9.9 The glory of knowledge about Krishna

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So today we start with the 9th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. The 9th chapter is called as Raj Vidya Raj Guhiya Yoga. The title is the most confidential knowledge.
here, this chapter and the 12th chapter especially are intensely devotional. In the 10th chapter is devotional. Bhagavad Gita will come in the 10th chapter.
But here, we will find very disarming revelations of Krishna’s heart. Let’s have a overview, look at the overview of this chapter. Before that, on what note did the 8th chapter end? That a devotee will get all the results of all other paths without having to take up any anxiety of material factors like timings.
So, there were two advantages of Bhakti talked about. One is that one does not have to worry about material factors like what time one departs. Naite Sruti Parth Janiyogi Muniyati Kishchan.
That is the first fact. Advantage. First glory.
Second was that you will get all the results and more. So, after glorifying Bhakti in this way, Krishna now feels inspired to talk more about Bhakti. He has glorified Bhakti already.
But he wants to glorify more Bhakti so that actually Arjuna becomes convinced to practise Bhakti. So, there are some chapters where the start is a prodding question from Krishna. The 3rd chapter started with a question from Krishna.
The 5th chapter started with a question from Krishna. The 8th chapter started with a question from Krishna. So, the 9th chapter, there is no question as such.
But there is a direct connection. At the same part that Krishna glorified towards the 8th chapter. But the 8th chapter glorification was focused more on preparing for death and comparing with the process of Ashtang Yoga.
Now, in the 9th chapter, there will be a more emphatic glorification of Bhakti. Now, the 9th chapter has many similarities with the 7th chapter. We will discuss that after looking at the overview.
So, first, Krishna talks about the glory of the knowledge that he is giving about himself. So, what is the glory of that knowledge? That will help one to develop Kevala Bhakti. So, verses 1, 2, 3 talk about developing Kevala Bhakti by knowledge about Krishna.
So, the emphasis is Bhakti, but knowledge helps in Bhakti. We will discuss how knowledge helps. And then to emphasise the glory of Bhakti, one has to emphasise the glory of Bhagawan.
Because Bhagawan is the object of Bhakti. So, therefore, verses 4 to 10 talk about Krishna’s inconceivable relationship with the material world. So, here there will be the famous verse, Mayat Kamidam Sarvam and several other verses like that.
And after that, after describing his relationship with the world, which is inconceivable, because this relationship is inconceivable, different people understand Krishna in different ways. It is not easy to understand. That’s why some people understand right, some people understand wrong, and some people understand intermediately.
So, 11 to 19 talk about those who understand Krishna in various ways. So, 11 to 12 talks about impersonalists who mistake Krishna’s body to be material. So, these are not Brahmavadis, they are Mayavadis over here.
Because they are not just attracted to impersonal Brahman, but they are emphasising, they are thinking that Krishna’s body is material. Then after that, 13 to 14 talks about the Kevala Bhaktas, the pure devotees. The word Mahatman, verse Mahatmanatmam Partha comes in this section.
Then after that, the verse 15 is a very crucial, critical verse for understanding the flow of the Gita. So, Krishna will talk about three different categories of people. The Ahamgropasakas, the Pratikopasakas, and the Vishvarupasakas.
So, the Ahamgropasakas are something like Brahmavadis. Pratikopasakas are demigod worshippers. We will discuss that a little bit more.
There are subtleties in the types of demigod worship also. And then Vishvarupasakas are the people who meditate on the universal form of the Lord. What is talked about in the second canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
And after that, Krishna focusses a little bit on the Vishvarupasakas in verses 16 to 19. And then he continues on and talks about he compares demigod worship with Kevala Bhakti, with his pure devotional service. So, actually this is an extension of the Pratikopasak topic.
So, those who worship the demigods and those who worship Krishna, what is the difference between it? And then the chapter concludes with the glory of Kevala Bhakti to elevate even the most fallen. Those who are not qualified so much, even they can get elevated. Not just they are not so well qualified, even if they are highly disqualified, still they can get elevated.
So, in this way, this chapter offers almost like a panorama of the whole process of bhakti. It gives the knowledge of Krishna. It gives the glory of bhakti.
It gives the knowledge of Krishna, who is the object of bhakti. It describes how different people relate with Krishna in different ways. And then it talks about the glory of demigod Krishna worship by comparing with demigod worship and then by talking about how it does not require any other qualifications.
Does it require any other qualifications? So, this is the word Rajya Vidya, which is the chapter title, that actually comes right in the second verse itself. Rajya Vidya, Rajya Gohiyam. Actually, Prabhupada considered such an important topic that he gave it as the name of one of his books, Rajya Vidya, the king of all knowledge.
Now, if we compare this and the 7th chapter, you may not remember the 7th chapter because we discussed it almost two months ago, but the 7th chapter also had a similar structure. The first three verses were talking about the glory of the transcendental knowledge. Three verses talk about the glory of the knowledge.
The knowledge is about Krishna himself that he is giving. Then after that, verses, practically speaking, verses 4 to around 12, they talk about Krishna’s relationship with the material world. That is, that is talked more in terms of how the material world is the energy of Krishna and then it is talked about how everything, how Krishna is the essence of everything in the material world.
That section is there. And then after that, again the same thing comes, how different people relate with Krishna in different ways. So, first Krishna says how those who understand him, you have finished this? Then I’ll just, we’ll go back to the 7th chapter so that you’ll have a clear idea.
Yeah. So, here I have put it on his floor in 7.1. So, glory of transcendental knowledge is there. That’s the first topic.
Then Krishna’s relationship with the material world is there. And then after that, how different people, some people surrender to Krishna, some people don’t surrender to Krishna. Some people, those who surrender to Krishna, they surrender purely, they don’t surrender purely.
And then they surrender to Krishnetara. Krishnetara means they surrender to any gods or they worship the impersonal Brahman as Brahmavadis. And then, there the emphasis is not so much on bhakti, all the bhakti is there.
But by knowledge of Krishna, one will become liberated. So, there then, sadhi bhuta di daivam mam sadhi yad yam jaya yadum. Similar is described.
So, essentially the structure is similar. Knowledge of Krishna, Krishna’s relationship with the material world, Krishna’s relationship with different seekers, the supreme and the glory of them as a means of liberation. These are the central topics that are talked about.
So, now, then why is there this sort of repetition? Actually, if we go deeper into the chapter, we will find that it is not repetition. It is deeper penetration. The same topics are addressed, but Krishna will go deeper into those topics.
So, same glory of the knowledge, nature of Krishna, Krishna’s relationship with the material world, difference between devotees and non-devotees. Similar thing. So, let’s go to the first verse.
Any questions about this till now? So, we will go on now. Sri Bhagavan uvaca Sri Bhagavan uvaca Vidam tu te guhyatamam Vidam tu te guhyatamam Pravakshamyana suyave Pravakshamyana suyave Jnanam vijnana sahitam Jnanam vijnana sahitam Jnatva moksha se shubhat Jnatva moksha se shubhat Translation? So, this is the first time Krishna will refer to Guhyatama. He will refer to this again.
Guhya is secret. Guhyatama is more secret. You know as in English we have super letters.
Good, better and best. So, Guhyatara and Guhyatama. So, Krishna will refer to Guhyatama again, but this is the first reference to Guhyatama in the Bhagavad Gita.
Again, there will be a reference in the start of the 10th chapter and in the 14th chapter and then later in the 18th chapter. BG mod 64 was the most emphatic reference. So, this time I am giving the most confidential knowledge.
Why? Because you are non-envious of me. And now why does Krishna need somebody who is non-envious? Why can’t Krishna do the knowledge about himself if that person is envious? Because if the envy is there, the knowledge of the glory of the other person will inflame the envy further. So, actually it is not that Krishna wants to hide himself, but imagine there are two competitors and both of them think that we are equals.
He also has got say exams, he is also getting the same marks, I am also getting the same marks. He is earning that much money, I am also earning this much money. Now if one of them comes to know that the other has much much more money than me, actually the envy will increase.
In material life, people delight in making others envious, isn’t it? In fact, there was an advertisement which said, purchase this car and enjoy the envy in your neighbour’s eyes. Enjoy the envy. And actually this was the mentality of Duryodhana.
Even after he had sent Pandava to the forest, he wanted to go with his queens and his maidservants and his wealth and soldiers and elephants to flaunt it all before Yudhishthira. You are in poverty, see I am in so much wealth. So, he was not satisfied by being wealthy, he was not satisfied even by making the Pandavas poor.
Actually, he wanted to see envy in their eyes. This is generally speaking, what was his expectation? If they see he is my wealth, then he will suffer more. I want to make him suffer.
On the other hand, Krishna, he doesn’t want us to suffer. So, Krishna doesn’t reveal his glory to us if we still have a very strong enjoying mentality that is like a competitive to him. Most people won’t say that I am competing with God explicitly.
But in general, the desire to be beautiful, the desire to be intelligent, the desire to be strong and basically by all these, we try to become attractive and we don’t want to just become attractive, we want to become the most attractive. So, we want to be numero uno, the number one. So, that is actually to some extent the desire to be God and that is fuelled by the envy of God.
So, that’s why if somebody is already having some envy for Krishna, Krishna doesn’t want to reveal his glory all the more and make the person more envious. So, that’s why Krishna conceals his glory. So, actually speaking, what is secret about Bhagavad Gita? Krishna says this is the most secret knowledge.
All the 700 verses are available. Anybody can read it and there are many people who know Sanskrit, they can read and understand it also. But actually, the understanding of Krishna’s glory, that will not come just by reading the Bhagavad Gita.
For that, one needs a devotional attitude, non-envious devotional attitude. Otherwise, when we read the Bhagavad Gita, when we understand the various aspects of the Gita, okay, this is talked about here, this is talked about here, but how does it all link together? The Bhagavad Gita seems to be saying different things at different places and how does it all become coherent? So, we’ll not be able to understand the unity of the thought of the Gita and we’ll not understand the centrality of Krishna’s position in the Gita. So, the Bhagavad Gita is Guhyatama because the knowledge of Krishna’s glory is concealed from those who are non-envious, from those who are envious.
For the envious, the unity of the thought of the Gita, unity means there is a coherence. The centrality and glory of Krishna’s position will be concealed, will be incomprehensible. They will just not be able to understand it.
So, this is how actually Krishna makes sure that the envious don’t become more envious. Just like we have the Madhyam Adhikari, he deals with the different people differently. Do you know how the Madhyam Adhikari deals with four different kinds of people? How does he deal with the Supreme Lord? Supreme Lord, worship.
Sorry, I heard mercy. I will take it back. So, the Supreme Lord is adoring and worshipping with love.
And the devotees, friendship, Maitri. Then Balishesh, the innocent. Yes, Kripa.
And the last is Envy, Dushyatsu. How does he do? Yeah, keep away from them, neglect, Upeksha. So, now Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains, why does the devotee avoid the envious? He says, because the very sight of devotees will fuel the envy of the envious.
And further, if the devotee speaks the glory of the Lord, that will make them all the more envious. Therefore, better not speak. Better not speak, and then we can serve such people best by praying for them from a distance.
So, the same thing Krishna also follows. Krishna doesn’t reveal his glory to everyone, because that will make them more envious. So, Pravakshami Anasuryave.
Arjuna, because you are envious, so I will speak to you. And what will happen by understanding this most confidential knowledge? This actually knowledge has two parts, Gyan Vigyan Sahitam. So, normally we use the word Vigyan for what? Realisation.
So, knowledge and realisation. Now, how can somebody give realisation? Realisation is something which we have to get, isn’t it? So, when Krishna says Gyanam Vigyan Sahitam, Vigyan Sahitam means, I will give you knowledge and I will give you the process for realisation. Realisation will have to be done by you yourself, but there has to be a process for realisation.
So, I will give you the process for realisation. And when you get this, you will become free from all inauspiciousness by acquiring this knowledge. Krishna has used this quarter line in the fourth chapter, when he said, so he talked about in 4.16, when the eyes people are bewildered, but when you understand this, you will become free from inauspiciousness.
And that understanding was also actually the understanding of Bhakti. Our Karma is essentially Bhakti. So, the first verse contains the word confidential and it will free you from misery.
Let us see what is the second verse glorification. So, Shrila Prabhupada in the purport explains, why this is called most confidential, different Acharyas have explained in different ways. Shrila Prabhupada explains that there are introductory spiritual knowledge in the first chapter, second and third chapter, knowledge about the soul, that is confidential.
And okay, I will just write this down, so it will be easier to understand if I write it down. So, can somebody read that, you have a Bhagavita, can you just read that section as I type it, so that will be easier to understand. So, what is Shrila Prabhupada saying over here, chapters 2, 3, that is knowledge about soul, that is basic spiritual knowledge.
Then chapter 7, 8 is knowledge about devotional service, chapter 9 is knowledge about pure devotional service. So, in this is Guhya, this is Guhya Tara, Guhya Tama, this is how things are progressing, this is how the first is, even knowledge about soul is not common, that is rare. Okay, but I know about the soul, there are quite a few people who know about the soul, although in modern society it is rare, in Vedic society also it was a little more common, but still it was not very common.
But among the various processes of self-realisation, knowledge about devotional service is rare. And even among those who practise devotional service, not many practise unalloyed devotional service. And that is why knowledge of unalloyed devotional service is Guhya Tama, it is the most confidential knowledge.
Okay, sorry. In the 15th chapter also, there is most confidential knowledge. Yeah, it will come several times as we will discuss this.
Actually, Krishna used the word Guhya Tama to talk about devotional service in many places. So, in general, the Guhya Tama knowledge is about devotional service. And now that Krishna is introducing devotional service and elaborating on it, he will repeatedly refer to it in the Bhagavad Gita henceforth.
Till now, which is the only explicit verse about devotional service, pure devotional service? 7.1. Attached, with the mind attached to me, that is the only verse explicitly referring to devotional service, at a pure level. The other verses were about Yogamishra Bhakti, they are talking about target as Krishna, but they were Yogamishra Bhakti. So, there was 6.14 and 15 which says, 6.14 Fix the mind on me.
The yogi is fixing the mind on Krishna as an object of meditation, but not as the ultimate goal in the process of meditation. So, let us move forward now. So, this is one of the most systematic purports of Srila Prabhupada, where practically one-one paragraph is talking about one-one aspect of the verse.
So, Rajavidya will be one paragraph, Rajabhuya will be one paragraph, then like that, Pavitramitamuttamam, Pavitram will be one paragraph, Praptakshavagamam will be one paragraph and like that. So, let us look at this. So, the word Rajavidya has several beautiful meanings.
Rajavidya can mean king of all knowledge. Another meaning of Rajavidya is Rajanam Vidya. So, the king of all knowledge, so in Sanskrit, if there is a compound word, you can separate in two ways.
So, Rajavidya can mean king of all knowledge and another way it can mean is knowledge of the kings. So, if you call it as Rajanam Vidya, so this will refer back to 4.1 and 2. What was 4.1 and 2? Imambivasvate yogam praptamanaham avyayam, that I gave this knowledge to Yoswana and like that, evam parampara praptam imam rajya nishayogam, that is received by the saintly kings. So, Rajavidya is the king of all knowledge, it is also the knowledge of the kings.
Sometimes people ask this question, this is a scorn on organising for wealthy people. Many people have this idea, only wealthy people come to the temple. Now, the answer is certainly, you will not find any security guard at the entry of a temple asking all people to submit their income certificate to allow it, isn’t it? So, anybody and everybody is allowed entry in the temple.
At the same time, if anybody is interested in spiritual knowledge, we will be happy to serve that person by providing spiritual knowledge and guiding him in devotional service, him or her. At the same time, if somebody, if we have to choose to focus, then we will focus on the people who can influence society. So, the people who can influence society are the brahmanas and the kshatriyas.
Actually, how it works is, I don’t know whether I discussed this, brahmanas deal with ideas, kshatriyas deal with people. Sorry, yeah, no, I will come to that. Execution, yeah, that is true.
But their primary training. And vaisyas deal with money. Actually, they deal with money and animals.
And shudras deal with things. So, this is not a black and white devotion. Even brahmanas will have to deal with things.
They have to touch things and use things. But the focus, brahmanas primarily focus on ideas. That’s why a brahmana alone will not change society.
Now, brahmana will, if somebody comes and gives knowledge, he will take the knowledge. Somebody comes and receives knowledge, he will give the knowledge, but he will not bother much. Kshatriyas are the people who want to change society.
And they will change society for the better if they get the guidance of the brahmanas. And they will change society for the worse if they become controlled by the vaisyas. So, in today’s society, in democracy, basically, although it is government, it is supposed to be the government of the people, which would ultimately mean that shudras are voting, because shudras are the majority.
But effectively, it will become the government of the vaisyas. Why vaisyas? Because for campaigning in elections, one needs huge amount of money. And the vaisyas give the money.
So, anyway, what we are talking about over here is that among these people, who will influence society the most? It is the kshatriyas. So, therefore, Krishna himself is giving the knowledge to kshatriyas. It is not that Krishna neglects the shudras.
It is not that Krishna neglects the lower caste also. Krishna himself said that even the shudras, vaisyas, kshatriyas, they can also become purified later on. But the emphasis will be on the kshatriyas, on the influential people, not necessarily kshatriyas.
So, for example, we may focus on Shila Prabhupada started life and birth. In life and birth, he was going to, to some extent, vaisyas. But they were not just vaisyas, they were influential businessmen.
So, influential businessmen generally have a say in their policy making also. They can shape the policy, that means influence the policy. So, in general, if you look at Krishna’s example, Krishna’s example is that he gives the knowledge, he says this knowledge is primarily given to rajarishis.
And the rajarishis can give it to others. So, that is why when we are to select in giving knowledge, we will focus on those people who are influential in society. And why is that? Shila Prabhupada gives the example of the Red Cross doctors.
When there is a war, there are thousands of people who may be soldiers who were wounded over there. And the Red Cross doctors, they want to see, they cannot possibly save everyone because they are limited in number. So, they will see who are among all those doctors, among all the wounded people, having the maximum chance of survival.
Some people have very less chance of survival. In battling to survive, they save them. What may happen is they may also die.
And others who could have been saved, they will also become more active. So, what they will do is they will focus on reviving and saving those who have a reasonable chance of survival. And if they survive and recover, they can help in treating others also.
So, like that, if one kshatriya, if one influential person becomes a devotee, then that person can influence so many other people. One business magnate becomes a devotee, he can inspire devotional service among all his employees, he can inspire devotional service among so many other people just by the knowledge that he is a person who is a devotee. So, that’s why we focus on influential people.
And one way in our college preaching also, we can go to various colleges, but we would like to go to the best colleges. Why? Because in general, the most influential students go to the best colleges. So, it’s not a matter of discrimination against somebody, it’s a matter of focus.
Focus so that we can influence and assist everyone in the future. Because devotees are right now limited in resources. So, we would like to focus on those people through whom Krishna’s message can reach the maximum number of people.
So, that’s why Rajanam Vidya. This is knowledge that is given to the kings primarily. Then Pavitram Idam Uttamam.
Krishna Prabhupada explained this. Pavitram Idam Uttamam refers to how bhakti burns up the karmic reactions. It burns up all the karmic reactions.
So, how does that happen? Let’s look at this. Pavitram. Have I talked about the concept of Sanchit Karma, Agami Karma? No.
So, imagine our karma to be like a box. So, the totality of the karma is Sanchit Karma. Sanchit, whatever Sanchit means, accumulated.
So, the full box is called a Sanchit Karma. So, now in this box, what is coming out of it is the A-Prarabdha. So, A-Prarabdha is somewhere.
Where are the arrows? Flip out. So, A-Prarabdha is that which is about to be delivered. And if we have Prarabdha.
So, what is this Prarabdha? This is what is we are enduring right now. I will explain what this means. And here we have what is called as Kriyaman.
So, Kriyaman is what is being created by us right now. That means, this is like a, if you can visualise this as a tank of water. From one side, water is going inside.
Another side, water is coming out. So, whatever we are doing right now, that is creating some karma. So, of course, if you are practising pure devotional service, it is not creating any karma.
But most people are not practising devotional service. So, then they are creating karma. So, in that karmic reservoir, things are getting added.
And from the other side, from that karmic reservoir, things are getting exited. They are getting exhausted. So, now all of us have got a particular body.
So, this body is something which we have to live with throughout our life. Our body may be sickly or healthy. Our body may be good looking or not so good looking.
We may have a very good intelligence or not such a good intelligence. So, all these, the wealth, the health, the looks and the intelligence, all these of the body are something which we have to endure throughout our life. This is called as the Prarabdha Karma.
Something which we get once and we have to more or less deal with it throughout our life. So, if we consider life as a journey and the body is like a car for that journey, then all of us have been given particular kinds of cars. And we can’t abandon this car in the midway.
So, we have to go along with this car. So, one person may have a Mercedes, another person may have a Fiat, another person may have a Jeep. So, different people have different vehicles.
So, we have to just go along with that. So, that is the Prarabdha Karma. So, that is something which we have to live with throughout our life.
And as we are going along in the life, there are various events that happen. Sometimes we may become sick. Sometimes we may, somebody may get fired from the job.
Sometimes there may be some terrible misunderstanding between people. So, Adhyatmika, Adhibhautika has come along. These are the Aprarabdha which slowly become Prarabdha.
So, what Krishna explains is that by the process of Bhakti, all sinful reactions will be destroyed. So, the Prarabdha, that may not be immediately destroyed. If I have a sickly body, it’s not that the sickly body will suddenly become healthy.
Person is not so good looking, that person may not suddenly become good looking just because of devotional service. But the key thing is actually much of the suffering comes because of bodily identification. And when I become a devotee, I don’t really care so much about how I look.
So, in that sense, the suffering decreases by the practise of devotional service also. And beyond that, Krishna minimises the karmic reactions. So, I will not, so this is a broad categorisation.
Now, within that, there is a further categorisation. Let’s recite this verse from the Prabhupada quote from the Padma Purana here. So, when one is situated in Vishnu Bhakti, Ratha means absorb, one’s Atma is absorb Vishnu Bhakti.
For him, Kramenaiva Praliyeta, so Pralaya means destruction, Praliyeta means they are all destroyed. What all is destroyed? Aprarabdha, that which is not yet manifested. Then Kutam Bijam Phalon Mukham, so Kutam Bijam Phalon Mukham, they are actually things which are about, so Kut is a very deep seed, Kut is a very tender seed, Bija is slightly more fructified seed, Phalon Mukha is, that is about to give a fruit.
So, all these will be destroyed by the power of Bhakti. Kut, Bija and Phalon Mukham. So, these are technical words.
This verse actually is given in the Bhaktirasamhita Sindhu by Rupa Goswami, where he is talking about the characteristics of pure devotional service and one of the characteristics is Kleshagni, it frees one from all sinful reactions. So, there as a Pramana for the Kleshagni, Kleshagnitva of Shuddha Bhakti, he gives this as the Pramana. So, now Kut, Bija and Phalon Mukham, what is this Kut, Bija and Phalon Mukham? They are basically increasing levels of reactions.
So, Kut means it’s a very dormant seed, Bija is slightly progressive, Phalon Mukham is the seed which is grown and it’s almost about to give a fruit, but all such reactions will be destroyed by the power of Bhakti. So, now coming back to this, so Kut and Bija are more or less in the Sanchit stage and they are going to come upon us, but Bhakti will remove them all for us and that’s how a devotee can become purified and return back to it. So, let’s move forward.
And another word, so important word is Prateksha Vagamam Dharamiyam. So, Prateksha Vagamam, so Avagamam is understood, Prateksha, normally Prateksha means sense perception, isn’t it? So, here Prateksha means, Prabhupada takes it, by direct experience. Prateksha Vagamam means by direct experience.
So, the 11th Canto in the Uddhav Gita, before the Uddhav Gita, it is said that how does one understand that actually one is making spiritual advancement? Prabhupada says you don’t need a certificate from anyone. Just as if you are eating, how do you know that your hunger is satisfied? Automatically, because we know that our hunger is satisfied. Like that, when we practise devotional service, we connect with Krishna, we start feeling inner satisfaction and when there is inner satisfaction, what is the result of that? We don’t feel the need for anything else.
So, Bhakti, Pareshan, Anubhava, Virat, Tiranyat, that’s the verse. So, this Prateksha Vagamam, what does it mean? Let’s look at this a little bit more. This is a very, very significant verse in the Bhagavad Gita.
Dharmam is the process of religion, Prateksha Vagamam. Verification by experience. Example, mitigation of hunger by eating.
Now, that verse says that three things will happen. Tishti, Pushti, Shudapayo. Compare this over here.
So, this is based on the 11th Canto verse. Just look at what happens. So, eating is Tishti.
Tishti is satisfaction. Then there is Pushti is strength. And then there is Shudapayo.
This is eradication, end of hunger. Similarly, there is Bhakti, Pareshan, Anubhava and Virat, Tiranyat. So, when one experiences Bhakti, now that itself is a source of, one is able to connect with Krishna at an emotional level.
That itself is enriching, that itself is satisfying. And actually, what happens by this? When one experiences Bhakti, one actually deepens one’s conviction. One actually gets experience of Krishna.
And that gives us strength. So, here the strength is physical, where there is inner satisfaction. And the result of that is, we have the experience of God, Pareshan, Anubhava.
And that leads to strength of conviction, strong conviction we get. Just as we got over here. And then, end of hunger.
So, Virat, Tiranyat, end of hankering. We no longer hanker for anything else. So, this is how Pratyaksha Vagamam, that is direct experience.
So, when I start practising Bhakti, I experience, when I start practising personal devotional service, I start experiencing Bhakti in my heart. Just like when we start chanting and dancing in Kirtans, then slowly we start experiencing the emotions in the heart. And we understand, what are those emotions? Actually, that’s the experience of Krishna.
And then the experience of Krishna, actually Krishna is for real. Krishna is for real. And then when I understand that, we may not have had direct darshan of Krishna, but there is a experience in the heart.
Pareshan, Anubhava, that makes our conviction strong. Just as by eating, our body becomes strong. And then, after that, when I realise that Krishna is real and I can actually experience Krishna and that experience is so satisfying, then I realise I don’t need anything else.
So, then our hankering, Virat, Tiranyat, Rajya, it will go away. This is how the process of Bhakti is Pratyaksha Vagamam. And Susukham Kartum Avyayam.
Why it is Susukham? Is this clear? Any questions about this? You had a question earlier. So, actually Prabhupada explains, what is Susukham about the Bhakti? Let’s look at this. So, Prabhupada says that, we can perceive the results directly.
So, Prabhupada gives the example Narada for Pavitram, how it will purify everyone. And that is a very happy one. Why it is happy? Because we can practically engage in devotional service.
We don’t have to sit and meditate for a long time, trying to do all sorts of speculation. Actually, it’s joyfully performed because we can engage our senses. We don’t have to paralyse or freeze our senses.
And then lastly, the word is Avyayam. So, now, Prabhupada uses the word Avyayam to explain how this Bhakti is not a tool to purify. It is something which will go on eternally.
And this Dharma is not transitional. It is eternal. So, in this way, this is like a very compact verse, which gives so much about the glory of Bhakti.
So, now Krishna will contrast this. He has described so much about the glory of Bhakti. Somebody is saying, all this is a hyperbole.
I don’t believe this. What will happen if you don’t believe this? So, translation? Yes. So, Ashraddha Dhaana, those who do not have faith, what will happen to them? They will not attain me.
And if they don’t attain me, they will continue on in the cycle of birth and death. So, again, implied in this is that if you attain me, you attain liberation in the cycle of birth and death, which is an indication that attaining Krishna is the supreme destination. So, then Srila Prabhupada, in the Parpot, talks elaborately about faith.
So, he talks about basically faith in terms of Kanishta, Madhyama and Uttama. I think all of you have discussed. Which are the books you have discussed? So, you know about these three levels of faith.
So, I will not repeat that. In terms of how a person slowly moves forward in the development of faith by the practise of Bhakti. So, one of the, one interesting thing, I will talk about that here.
What Rupa Goswami seems to say is a little confusing over there about faith. So, what he says there is, does anyone remember what are the characters of Kanishta, Madhyama and Uttama according to him? I will just delete this. Does anyone remember what are the characters of Kanishta? There is faith and knowledge.
So, what does the Kanishta have? Weak faith and weak knowledge. Madhyama, strong faith and strong knowledge. Kanishta, Madhyama, Srila Prabhupada talks about, so I will just go over it quickly here.
I won’t elaborate it. Uttama. So, W means weak.
Faith is strong, knowledge is weak. And then here, faith is strong, knowledge is also strong. So, now, what is, does this categorisation raise some questions over here? Normally, we would think that knowledge comes before faith, isn’t it? We acquire so much theoretical knowledge and we say, oh, I have got knowledge, but I have got no realisations.
But on the other hand, Rupa Goswami seems to be saying here that faith comes before knowledge. Madhyama has faith, but he doesn’t have knowledge. So, why does he say that? So, actually, yeah.
Yeah, it’s a good answer that the Uttama is capable of debating and presenting the knowledge. Could it be also that some Uttamas may not be good at debating? Debating could be a material skill also, isn’t it? There may be some, some Nastikas who may be very good at debating also. So, actually, this is not just a knowledge about debating.
Debating is one part of it, but this is the knowledge of how to inspire others to connect with Krishna. A Madhyama cannot connect everyone with Krishna. A Madhyama will stay away from envious, but a Uttama can connect everyone with Krishna.
So, this knowledge is not just knowledge about Krishna, but knowledge about how to connect everyone with Krishna. See, there were, there were, you know, Bhaktivedanta Thakur had many exalted disciples, but Srila Prabhupada, you know, he had the vision of how to connect everyone with Krishna. That was not something which everybody had.
They were also exalted souls, but Srila Prabhupada had that sensitivity, that clarity, that depth of conviction and that wit, everything combined together. So, this knowledge is, this knowledge is about how to connect everyone with Krishna. So, you know that at one time, one hippie came to Srila Prabhupada and he said, Swamiji, how is life in Vaikuntha? Somebody asked, how is life in India? How is life in New York? How is life in, how much happiness is there? So, what did Srila Prabhupada say? He’s like, ocean of LSD.
Now, there’s not given any Shastra, isn’t it? But this was Srila Prabhupada’s brilliant presence of mind. There was another Mataji, I think it was Jagrani Mataji. She had an idea, Swamiji, I’m thinking of going to the, to Tibet.
He said, why? He said, I think that is very high up. So, if I go high up, then my consciousness will also go high up. So, they had very naive ideas.
So, look at her straight in the eyes and he says, I can take you to a place far higher than Tibet. Just stay with me. So, Srila Prabhupada had that compassion, that vision of how to connect different people with Krishna.
So, that is the, so debate is also an important part of it, but debate is not the only, it is not only, only essence of it. It is actually the vision of how to connect different people with Krishna. So, now, Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport that if you stay at the Kanishka level, you will not be able to continue for very long.
Sooner or later will follow. And what is the defining difference between Kanishka and Madhyama? Yes, faith is there, but in terms of other characteristics, it is actually value of association. We know that what does the Kanishka do? Just goes to temple, takes darshan and goes away.
The Madhyama associates with devotees. So, we want our faith to strengthen, what we need is association of devotees. To the extent we associate with devotees and not just any devotees, faithful devotees, serious devotees, to that extent our faith will also enhance.
Now, of course, these three are categories of people who have some faith. What Krishna is emphasising in this verse is, if you have no faith, then just fall back to material existence, stay on in material existence. So, after having described this knowledge, the glory of that knowledge by contrast.
So, first and second verse he said, it will liberate you from all exists, all of misery and it will give you happiness. Third verse says, if you don’t do this, then you will have to suffer all in material existence. Now, Krishna will commence the description of that knowledge.
Any questions? Yeah. Is it the faith alone which makes a difference in how we experience bhakti? Yes, faith makes a huge difference because bhakti involves focussing on Krishna and not thinking about other things. There is focus on Krishna and there is withdrawal from everything else.
Now, for doing both these things, I need faith. If I have too much faith in material enjoyment, then I will keep focussing on that. And if I don’t have so much faith in the reality, in the beauty, in the glory of Krishna, then I can’t really focus on Krishna.
So, actually, it’s a good question. I just, where is it gone now? So, in bhakti primarily, yeah, actually, you’re just going back to 9.3. There are three distinct distractions we can get. One is we feel bored.
Second, we feel distracted. And third, we feel demoralised. So, the difference between these three things.
Bored means Krishna is not interesting. Distracted means other things are interesting. And demoralised means I can’t do this.
It’s not that I have, it’s not a question of whether interest or not that the motivation is not there. So, actually, we need faith for getting over all these three obstacles. So, by Shraddha, Krishna, even if it doesn’t seem interesting, you’ll be fascinating, irresistibly fascinating as I keep practising Krishna consciousness.
And even if other things seem fascinating, actually, they are misleading, they are deceptive, they will cause me suffering eventually. And demoralised, if I feel, I understand, actually, Krishna will help me. What is that verse? Krishna will help me in the practise of yoga.
So, for all these, we need faith. We need faith that Krishna is attractive. We need faith that other things are not attractive, but deceptive.
We need faith that I can actually return back to Krishna. So, when we have all these three together, then bhakti becomes susukham. Till that time, they are not there.
Till that time, bhakti will be a struggle. Nishcha is conviction. Nishcha is faith.
Yeah. So, faith is same. Ropa translates as faith.
That’s good enough. Is our shraddha affected by past karma? Yeah, what are the factors that can influence our shraddha? So, actually, in the Madhurya Kadambini, Vishnu Chitrakoot says that shraddha is basically of two types, svabhaviki and balenutpadita. Balenutpadita.
So, what does this refer to? Svabhaviki means natural. And he says natural means what has come from a previous life. And balenutpadita is that which is created by forceful preaching.
When devotees are very assertive, this is the conviction of devotees that generates faith within us. So, both ways we can get faith. Some people may have faith from a previous life.
Svabhaviki is from previous lives. And this is from association. So, now, we can’t change what we get from a previous life.
What we can change is what we are getting from association. That’s why within association also, it’s important to associate with those devotees whose example, whose words, that inspires more faith within us. So, let’s move forward.
Let’s come to the next verse. Mayatatamidam Sarvam Mayatatamidam Sarvam Jagadau Vyaktamurthinam Jagadau Vyaktamurthinam Machsthani Sarvabhutani Machsthani Sarvabhutani Nachaham Teshmavasthita Nachaham Teshmavasthita Teshmavasthita This translation quickly. Okay.
This is a very classic verse. It is the absolute truth in a sutra. So, you remember I mentioned that sometimes if a verse, verse sections are to be referred to, the first line is called as 9.4 A. Second line will be called 9.4 B. So, A, B refer to Brahman.
C refers to Paramatma. I’ll explain how. D refers to Bhagawan.
So, let us see how. Mayatakamidam Sarvam Jagadau Vyaktamurthinam By me in my unmanifested form the whole world is pervaded. So, what is this unmanifested form? That is Brahman.
Brahman exists everywhere. Sarvam Kalmamidam Brahman. Then, Machsthani Sarvabhutani Machsthani Sarvabhutani Actually, all living beings are situated in me.
How are they situated in me? It is at one level. In Mahavishnu’s body, everybody is situated in me. So, in that sense, all living beings are situated in me.
And at the same time, we say, I am not situated in you. So, actually, Mahavishnu is, of course, the same as Paramatma. He is expanded as Paramatma.
Now, actually, I am not situated in them. Now, Brahman is situated everywhere. Paramatma is also situated in every heart.
He is also situated everywhere. So, Krishna is saying, that is referring to the Bhagavan aspect. That is, Krishna is beyond in the spiritual world.
Vaishopanishad describes in the fifth verse that He is inside everything and He is outside everything also. So, this is how actually in one verse, it is like a sutra. It gives all the three aspects of the absolute truth condensed together.
So, after describing this, Krishna has not explicitly mentioned the three words over here. But when we look at it from the Gaudiya Vishnu philosophy that our Acharya has given us, then we understand this verse much more clearly. Otherwise, it seems a little bit self-contradictory.
And the self-contradiction will become more apparent when we look at the next verse. Yogam Aishwaram Yogam Aishwaram Bhuta Brinnacha Bhutastho Brinnacha Bhutastho Mamatma Bhutabhavana Mamatma Bhutabhavana So, is there a contradiction between 9.4 and 9.5? What is the contradiction? If you look at 9.4, see, Matsthani Sarvabhutani it is saying. Isn’t it? And then, what is 9.5A saying? Nachamatsthani Bhutani Actually, it is the exact opposite.
So, how do we understand this? It is actually referring to different aspects of the Absolute Truth. This is referring to Paramatma and this is referring to Bhagawan. And beyond that, Nachamatsthani Bhutani Pashmayogam Aishwaram Bhuta Brinnacha Bhutastho I am maintaining everyone but I am not situated in them.
Again, that is Bhuta Brinna is referring to Paramatma Nacha Bhutastho is referring to Bhagawan. Bhuta Brinna means Brinna is Bharta, maintainer. So, he is Bhuta Brinna.
And Stho means to be situated. Nacha Bhutastho. Clear, this part? Bhuta Brinnacha Bhutastho Mamatma Bhutabhavana Now, there is an interesting word over here, which Vishwanath Chakraborty elaborates.
Mamatma So, normally Mamatma would mean my soul. So, does Krishna have a soul? What is Krishna referring to over here by my soul? So, actually speaking the word soul has a literal and a figurative meaning. So, what do you mean by literal and figurative meanings? Just like, put your heart and soul in service.
Let me say. It’s not that you take out your soul and put it in service. Isn’t it? Put your heart and soul in service.
Then, soul means it’s referring to our essence, our spirit, our the entirety of our emotions. That is what is being referred to over there when we say soul. So, actually speaking we can’t just use one meaning everywhere.
We have to look at the context. Sometimes somebody may say that so, my soul. I am the soul.
It’s what you mean by my soul. But then that is referring to my soul. That is referring to something else.
It’s referring to the essential spirit of the person. So, it might be said that somebody might say capitalism is the soul of America. America has some there is some personified deity of America whose soul is capitalism.
There the word soul is used in a figurative sense. So, this word soul can have different meanings. So, here mamaatma so, Vishwaraj Chikantak could use the example that just as if you say Rahu’s head.
So, actually Rahu is nothing but the head. Rahu’s remaining body was cut off. All that remained was the head.
But still actually he is a full person. So, his full personhood is equated just with his head. So, when we say Rahu’s head we understand that although Rahu is nothing but the head actually it is Rahu’s full personhood.
Similarly, Krishna’s soul is equal to Krishna’s full personhood. There is no difference. Rahu has nothing but the head only.
That’s all that his body is made up of. So, Krishna has nothing but the soul. His whole body is spiritual.
So, it is just a conventional usage that is given over here. So, this usage is not to be taken literally. It is to be taken figuratively to convey a particular point.
Now, in the scriptures it is said that the word Rahu’s head is used. Vishwaraj Chikantak gives the example that it is said that where Rahu’s head is there inauspiciousness comes over there. For example, let me use it like that.
So, now actually Rahu is nothing but the head. So, when Rahu’s head, the full of Rahu when he comes all that will come is the head only. So, is it clear now? I just assumed that past time would be there in the mind.
So, Rahu’s head is the entirety of his body. Similarly, Krishna’s soul is the entirety of his being. There is nothing apart from Rahu’s head.
Similarly, there is nothing apart from Krishna’s soul. Is it clear? Let’s move forward now. So, after this, Krishna will describe Arjuna has a question here.
He was saying that we are Matsthani. How is this possible? Please explain this to me. So, then Krishna gives an example to explain this.
… … … … … … … … Yes, so this is what is describing freedom within restriction. Sky limits not the movement of the air but the area of the movement of the air. So, I’ll explain what this means.
Now, when Krishna is using the word Akash over here. So, he is again using it not so much in the sense of one of the elements. It’s basically a concept of the sky.
So, now within the sky, the air can move here, it can move there, but it cannot go out of the perimeter of the sky. If you visualise the sky as an upside down bowl, then within that bowl, the air can move here, it can move there, but it cannot go outside the bowl. But at the same time, there is freedom over there.
So, similarly, the soul has freedom within restriction. The soul, now when Krishna says Matsthani Sarva Bhutani and Naccham Matsthani Bhutani, all living beings are situated in me. So, they are situated within Krishna.
But then, if they are situated within Krishna, is it that Krishna controls all their actions? No. They are situated within Krishna’s energy and within that, they have freedom. Within that, they have freedom.
How is that? Within the overall purview of Krishna’s will and Krishna’s sanction, the souls can choose what they will do and what they will not do. So, in that sense, there is freedom within restriction. So, right now, all of us, we can choose.
Whether I will hear the class, I will get distracted, I will go to sleep. What I will do, I can choose that. At the same time, if I decide, okay, I don’t want to attend the class, I cannot just fly away from here.
I don’t have the capacity. That is not within the free will. Human body has put some limitations.
So, I cannot fly away. So, there are certain things which I can do and certain things which I can’t do. So, there is freedom within a restricted framework.
So, therefore, the soul has unlimited freedom within a limited framework. We have unlimited freedom but within a limited framework. Is this point clear? All of us do have free will.
But we don’t have absolute freedom. A limited free will. So, now, Krishna has in this verse described his relationship with the living entities.
In the next verses, he will describe his relationship with the material world itself. So, as we know, 9.4 to 10 is talking about relationship with material world. So, 4 to 6 focused on relationship with souls.
This is broad, not an accurate classification, not an exhaustive classification. Roughly, this is. There is overlapping over here.
But, just for analytical purposes, we can take it. Relationship with Krishna, I will discuss material energy, material world. How it is created and it is destroyed.
So, let us look at that now. … … … … … Does this remind you of some recent verse that we have discussed? … Yes. 8th chapter we discussed just now, isn’t it? … … We discussed those verses.
8.17.18.19 So, I was telling earlier that thought of the Gita is progressing. So, there Krishna has just said that, this is the time, there is creation and destruction. Now, Krishna is telling, this is happening by my will.
… So, it enters into me, … … I create it. So, there is a progression, the progression is in terms of revealing, as I said, centrality of Krishna’s position, the glory of Krishna’s position. So, his creation has its own laws, but those laws are working under Krishna’s will.
So now, as I said, this is not a very precise definition, because Krishna is also talking about the souls. Sarbhutani kaunteya. When the souls come in, the souls go out, but why are the souls coming in and going out? Because the creation is becoming manifested and unmanifested, that is, existence, material existence is getting destroyed and created.
So, let’s move forward to the next verse, oh, it’s a few minutes, we’ll try to reach. So, again here the emphasis is, my will, it’s all happening under me, that was all the emphasis in the 8th chapter. Now, Srila Prabhupada uses this sarvabhutani kaunteya prakratim yanti mamikam, sarvabhutani, so he uses this as a basis for refuting the theory of Darwinian evolution, Darwinian evolution says that all the living entities, the various living entities are created progressively, one after another, after another, but he is saying sarvabhutani sujami, that all living entities are created by me, so actually it happens, it’s not a progressive creation, it’s a simultaneous creation, all living entities are created together, so let’s move forward now, yeah, loudly, ok, so what is Krishna referring to over here, is it, actually he is referring to the, when the creation takes place, at that time the soul gets born, till that time when the soul doesn’t have a body, it is like unmanifest, so he is describing that the parallel things happen, the universe is created and destroyed, but that is happening under my will, and when the universe is created, all the living entities get bodies, when the universe is destroyed, all the living entities lose their bodies, so both are being destroyed, so the souls get bodies when the universe is created.
Yes, so that’s, now, is it who creates, is it Brahma who creates or Krishna who creates, both together, there is sarga and visarga, Krishna is the primary creator, Brahmaji is the secondary creator, that is the visarga, so Prabhupada refers to Brahmaji as the cosmic engineer, so the engineer is one who sort of manifests the plant, but engineer doesn’t create the raw materials, so Krishna is providing the raw materials, the engineer assembles the raw materials, that’s why when Brahmaji is talking with Narada Mohan chapters 5 and 6 of the second canto, he is telling, that the seed which is already given, I am simply getting the seed to grow, to manifest, so in that sense, Brahmaji is the secondary creator, he is like the gardener, where Krishna is the seed provider. Okay, so now Arjuna gets the question, okay, if you are creating and destroying, Arjuna has the question that, I am going to destroy so many people, and if I kill the people, I am going to get into bad karma, so you are destroying the whole universe, do you also get some bad karma by that, no, why, I am situated as an attached, it’s not that I am causing the destruction of particular people, so Krishna says, I am like a judge, you know when a judge, he will sentence some people, reward some people, but the judge is doing that based on their own karma, their own deeds and misdeeds, so the judge is not responsible, that’s why, so here Krishna drops the hint, that actually if you are detached, then you don’t get entangled, because I am detached, so I will not get entangled, and this whole section will culminate in the famous verse, which Shrila Prabhupada would quote very often, that we will discuss tomorrow, Mayadhyakshe Nivrti, thank you very much, Shreemad Bhagavad Gita Ki, Shrila Prabhupada Ki Jai,