Gita Study Pune 2013 15.6-15 Two ways to attain Jnana Cakshu

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
higher than sense gratification. So, we will continue this tomorrow. Thank you very much.
So, we have a lot of territory to cover, this calculating. We have 24 verses in the 16th chapter, 28 verses in the 17th chapter. That makes it 52 verses.
And then 78 verses in the last chapter. That means we have 130 verses to go. So, we have, for the original plan, it was like one day per chapter.
So, today we have to complete. So, we have, if that way we go, then we have three days, plus four, three days that means six hours each, 18 hours, plus four hours today. But actually it doesn’t work out to be six hours per day.
It works out to be five hours per day total, after we start. So, if we have five hours per day, that means we have around 19 hours we can assume, including four hours today. So, 19 hours if we have to complete, 130 verses, that means we should be able to complete around 8 verses per hour.
So, we completed six verses in two hours today morning. So, we’ll have to go a little faster. Of course, there are important question-answers.
So, we will try to take question-answers, but, you know, I need some help, so that I don’t become Yoga Bharastha. So, if the question-answers start getting too off-track, somebody should act as a reminder. So, who would like to take that role? No, it’s not that we shouldn’t have question-answers, we should have, but we should also be able to keep track of time.
And we should make sure that we don’t get too off-track. Yes, so the idea, so the suggestion is that, whatever target we have, we first complete that, and then we have question-answers. So, in between, the audience can write down the questions.
Yes, that is a good idea. Only thing is, sometimes in the flow, the questions are more natural, and then they go through. So, what we will do is, we don’t want to stop questions, but in general, somebody can just keep a track of time.
In one hour, we should be able to cover at least, how many verses? Around 8 verses, isn’t it? 19 hours and 130 verses. Yes, if we cover 8, then it should be more than enough. 19, 5, 95, 96, 77, even 7 is good enough.
So, 7 or 8 verses we should be able to cover in one hour. That means, as per that calculation, today, if we have 4 hours, we should be able to cover 28 verses. That means, we should be able to complete this chapter, around 14 verses are remaining in it, and then 14 more verses in the next chapter.
So, of course, we may not have 4 hours, we may have 3 and a half hours, let us see. So, accordingly. Basically, then, somebody can just, after one hour, we can just keep a track, how many verses we have completed.
OK, just remind, then we can, if you’re, yeah, is that OK, you’ll do that? Just, yeah, so, if they’re not covered, then you just remind us. You know that we are going along and if some questions start going off too often, too many questions are coming, just remind that in the last one hour, we have only completed around 4 or 5 verses or whatever. So, let’s move on with chapter 15.
So, we discussed 15.6, now 15.7. अमईवाम्शो जीवलोके जीवभूतसनातनः मनशष्टानिन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानिकर्षति So, this is a verse which has two important parts. The first part is talking about the nature of the Jeeva. And second part talks about the suffering of the Jeeva when it does not live in that, according to that nature.
So, first part is 15.7 A and B. So, ममईवाम्शो जीवलोके जीवभूतसनातनः This indicates the nature of the Jeeva, that we are all eternal parts of Krishna. And the second part says that when we don’t live as the parts of Krishna, we try to live independent of Krishna, then we come under this material existence. And then, मन्हःशश्टानिन्द्रियाणि, to be under, in material existence means, to be under the control of the mind and senses.
And then, प्रकृतिस्थानिकर्षति, we suffer. So, this प्रकृतिस्थानि is similar to what was talked about in 13.22 in the Beej Vaakya, पुरुष्यः प्रकृतिस्थोहि. So, प्रकृतिस्थोहि प्रकृतिस्थानि.
So, there it was वसदसद्योनि जन्मसु, here it is कर्षति. So, these two parts are related in the sense that, this is our nature, but if we don’t live naturally, then we will have to undergo suffering. So, each of these parts is important.
ममईवाम्षो जीवलोके. So, Krishna is, first time in the Bhagavad Gita, directly telling His relationship with the Living Entity. This has been hinted at earlier, several times.
But, this is the most direct words talking about the relationship of Krishna with the Living Entity. Before this, in 4.35, Krishna mentioned that, इद्ग्यात्वान पुनर्मोहं एवं यासिसि पांडव, येन भूतान्यशेषाने द्रक्षस्यात्मन्य अथो मैं। So, in 4.35, Krishna said that, one who gets knowledge from the spiritual master, such a person, sees all living beings spiritually, आत्मन्य अथो मैं, and in me. So, he sees all living beings in me.
Now, what does that exactly mean? It means, in Krishna’s energy. It could mean, if Krishna is referring to himself as the all-pervading Brahman, then he is within Krishna’s spiritual energy. So, that is one verse.
Similarly, there is 6.30, where it is said, यो मां पश्चति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मैं पश्चति, तस्याहं न प्रणशामि सचमेन प्रणशति. So, one who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me, such a person is never lost. So again, he sees me everywhere and everything in me.
So, there also some relationship is there, but the relationship is not very clear. Then in 7.5, the living entity is my energy. अपरेयं इतस्त्व अन्याम् प्रकृतिम् विध्यमे पराम्.
In other words, प्रकृति means nature, or it can mean energy. So, it is my superior energy. So, in that sense, in all these three verses, the relationship of Krishna with the living entity is indicated, in the sense that the living entities are in me, they are my energy.
But still, none of these statements are as explicit, as clear about the part and whole relationship of the Lord, as these verses. So, apart from this also, in the 13th chapter, when Krishna talked about अनादि मत्परम् ब्रह्म, so there also some indication is there, but the मत्परम् is not very clear what it refers to. And when Krishna talks about शेत्र and शेत्रज्ञ, He doesn’t mention Himself directly over there.
So, He is just talking about शेत्रज्ञ, who knows everyone. So, अहम् भीज्य प्रदः पिता, He says, I am the seed-giving father. Now, this is a very significant verse.
Only thing is, that verse doesn’t make it very clear, whether that is referring to our material identity or our spiritual identity. Then, when He is the seed-giving father, is that referring to He is the father for the body or He is the father for the soul? अहम् भीज्य प्रदः पिता. So, if you compare it with a normal conception, then often when the man participates in the conception, the man is giving the seed.
The man gives the seed and the woman gives the womb and then the child grows. So, now in that case, the seed and the womb both are material. So, when we say that Krishna gives the seed and then material nature provides the womb.
So, here the seed that is being referred to is spiritual, of course, because the soul grows within the body. So, in that sense, it is quite clear that we come from Krishna. So, that is an important verse.
But still, that doesn’t talk about the eternal relationship with Krishna. We come from Krishna. Krishna impregnates material nature with us.
But what is our subsequent relationship? Is that our eternal relationship? What is the nature exactly of our relationship with Krishna? This is the most explicit verse. So, we will take some themes from the Gita as we move forward and we will discuss where all, because now we are coming towards the end of the Gita. So, we will discuss where all Krishna refers to our relationship with Krishna.
So, first is 4.35. It says Mayi. Then there is 6.30 Sarvam cha Mayi Bhashyati. Then there is 7.5 Prakritim Vidhime Param.
Then there is 14.4 Aham Bija Pradah Pitah. So, 15.7 is what all is indicated? Part and whole relationship. OK, part and whole nature of the relationship and eternality of the relationship.
Actually, all these three talk about a sense of belonging to Krishna. All the three talk about this. So, that is certainly true, but that doesn’t really very clearly indicate what is being, what is the exact nature.
So, now Mummai Vamsho Jeevaloke. Jeevaloke, the Jeevas who are in material existence, they are my parts. Jeeva Bhutah Sanatanah.
Sanatana, the amsha and sanatana is very important. Now, let’s understand this a little more clearly, why this amsha and sanatana is important and what this implies. The two words combined together are very important.
Because we could say that we are fragmentally separated from Krishna. So, now there is this verse, which is 2.23, nainam chinnanti shastrani nainam dahati pavakah. And that same point is talked about in another way in 2.24. So, soul cannot be cut.
So, the 2.23 is describing the action and 2.24 is describing the reason. So, soul cannot be cut. That’s described in 2.23. And 2.24 is describing why the soul cannot be cut.
That is achedhyo yam. So, now this verse when we see, what this implies is that the soul is not like a part that has been cut from the whole. Sometime it was a part of the whole and then it became cut from the whole.
The soul cannot be cut. achedhyo yam, adhayyo yam, akhlethyo asho shevach. So, because he cannot be cut, so therefore, if the soul is integral to God, then he has to be eternally integral to God.
And the soul is separated from God and soul has to be eternally separated from God. There is no concept of cutting of the soul. So, therefore, the action, the combination of the word amshya and sanatana makes the same point very clear.
That if we are amshya, that’s what we have to be sanatana because unchangeability is the nature of the soul. So, in Govinda Bhashya, Baldev Vidyabhushan analyses that we know that the soul changes. In what sense? Consciousness changes.
So, how can we say that the soul doesn’t change? So, soul is unchangeable, but yet we say the consciousness can evolve or devolve. So, he explains with the point that actually the soul per se is the source of consciousness. But the area over which that consciousness gets distributed, the extent to which that consciousness gets distributed, that can vary depending on the karma of the soul.
So, when we talk about the unchangeability of the soul, that refers to the intrinsic nature of the soul. The soul as the source of consciousness, that is unchangeable. But the area over which the consciousness gets distributed, that will change because that is in the realm of matter.
The soul currently, although soul is spiritual, the consciousness is getting distributed in the material realm. And because it is getting distributed in the material arena, therefore, depending on the karma of the soul, the spread of the consciousness will be lesser or more. So, intrinsic quality, intrinsic means that which is innate, never changes.
The area over which the consciousness spreads and the extent to which the consciousness is expressed, that means the consciousness is expressed much less in a tree’s body than in a human body, changes as per the karma of the soul. This is how the soul is unchangeable, yet changes. Changes in terms of evolves or devolves in consciousness.
But here Krishna is not talking about the evolution or devolution of the consciousness of the soul. He is talking about the intrinsic nature. So, actually, in a sense, if you want to describe this more poetically, this verse is 15.7. A, B refers to the soul as a part.
And 15.7, C, D refers to the soul as a part. Apart. Apart from Krishna.
So, the soul is apart from Krishna, the soul suffers. So, apart or apart. So, in this existence, we are apart right now from Krishna and that’s why we suffer.
Now, what happens when the soul becomes apart from Krishna, separate from Krishna? At that time, the soul comes under Manah Shashtani Indriyani. Why does it come under Manah Shashtani Indriyani? Because the soul wants to enjoy. Soul becomes separated from Krishna because of the desire to enjoy.
And the ideas about how the soul will enjoy are in the mind and the senses. You remember earlier we discussed Indriyani Manobudhir Asyadishtana Mucchate. Krishna described how lust is situated in the mind, senses and intelligence.
So, Manah Shashtani Indriyani Prakriti Sthani Karshati. Now, why is there Karshati? Why is the struggle there? Because the material world is a place where enjoyment is limited. Whereas our desires to enjoy are unlimited.
So, naturally there is struggle. Now, the limitedness is not just in terms of the external objects that are there for enjoying. The limitedness is also in terms of our inner capacity to enjoy.
Both are limited. And because of that, whenever people get into sense gratification, they stop, not because they have had enough enjoyment, but because their body doesn’t allow them to enjoy anymore. So, the reason they stop is not to become satisfied now.
Yes, I have had enough enjoyment. No, they stop because the body’s capacity to enjoy gets exhausted. So, therefore, actually there is a Karshati, there is a struggle.
Now, this Karshati is there for everyone. It is not that as devotees sometimes we feel that my mind creates so much trouble for me. So, we feel that I am so much tormented and troubled by my mind.
Is it that because of my attempt to control my senses and live a pure life, I am suffering so much at the mental level? If I just started indulging in whatever the desires are, would the mind become peaceful? Would the mind become peaceful? No. Actually, the spiritualists struggle because so many desires to give up. And materialists struggle because, yeah, so many desires to fulfil.
So, nobody can be free from struggle in this world. Karshati is there for everyone. So many desires to fulfil.
So, either way, it is not that it’s going to be, it’s an easy way for anyone. No, actually, in Kali Yuga, what to speak of a brahmachari, even to be a grahastha is difficult. Why? Because the mind is not satisfied with the relationship with one partner.
The mind wants relationship with more and more people. You know, it’s not that sometimes we hear in Christianity or in other religions also, where in Christianity, in Protestantism, they have only married pastors. But even then, they have so many cases where the pastors have affairs with the people, with the women of their congregation.
And then what happens is the mind is never satisfied. So, it’s not that. Now, here we are not blaming Christianity in any way.
Lust is a problem, which is there for everyone, whichever be the religious demonstration a person is facing. But the point is that it is not that by trying to satisfy, the desire will go away. No, even when one tries to satisfy, the desire keeps increasing, keeps increasing.
So, the material struggle, because they have so many desires to fulfil. So, it’s a place of struggle for everyone. So, the only choice is we have to choose which struggle we want.
The struggle to fulfil desires or the struggle to get rid of desires. And that is the only real choice we have. Now, this doesn’t mean that we have to absolutely reject all desires.
The path of bhakti allows us to engage our propensities in Krishna’s service. And we also get actually a lot of material fulfilment also in the process of bhakti. But there are desires which are sinful or anti-devotional and they definitely have to be given up.
So, manah shashtani indriyani, prakriti sthani karshati. Vishal Prabhupada explains in the Parpot that the soul is as if bound by shackles. The conditioned soul is bound up as though shackled by iron chains.
He is bound up by the false ego and the mind is the chief agent which is driving him in this material existence. And then Prabhupada explains interestingly, mind is in goodness, activities are good. Mind is in passion, the activities are troublesome.
Mind is in ignorance, the activities are so bad that they take one down to the lower species. So, you remember I gave the example of a virtual reality or a simulation. So, there if somebody is sitting in front of my computer and I am working on my computer.
And say I am watching some programme or reading some book or whatever. So, like that, if a person gets completely absorbed in whatever is being displayed in the virtual reality system and forgets everything else. Then that person, although there is a whole world around that person, he is not aware of that.
So, actually the super soul is right next to us. But we are deaf and blind to his presence because we are riveted on material existence. And if you compare this computer, the virtual reality setup, say I am talking about a flight simulation.
So, the flight simulation is there on a computer. The whole technological setup is there by which the, on which the airfield from which you have to take off, the area where you have to sky and which you have to fly, the target which one has to hit, all that is displayed. So, this computer screen is like the mind.
The mind is, we will discuss this later, Krishna will describe how, the mind is the centre of all the senses. So, all the inputs are coming in from everywhere to the mind. And then through the mind, our consciousness gets routed to everywhere else.
So, there is a very nice article by Dhritakarma Prabhu on the Puranjan analogy, city of the nine gates. And then he just explains how the mind is like a multimedia software. Super slow.
So, so anyway, the point which I’m making is when we are looking at the computer screen, imagine if there were some sort of pipeline or covering which gets my consciousness fixed only on the computer screen. Well, I can’t look here, not look there. Like a horse, its head is covered so that the horse can’t look in other directions.
It’s focused. So, this very subtle covering that fixes my consciousness on the computer screen, that is the false ego. So, the computer screen is like the multimedia.
So, the mind might be compared to a multimedia computer software capable of integrating audio and visual material into a single display, making use of a variety of inputs and source intelligence. And he goes on explaining the Puranjan analogy, material intelligence is represented by the queen, directs the living entity’s consciousness to the integrated display of sense data. Intelligence is not self-conscious, but it makes the behaviour of consciousness.
I won’t go into explanation of Puranjan analogy over here. But the point is, Prabhupada is saying here that the false ego is the main thing which shackles us. So, how does it shackle us? The soul is independent of matter, but the soul’s consciousness gets reverted to matter through the false ego.
So, as long as the false ego is very strong, the soul can’t think or see anything else. The soul can think and see only in bodily terms. So, he’s bound up by the false ego.
So, we are bound up to the conception of the body and everything in relationship with the body because of the false ego. So, this is how the Karaschati takes place. Now, yes.
Okay. In the third canto, when the creation is being described, it is said the mind is in the mode of, mind comes from the mode of goodness and intelligence comes from the mode of passion. How is that? So, actually speaking, there are two different kinds of intelligence.
There is material intelligence and spiritual intelligence. So, material intelligence is subordinate to the mind because the material intelligence basically can think only of ways in which to fulfil the mind’s desires. So, goodness is connected with maintenance and passion is connected with creation.
So, the mind is in the mode of goodness means, mind comes in the mode of goodness means, that the mind maintains our material existence. The mind keeps us on material existence. And the intelligence is in the mode of passion means, the intelligence things up newer and newer ways to create ways for enjoyment, to expand our material existence.
So, on the other hand, the intelligence that liberates us is spiritual intelligence. It is that intelligence which comes from Guru Sadhu Shastra or it comes from one’s past spiritual activities or inclinations. And that is radically different.
So, the material intelligence is definitely under the material mind. And it basically comes up with schemes. You see, most of technology today is used to make sense gratification more, more alluringly and irresistibly available to people.
That’s what most of technology is used for. And surely the development of technology requires intelligence. But that intelligence, what is it being used for? To actually make more and more facilities for the mind’s desires to be fulfilled.
OK. So, is it the mind creates plans and schemes or is it the intelligence that creates plans and schemes? Yes, there’s a slight difference here. See, the mind has the stockpile of the past memories of how one has enjoyed.
It also takes in from the present ideas for enjoyment. But once the ideas are there, for the ideas to be implemented, certain amount of organising, planning, scheming is required. So, that is not done by the mind.
That is done by the intelligence. So, we could say that the desires come from the mind itself. But the point is that the mind just keeps having desires one after another, after another, which will continue as a material existence.
But it is the intelligence which expands by making plans. Prabhupada writes in a letter that we are meant to use our intelligence to control our enjoying mentality, but we are habituated to enjoying intelligently. Enjoying intelligently means using our intelligence to enjoy in such a way that we can cover our tracks, that we think that we will not get into trouble, that whole way.
So, is that clear? Yes, can I ask? So, eko bahusyaam, the Upanishads say that one became many. And how is that related with mamayi vahamsho jeevaloke, jeeva-bhutas and others. So, if we are eternal parts, then how can one become many? So, actually, the scriptures often talk about principles which are beyond time.
They refer to them as if they are within time to help us get an understanding of their interrelationship. So, whenever this sort of origination is talked about, it is not in a time denotational sense. It is in a more of an interrelational sense.
I’ll explain this with an example. For example, it is said that there is one absolute truth who became two as Radha and Krishna. That is one of the starting verses of the Chaitanya Charita Amrit.
And then those two have become one now again as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Now, does this mean that there was a time when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not exist? No, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is eternal. His manifestation is at a particular time over here.
So, here, although they are eternal, why these different forms exist, that is demonstrated, or that is explained through this point of, yes, there were two, there is one who became two, and then two became one. Actually, there are always two and one, both are always there. But to explain the interrelationship, this sort of examples are given.
So, similarly, the point of the absolute truth becoming many, or the one becoming many, that is given to illustrate how the reciprocity and relationships are what bring joy to life. Without reciprocity and relationships, one can have peace, but one cannot have joy. For joy, we need some kind of relationships.
So, the scriptures do elsewhere talk about how all of us are eternal. So, when they talk about eko bahu syam, I think Sandarbha has explained this point, that actually what is being talked about is more in a philosophical relationship sense, not in a time-origin sense. Clear? Yes.
No, no, no. What is the verse there? That’s not what it is saying exactly. What is that verse? So, even the one becoming two, that is also in a philosophical sense.
Is it that there was some absolute truth beyond Radha and Krishna, who later on became Radha and Krishna? No. Krishna has clearly said aham sarvasya prabhavo. He has clearly said that.
So, that’s not exactly the point being made over here. The point being made over here is in a ekatmano. Anyway, so that is the general point over here.
See, the scriptures may talk about certain things. As I said, the scriptures have to be always seen in a holistic way. If we just take one statement out, then we can get an improper conclusion.
So, what is being said over here is, 1.5. Ekatmanam apibhui, pura deha bhedau gatautau. Chaitanyakhyam prakatam adhunathadvayam chaikhyam aaptam, Radha bhavati sultam naumi krishna svarupam. So, here the point being made is that ekatmanam, he is one, but he became two.
And then two have become one. So, what this essentially means is that the Supreme Lord, he has interrelationships with his own expansions, who also integrate. So, this is not at all in a time-renotational sense.
Because if it were in a time-renotational sense, then we would have a time when Krishna would not be present. And that would be completely against the definition of the Absolute Truth, that is why. I am just very clear that the Bhagavad Gita equates the Absolute Truth with Krishna.
Is it clear? Yeah. Okay, so now, at one point, Krishna expanded into many. That is true with respect to material existence.
See, for example, Krishna expanding into Balram, and Balram into Vasudeva Sankaracharya Prajnaparamita, and then that into Narayan. These are eternal forms. So, this is more in terms of a conceptual interrelationship.
It’s not time-denotation. So, it’s not that there was a time when Krishna was there and Vishnu was not there. So, when we say that Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is more in terms of saying that Krishna has the maximum qualities and others have partial manifestations of those qualities.
So, it’s not that there was one time when Goloka was there and then Vaikuntha was not there and then Vaikuntha came in. No, all of them are eternally there. But subsequently onwards, for example, Mahavishnu, Garbhodaksha, Vishnu, Shivdaksha Vishnu, they are not necessarily eternally there.
See, Shivdaksha Vishnu, when the material world gets destroyed, at that time Shivdaksha Vishnu becomes unmanifest. So, these later expansions have a time-denotation sequence. But these are called as the Purusha avatars.
They are directly connected with the material world. So, just as the various other avatars also have a time-specific relationship. They arrive at a particular time, they depart at a particular time.
OK. So, that example of Deeparchurevahidashantaram vipeta, that one candle lumines many other candles. See, when Brahmaji gives any example, or not just Brahmaji, the scriptures give any examples, those examples are illustrating specific points of the analogy.
No example is an exhaustive description of the analogy. Remember, I gave the example earlier of Chakachandraniya, correct? Or if you just want to go to example, there is a car driver analogy. So, here the soul is the driver.
But then you go to chariot body analogy, the soul becomes the passenger. Isn’t it? So, is the soul the driver or the passenger? No, it will depend on what is the point that we are trying to convey. So, all analogies have their limitations.
So, this analogy basically illustrates that there is one who is the complete manifestation. And from that complete manifestation, there are other manifestations who also emerge, who have partially those qualities. So, in that sense, this example is valid.
But not exactly in a literal sense. See, sometimes the literal sense is very, we can have it very simplistic and it can be misleading. Sometimes when we say the spiritual world is up there and up there.
So, now, or even if you say heaven is up, you know, India and America are two opposite parts of the globe. So, for up is in two different directions. Isn’t it? So, where exactly is up? So, that’s why that up is not in a simplistic geographic sense.
And sometimes we also talk about, OK, these are the 14 planetary systems. And then beyond that is the spiritual world. So, we talk it off as if it is in geographical continuity of the material world only.
Just like here is India, there is China. So, like that, here is the material world, there is the spiritual world. But the spiritual world is an entirely different category of existence.
Although there is a spatial relationship that, OK, the material world is here, the spiritual world is there. But it’s not just like a simplistic journey. It’s not a simplistic journey.
That you just move upwards and then I go from here to there. So, that’s why when we have any sort of either visual depictions or any comparison with anything material, Vishwanath Chakravarthy explains in his Shuddhisthava commentary, 10th canto, that prayers of the personified, that chapter commentary, that these are indicative, they are not descriptive. So, they indicate the nature of what the reality is.
But that reality cannot be described accurately. So, let’s move forward. Yeah.
These are dualities. But on a day to day practise of spiritual life, how we should use these dualities in order to rise above them. And how we should perceive even in a irreducible, as you said, the soul’s individuality has likes and dislikes.
How these two has to go together, because Krishna says to come out of the dualities. Even second chapter says, nirdhondo. Yeah, correct.
And how we generally perceive even purity of dislikes and dislikes. Yeah. So, are the dualities the products of the modes? And how exactly do we go beyond the dualities? So, first of all, are the dualities the products of the modes? Yes.
Everything in material existence is a product of modes. So, even the dualities are the prakriti jangunan. So, actually everything in material existence is there.
So, certain things look attractive. And, you know, from the material point of view, there are certain things which are attractive. So, a rose flower is beautiful.
And maybe some other, a jhandu flower will not be so beautiful. So that difference, as far as the material level of existence is there, is real. And it has to be acknowledged as such.
But now, when we say that we have to. So just because it’s the product of the modes, doesn’t make it unreal. Because as long as in material existence, it’s real.
For example, if my hand is fractured, I could say that the whole body is the product of the three modes of material nature. But that doesn’t make it unreal for me at this level of existence. I have to deal with it in a proper way.
So similarly, with respect to the dualities, they may be product of modes, but for us right now, they are real. So what does it mean to go beyond the modes? It doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to suppress all our likes and dislikes. It just means that we should not let our devotional service be hampered or stopped by our likes and dislikes.
But that doesn’t mean that we cannot serve Krishna according to our likes and dislikes. So, for example, the whole principle of Arunashram is to get people to serve according to their likes and dislikes. Isn’t it? So, Indriyasya Indriyasya Arthe Raga Dvesha Vyavasthitao Tayor Navasham Agachet Tauyasya Paripanthinao So Krishna explains in 3.34 that Indriyasya Indriyasya Arthe Raga Dvesha Vyavasthitao That this Raga and Dvesha are situated in the sense of the sense objects.
So what he says is Tayor Navasham Agachet. Don’t come under their control. That doesn’t mean that we have to completely reject them.
He doesn’t say turn a blind eye towards them. He says don’t come under their control. That means, for example, if I’m taking prasadam and I like a particular item and I don’t like a particular item.
It is not that just to transcend dualities I have to eat the things that I don’t like. And that I don’t take the things that I like. That’s not essential.
Bhakti is to be performed priti purvakam. So if I’m doing all the things that I don’t like to do, then it will be very difficult for me to have priti. But at the same time, there is also a concept of sacrifice.
Sometimes we may also do what we don’t like to do to please someone else. So if the prasadam that is available is something that we don’t like and there is no alternative, then we take that and we try to take it as gracefully as possible. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to do the things which we don’t like to do.
So the whole concept of transcending dualities doesn’t mean that we just suppress our likes and dislikes and force ourselves to do the things that we don’t like to do. No. It means that we try to find how we can serve Krishna according to our likes and dislikes.
But don’t let our likes and dislikes stop our service to Krishna. It’s like say the river is flowing towards the ocean. So now there is a particular way, if there is already a riverbed, then the river can flow faster towards the ocean.
But if the riverbed gets dried up or if it gets blocked, then the river will flow in some other way. So in a sense, the riverbed is like our likes and dislikes. So our consciousness will naturally flow along our likes and dislikes.
So if I like music and there is a very nice kirtan, naturally my mind will go towards that music and through that music it will go towards Krishna. Or if I like words and I like things which are presented artfully, artistically and eloquently with words, when I get those sentences, immediately my mind will get absorbed in them. So it’s not that I have to put them aside.
But even when they are not available, even when the way I can naturally observe my Krishna is not there, still I try to keep myself absorbed in Krishna. So transcending dualities essentially means that even in the presence of dualities, we continue our service to Krishna. Or even in the presence of unlikable things, we continue our service to Krishna.
But that doesn’t mean that we deliberately have to take up unlikable things in the name of service to Krishna. That’s not the meaning over there. So now regarding a pure devotee’s likes and dislikes, it is very difficult to say where the material individuality ends and where the spiritual individuality begins.
And in general, it’s best not to go into that analysis. Because it’s very difficult to know. So, for example, if you find that an advanced devotee, if a very serious senior devotee likes a particular thing, is that because of the past conditioning or past upbringing of the devotee or is that a spiritual liking? You know, it doesn’t matter.
If that devotee is fixed in service to Krishna, then by serving Krishna in that way, we will, by serving that devotee, we are serving Krishna and we are making spiritual advancement by that. So, if that like is material, if that like is somehow material, then correcting that material like is between that devotee and Krishna. That devotee has a much greater relationship with Krishna than what I have.
So, I don’t have to bother about that part. And now when we are talking about likes and dislikes, we are surely not talking about something which is contrary to the principles of devotion. We are talking about things which are within the principles of devotion only.
So, best not to go into that zone of whether something is manifesting in the material individuality or the spiritual individuality. Then the controlling of senses comes into picture with respect to likes and dislikes. Yes, but that is when the likes and dislikes are taking us away from dharma towards adharma.
That means, say, if my uncontrolled senses want me to eat something which is not offered, which is not prasad or which is something which is, which cannot be eaten as a devotee, then I have to absolutely ruthlessly control the senses. But then as long as it is prasad, I can take it. Of course, I have to make sure that I don’t take excessively because that may have health consequences and other things.
But the example I gave, it’s not that just because I don’t like something, I have to eat it. That is not necessarily bhakti. So, we see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would serve every devotee according to what they would like.
So now, is it that every single devotee who was then in Chaitanya Lila was an eternal associate coming from the spiritual world? Maybe, maybe not also. There were some devotees who might be from there itself, but they also joined Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastime. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was taking care of them also.
So in general, the principle is that we want to fix our mind on Krishna and connect ourselves with Krishna. So if we can do it through our material likes, then that will make it that much easier for us. So now, Krishna will describe in the next verses how this karshati happens.
And as I said that the karshati is there, the struggle is there. So how does this karshati take place? That he will describe in the next verse. That one gets a particular sharir and then the soul leaves that body.
And then Krishna uses this word Ishwara. So this Ishwara, in a sense, it is used a bit sarcastically. What kind of Ishwara is it? As your soul comes into the body, soul leaves the body.
There is no sense of which body it goes to. There is no knowledge of that. But the Ishwara is also used in the sense that the soul will determine as per the life that he is living, which body will go to.
So the exact moment the soul will come into the body, the exact moment the soul will leave the body, that is not in our control. But still, the way, the overall direction of the soul’s journey, 14.18 we talked about that, that is determined by the soul. So in that sense, the soul is the Ishwara.
But otherwise the soul is not Ishwara, the soul is largely Adheen. So he accepts the body and he gives up the body. So just as the wind carries a fragrance, similarly, the soul carries its conceptions of life.
So what we carry from one life to another is our conception of life. Our conception of life means, how is life to be lived? What is it to be enjoyed in life? So when a person, when a soul eats a lot of non-vegetarian food, eats flesh, and the conception of life the soul develops is, okay, life is meant for eating flesh. And when that conception is carried on, then naturally that conception takes the soul to a body of an animal, of a carnivorous animal like a tiger or a lion or even a lower, less dignified body like a dog or even a snake, whatever.
Because snakes, normally people, those also are envious go. But in general, whatever other qualities are there, they will also be taken into consideration while getting the next body. But the conceptions of life are carried on.
Vayur Gandhan Ivasayat. So the soul just goes from one body to another. Now after describing this, so what is the meaning of this? As the wind carries aromas.
Now if you see, the wind itself is subtle as far as our gross perception is concerned. We can’t see the wind. We can only sense the wind by its touch.
Or sometimes when the wind moves things, we can feel the sound of it. But primarily the wind we sense it by touch. So now the wind is subtle, but the fragrance that is carried by it is even subtler.
So like that, the soul is subtle and the soul is another subtle thing. That is the conception of life. Now where are the conception of life carried? In the subtle body, in the mind.
Yes. So the mind goes from one body, subtle body goes from one body to another and the gross body stays behind. Now if you see when Putana dies, what is that Krishna, when he sucked her breast, what did he pull out? Yes, it’s interesting.
He didn’t say that he pulled out the soul. He pulled out the prana vayu. So what is this prana vayu? Actually, just as the subtle body is the bridge between the soul and the gross body.
Similarly, the prana is the bridge between the subtle body and the gross body. That’s why we will see that when our mind is disturbed at that time, our prana also gets disturbed. When I’m angry, my breathing becomes fast.
On the contrary, if I consciously slow down my breathing, then my mind also becomes calm. So pranayam basically it moves upwards like this. So yam niyam is just control of the gross body.
Asana or yam niyam is control of the actions of the body. Asana is control of the feature of the body, posture of the body. And then pranayam as it is moving forward is controlling the link between the gross body and subtle body.
And then afterwards pratyahara means you shut out the whole external world and then you go to the mind. And gradually dhyan dharana samandhi, then it goes deeper towards the Atma and the Paramatma. But the idea is prana vayu also goes out when the soul goes out.
Or rather when prana vayu goes out, then the soul also goes out with it. So now what Krishna is telling is the conceptions are carried on. Now what happens if the soul just goes with these conceptions, then he gets the next body.
The previous verse said that the soul along with the mind goes out. Now it is described, once the mind is there, accordingly a particular set of senses will get centred on it. That means Krishna is describing the process of transmigration from the perspective of the mind.
You remember why is the mind being talked about? 15.7 said, manah shashtani indriyani prakriti sthani karshati. So the mana is central to the karshati. The mana is what causes most of our struggles in material existence.
So the mind carries the conceptions and then based on the conceptions, a particular set of senses that are appropriate for that enjoyment will build up around the body. shrotram chakshuh sparshanam cha rasanam granamevacha adhishthaya manashthayam vishayanupasevate So shrotram is ears, chakshuh is eyes, parshanam is touch, rasanam is tongue, granam is the nose, adhishthaya manashthayam, so all of them, their adhishtha, the centre is the mind, adhishthaya manashthayam, then what do they do after that? vishayanupasevate, so vishayanupasevate means soul, so actually that’s the seva of the vishaya, he just serves the sense objects. So it’s like the soul has, just like there is a carpenter or a works person, worksman, he has his toolkit and the toolkit he goes around to do jobs, maybe doing some carpentry, hitting some nails, cutting some wood.
So like that the soul is like a carpenter and the mind and the senses are like the toolkit. And the soul is going from body to body doing the job of sense gratification. He is trying to do that job, but vishayanupasevate, he is serving the senses.
Actually if you can just recognise this, although we speak it many times, we often don’t realise deeply that as soon as we stop serving Krishna, we automatically start serving the mind and senses. We don’t recognise this because we feel I am enjoying, but later on when the spell of enjoyment ends, you are thinking why did I do that? So what has happened is, as soon as we give the service of Krishna, the soul is by nature the servant, then the mind and senses take over and the soul is forced to serve the mind and senses. So to the extent we can recognise that actually there is no absolute freedom for us.
There is no absolute freedom, either we have the freedom to serve Krishna or the freedom to serve Maya. So if we just observe ourselves carefully, we will see as soon as we stop being Krishna conscious, immediately the mind starts dragging us and pulling us. So, for example, when a man becomes lusty for a woman, then there are various sense objects, but, you know, let’s say somebody may be attracted to food, somebody may be attracted to cigarettes, somebody may be attracted to alcohol, but among all these sense objects, the opposite sex is considered to be the most seductive.
A woman for a man, a man for a woman. Why? Because unlike other sense objects, this sense object is conscious. A liquor bottle is not going to come walking to me.
The prasad is not going to come to the kitchen to my bedroom. Actually, the opposite sex has its own mind and senses. And those are also filled with the ideas for enjoyment.
So, like Krishna says, man-manabho mad-bhakto. So, a man falls in love for a woman, the woman also says, man-manabho mad-bhakto, madhyaji maam namaskuru, maam evaishyati satyam te. So, actually the person has to serve.
So, what happens is, we become servants of the mind and senses, either our mind and senses and then somebody else’s mind and senses. Because to please that person, we have to do what that person wants us to do. So, in this way, we become trapped.
So, vishayan upasevate, we have to serve the senses. Now, after this, Krishna will describe that actually, normally, if I am sick, I am aware that I am sick, then I will take some treatment. So, Krishna has described that there is this karshati that is happening and how it goes over many, many lifetimes.
But, this karshati is so deceptive that we don’t even realise that we are suffering. And that we don’t realise because we don’t have jnana chakshu. We are so enamoured, as long as the drunkard is under the spell of alcohol, he doesn’t even realise that he is struggling and suffering.
So, like that, as long as we are caught in the hope of material enjoyment, we don’t even realise that we are suffering. You know, when Vilvamangal Thakur, in his pre-devotional life, went to Chintamani, you know, he went in the storm, his body was wet and he was trembling and he went through so much suffering and so much trouble and so much danger, but he didn’t even realise it at that time. Why? Because at that time, when the hope for enjoyment is there, the jnana chakshu is completely closed.
So, the alcoholic doesn’t realise under the spell of alcohol that he is suffering. Now, he may have fallen in a gutter also and somebody comes along and tells him, you know, why are you suffering? Come on, who is suffering? I am enjoying, get lost. So, it’s like that, the person doesn’t realise that he is suffering.
So, Krishna is saying, why this karshati is not seen? Because there is no jnana chakshu. utkramantam sthitam vapi bhunjanam va gunanvitam vimudhananu pashyanti pashyanti jnana chakshu shaha So, in this way, utkramantam, leaving the body, utkramantam sthitam vapi, being situated in the body. So, this is referring to 15.8. You know, it was talking about shariram yada vapnam yaccha api utkramatishvara utkramantam sthitam vapi and bhunjanam va gunanvitam is referring to 15.9. shotram chakshu sparshanam upasevate So, this is a struggle.
Within, from one body to another there is a struggle and within the body there is a struggle. When I am within the body, there are so many desires that I have to satisfy, so many sense objects that I have to acquire. So, both the journey from one body to another and the journey within the body are struggle.
But, vimudha nanu pashyanti The foolish person doesn’t see the suffering at all. If one wants to see pashyanti, jnana chakshu shaha One sees with the eyes of knowledge. So, the eyes of knowledge essentially refers to the capacity to see things differently by making connections.
See, what is the difference between the way illiterate boy sees a blackboard and a literate boy sees a blackboard? The patterns on the blackboard are the same. But the literate boy is able to make connections. Okay, this particular pattern represents a particular letter and this sequence of letters means a particular word and this word has a particular meaning.
So, the essential difference between literacy and illiteracy is the capacity to make connections. So, jnana chakshu essentially means the capacity to make connections between what we experience and what we hear in scripture. To the extent we can make the connections, to that extent, we can act in knowledge.
The capacity to make connections based on knowledge between what we experience and what we have heard. differently based on knowledge, differently means different from others. So, I gave the example of a literate and illiterate boy, illiterate person.
So, now this question comes up, so why is it that some people have the jnana chakshu and some people don’t have the jnana chakshu? So, why is it that everybody cannot acquire this jnana chakshu? That Krishna will answer in the next verse. yatanto yoginas chainam pashyanti atmanya vasthitam yatanto apyakrtatmano nainam pashyanti acetasaha So, yatanto yoginas chainam that the yogi, when he tries, yatanto, pashyanti, he is able to see atmanya vasthitam So, when he is situated on the spiritual platform, pashyanti atmanya vasthitam So, there is endeavour, yatanto is there, and there is pashyanti, there is success. Why is there success? Because atmanya vasthitam.
On the other hand, yatanto apyakrtatmano nainam pashyanti acetasaha The other is also endeavouring, but there is nainam pashyanti Why is there nainam pashyanti? apyakrtatmano acetasaha The consciousness is misdirected, the person is apyakrtatmano That means that what Krishna is telling over here is, now, it seems a little interesting that you want to see the atma and to see the atma, Krishna is saying you have to be situated in the atma. That means he is saying that those who endeavour will see if they are situated on the atma. And those who endeavour, they will not see if their consciousness is misdirected.
They are apyakrtatmano. They have not done a particular thing. They have not acted at the level of the soul.
apyakrtatmano So, here being situated on the spiritual platform doesn’t mean one has to live and realise that one is the soul. It just means that one has to live in a way that is conducive to spiritual realisation. That means one has to follow some principles.
It’s just like if I want to see whether a log of wood catches fire, then what do I have to do? I have to make sure that I expose the log of wood to fire. And I also have to make sure that I don’t pour water on the log of wood. So, the log of wood has the capacity to catch fire.
But to be able to do that, I have to I have to make sure that I expose it to the right stimuli. And avoid exposure to the wrong stimuli. So, similarly, if we want to gain spiritual perception, then we have to act and live in a spiritual way.
Otherwise, we can’t get any spiritual perception. So, there are those who wish to see the soul, but they don’t act spiritually. They don’t follow any process.
If they don’t follow any process to come to spiritual perception, then just the endeavour alone is not enough. If I want to get a log to catch fire, but I don’t follow the process of exposing it to fire, I don’t follow the process of protecting it from water, then the fire will not emerge. So like that, if I want to become spiritual, but I don’t keep myself away from materialistic stimuli, especially sensual stimuli, which drag the consciousness down, and I don’t expose myself to spiritual stimuli, which raise my consciousness up, then I’ll not be able to see.
Prabhupada gives the example that if a person is blind, it is not that just by trying again and again, the blind person will be able to see. Trying is important, but the trying has to be accompanied by a process. So both are doing yatanto.
Krishna is telling in 15.11, A as well as C, both are yatanto. But still, the yatanto has to be accompanied by a process. Just the desire to see and endeavour to see is not enough for a blind person to start seeing.
That has to be accompanied by a process. The process is, go to a doctor, and the doctor may give you some medication, doctor may do some surgery, doctor may prescribe some exercises, some precautions. So that has to be done.
So endeavour alone is not enough. Endeavour has to be accompanied by a process. And when the process is there, then yatanto plus ātmani avasthitam This leads to jñāna-cakṣu The blind person seeing.
So now what does this mean? This essentially means that the person is living too materialistically. There are some mundane scholars who may have a lot of a lot of knowledge in terms of information, even of scriptures or spiritual subjects, but then they are not living at the level of the soul. Then they don’t get much realisation.
There is no transformation. There is a famous, one of the most prominent Gita scholars in the world. His name is Minor.
So he wrote an analysis of the Gita based on something like 12 or 15 traditional commentaries. So he read all those commentaries of Advaitic, Advaitic, various sampradayas. There is one Abhinav Gupta who has written a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita trying to prove how Shiva is the Supreme Personality of God.
Based on Bhagavad Gita. It is just impossible. It is just impossible.
The word Shiva doesn’t come anywhere in the Bhagavad Gita. Shankara comes. Shankara comes.
Rudranam Shankaras Chasmi. That is the only reference to Shankara in the Bhagavad Gita. But he is trying to prove that Shiva is the Supreme Personality of God based on Bhagavad Gita.
So he is a prominent Shaivite scholar from Kashmir. So anyway, so like that, this person has taken various commentaries of various scholars and then what is his conclusion? His conclusion is that the Bhagavad Gita is a book of profound and unsolvable mystery. So, unsolvable mystery.
Why? Because, yes, the person is doing a lot of study but there is no Atmanyavasthitam. There is no practise. There is no sadhana.
There is no purification. So study is no doubt important but that alone is not enough. And I forgot to mention earlier, in the 14th chapter, Krishna, when he is talking about the effect of Satvaguna, he says, satvat sanjayate jnanam.
He says in 14.9, satvat sanjayate jnanam, rajasolobha eva ca, pramadmoha utamsa bhavato jnanam eva ca. So it’s significant, he said, he says, satvat sanjayate jnanam. He doesn’t just say, abhyasat sanjayate jnanam, kshastrat sanjayate jnanam.
Yes, scripture is important, study is important but actually it is living in Satvaguna. Along with the study, along with the scriptural analysis, one has to live in a proper mode. Then only the knowledge will come up.
So that’s why, itanto api akrtatmano nainam pasyantya cetasaha. So now Arjuna gets a question over here, okay, those people who are materialistic, those who do not, those who cannot see spiritual reality, because they are too caught up with materialism, is there some way that they can at least develop in the direction of getting Jnana Chakshu? So Krishna will explain, yes. That is, so spiritual vision can be in two ways.
One is the vision of the Atma and the other is the vision of Bhagwan. So I try to understand that I am not the body, I am the soul. That is one way I try to develop spiritual vision.
That is as per the self-realisation. And the other is, I try to see God and that is also spiritual vision. So those who are so materialistic that they can’t understand the spiritual identity, they can try to understand the role of God in their material life.
That means how God is doing so much for me, even in the material life, they can try to understand. So let’s see what this means. So now Krishna will describe in the next few verses, how the Jnana Chakshu can help us see the role of God in the material realm.
So till now, the whole, from 15.7 onwards till 11, Jnana Chakshu was centred on Atma. There is no direct reference to the Bhagwan over here. All the Mammai Vamshu is mentioned, but after that, it’s a perception of how the Atma is suffering in material existence.
But now, 15.12 to 15, Krishna is driving the flow of thought from Jnana to Bhakti. That’s what we’ll see over here. So Jnana Chakshu means to see the role of God, the action of God, in material existence.
So he will describe, so the 12th verse, describes the role of God at a cosmological level. 13th verse, describes the role of God at a terrestrial level, at the earthly level. The 14th verse, describes the role of God at a physiological level.
And the 15th verse, describes the role of God at a psychological and spiritual level. The role of God in our material existence. The action or role of Jnana Chakshu, role of Paramatma in material existence.
So how the Lord is acting, even if I want to enjoy material existence, there is so much that I need for my material existence. So how the Lord is providing that, that will be described in the subsequent verses. So, now let’s look at this verse.
So 15.12, so it’s progression, cosmological is the whole universe, in the universe there is the earth, so terrestrial is the earth. Then on the earth I am living in a particular body. So you know it’s like the progressive coverings.
The soul is covered, first the soul is covered by the universe, that universe is maintained by the super soul, by the Lord. Then we are living on a planet, this planet is maintained by the Lord. We are living in a body, the body is maintained by the Lord.
And we are living in the mind. And that mind is also guided ultimately by the Lord. So in this way, we can see that our material existence is also dependent on the benevolent role of the super soul.
So let’s see how this happens. So in this way it’s like the whole of, we are all in a sense, surrounded by concentric circles of the grace of the super soul. These are all what? From 12 to 15 they are? Concentric circles of the benevolent grace of God.
Of the grace of God basically. So we are seeing, this is how we are encased in the mercy of God. So, the twelfth verse, let us start.
Twelfth verse is Sorry. Twelfth verse is Chandramasihachagnam Chandramasihachagnam Tattejo viddhimamakam Tattejo viddhimamakam So now Krishna is mentioning here the same four elements that he mentioned in 15.6. Na tadbhasayate suryo na shashanko na pavaka So here it is. Aditya, Chandramasi and Agni.
Agnam. So same three elements. So what does this mean is, these three elements are not required in the spiritual world.
But they are required here in material existence. And we cannot create them. We cannot create light.
This world is an inherently dark place and we need light for the function, for living in this world. Not only we need light, but the whole world is sustained by light. Sunlight is what causes the planet to go.
It is a very important part of the functioning of the universe. So all these sources of illumination they are coming from Krishna. So the light of the sun, the light of the moon, the light of fire they are all ultimately arranged by the grace of God.
And now this illumination is a representative that at the cosmological level there are so many arrangements that are made. Now sometimes we just dismiss the Big Bang theory as false. You know, sometimes we may say that the universe has not come from a Big Bang.
It has come from a Big Brain. It has come from the Big Brain of the Supreme Lord. It is not just the Big Bang, it is the Big Vision.
The Lord saw and then Saha Ikshita. That’s how it’s created. But you know, even the Big Bang theory is not necessarily incompatible with our understanding.
Because when the universe has emerged from the body of Mahavishnu, they are small. And then they expand. So the concept of origination and expansion, that is not incompatible.
So also the incompatibilities are primarily, and we also know that when Lord Vishnu glances, he activates. So there is an initial discharge of energy which starts the activation. The main difference is that scientists say that this whole process of Big Bang is not controlled by any factors.
It just happens automatically. Whereas, the Vedic understanding is that the expansion of the universe happens under the supervision of the Lord. Under careful mentoring of the Lord.
Monitoring of the Lord. So, now, even within the Big Bang cosmology also, scientists have found that everything has to be so precise. Otherwise the universe will not come out.
See, now this point that I am talking about, they are not exactly the same as the design argument. Although they are relatively similar, but these are so, these arrangements are so precise. For example, scientists have found out that, you know, the earth is unique, the earth is here and the moon is here.
And as compared to other planets, the moon is quite a large satellite. And the moon had not been at this distance and the earth’s polar axis which is tilted at 23.5 degrees, it would not have been tilted. And if it had not been tilted at 23.5 degrees, then we would not have had any cycling of seasons.
And if there were no seasons, no life would be possible. So now, how did we exactly get this moon and how did the moon, such a large moon, at a particular distance, how did this come about? There are so many, in my science and speciality book, I have given around a dozen examples of this. There is a Jupiter planet, which is just one planet away from us.
So, if Jupiter were in the place of Mars, so Jupiter, because it’s one planet away from us, many asteroids, which come in through space, so Jupiter acts like a gravitational vacuum cleaner. Zoop! It just takes in all the asteroids onto itself. And it sucks them in.
Now, if Jupiter had been at the position of Saturn, then the effect would not have been so much. And we would have had asteroids hitting the earth with a very terribly high frequency. On the other hand, if Jupiter had been at the place where Mars is there, means just one planet away, then the earth would have got sucked in by its gravitational pull.
Or at least it would have been destabilised from its orbit. So, like that, there are so many examples of how everything is precisely arranged. And now, this raises a question, whether from an explosion, everything can come about with a precise design.
That is something. And in fact, above all is the earth-sun distance. If the earth had been in the position of either Mars or Venus, then the earth would not have been able to survive.
Life would not have been possible on the earth, at least life as we know it. So, it’s just in the right location. So, of course, now we know that there is life on other planets also.
But when we are talking to science, we talk according to their pramanas. They don’t accept that there is life on other planets, fine. But according to your own analysis, whatever is required for life, the range of factors that have to be taken care of for that to come out are very remarkable.
In fact, the whole explosion itself is so precise that what happens is, when the universe, if it is expanded from a singularity, now, if the explosive, there are two forces acting. One is the explosive force which throws all the matter apart. And the other is the gravitational force which will bring all the matter together.
So now, if the explosive force were too heavy, then all the matter would just get thrown apart so rapidly that we would have just nothing but a uniformly distributed dust cloud. So, on the other hand, if the explosive force had not been adequate enough, and the gravitational force would have been so high that the matter would have collapsed back into itself. And from the Big Bang, you would have a big crunch and there would be nothing existing.
So, the example that this is all cosmologists only give it. They give the example, suppose a person is sitting at the bottom of a well. And from the bottom of the well, he throws out a ball.
Now, if he throws the ball out too fast, the ball will just fall entirely out of the well. If he doesn’t throw it hard enough, it will fall back right into the well. Now, if he throws it so precisely that it just comes out, lands on the sill of the well and stays there.
Neither falling inside nor falling outside. How much precise force will be required for that? So, similarly, like that, the balancing force that is there between the expanding and the contracting forces, if the balance is so precise, it cannot have come by chance. So, at a cosmological level, we can see a lot of precise arrangements which point to a designer, which point to a controller who has made these things possible.
So, these are not exactly what Krishna is saying, but Krishna, what he is saying is that there is my arrangement by which these things are possible. So, first he talks about the cosmological level. You can speak, I’ll repeat it.
Because there are so many… But, considering there are so many universes, it doesn’t make it very surprising. So, just like there are 0 to 1, 0 to 100, there are 100 numbers. Now, the 8th number is there which we see right now in this universe.
Correct. So, their idea is that there are so many universes that all the factors coming together in our universe, it’s just one of the millions, it’s possible. So, now, let’s look at it logically and historically.
First, look at it historically. Actually, the parallel universe idea, it was developed as a way to avoid the design inference. See, originally, this is slightly different, because we are talking about cosmology over here.
See, originally, there were two conceptions of the universe. One is a developing universe and the other is a static universe. So, originally, atheists preferred a static universe.
And that was the Buddhist idea also. The universe is eternal. Because if the universe always exists, then there is no need for a creator of the universe.
But, when the scientists discovered that actually the universe is expanding, then, at that time, their idea came up that universe has to have a beginning. And then, if it has to have a beginning, then it has to have a beginner. So, initially, the atheists fought tooth and nail against the Big Bang theory.
Because they said, that would imply a beginning and a beginner. It would point to a God. Then, when it became clear, more or less from the empirical point of view, the universe is not eternal.
It has a beginning. Then, they shifted tack and then they said that actually, yes, there is a beginning. But that was uncontrolled and uncoordinated.
And somehow from there, the world, as we know it, resulted. The universe, as we know it, resulted. But then, as more and more factors started being discovered, which are so precisely monitored, that they cannot have come by chance.
Then, they shifted tack and they said, how is this possibility possible? Then, basically, they came to the idea that, so, there is chance, there is design and there is multiple universe. So, chance was untenable because there are so many factors that are there. So, design was unacceptable for them because they don’t want to accept God.
So, then they came up with a parallel universe, multiple universes. Now, the problem with the multiple universes theory is, even mainstream scientists admitted, that it is entirely empirically unverifiable. So, there is no way we can say that the parallel universes exist.
So, they fit more the realm of science fiction than science. And another problem with it is, the parallel universe, the number of parallel universes is conveniently expandable. That means, no matter how low the probability becomes, you know, for the universe, for this universe to exist as it is, how many parallel universes are there? If currently the probability is 1 in billion, you will say there are billion parallel universes.
In the future, the probability is 1 in billion billion, then you will say there are billion billion parallel universes. So, from a logical point of view, first of all, there is no proof for it. Secondly, it is a very conveniently expandable concept.
So, it is very self-serving. And the parallel universes still do not answer the question, okay, see, it’s like, if I have a thousand dice, if I have, say, six dice, and they have number 1 to 6, then among the 1 to 6, if I throw all six dice, one may fall one, and all of them will give the number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. We can assume like that. But still the question remains that if the dice, if there are six dice falling at six different places, why should the dice in front of me fall six? Is this point clear? I can say out of the six dice, one will fall six.
But why should the dice in front of me fall six? So, the probability of that is still 1 out of 6 only. And if I have a, so, if I have 10 billion universes, if the probability of, say, all the factors coming out right is 1 in 10 billion, then out of 10 billion universes, if I have 10 billion universes, somewhere it will come right. So, we can say probability is possible.
But still the probability of the universe which I am in, that coming in right is still 1 in 10 billion only. So, it doesn’t really remove the problem of probability. It… No.
So, that only, see, it’s like saying that, so, the example that is given over here for this is that, suppose, there is a, there are thousands of soldiers who are, this is an example which is given by a standard scientist, he says, if there is a terrorist attack in which thousands of people are wounded, and then, out of thousands of people, you know, somebody comes and saves me, takes me a hospital, does surgery and saves me, and I am the only person who is saved. So, then if you ask, why was I saved? Why was I saved? Because I am alive, so I am saved. So, see, so, they say that, if we were not, their argument is, if the universe we live in did not have life, then we would not be here to ask how the life is there.
But that doesn’t answer the question. You know, yes, why am I still alive when all others are dead? I can’t ask that question if I am not alive. But even if I am alive, even if I ask the question, just my being alive doesn’t answer the question.
Isn’t it? So, it’s what is called, it is called as sophistry. No, still, probabilistically, one among these, why one specifically, that doesn’t have an answer. But that is, just because science doesn’t have an answer doesn’t mean that it’s not a valid question.
See, there is a difference between, see, scientists, if they are going to make claims of physics, that’s fine. Then there are no answers. But often, sciences go from physics to metaphysics.
And they make metaphysical claims based on science. So then there it becomes a problem. So in general, material science has no answers beyond the material realm.
That’s why material science strictly cannot talk about origins. It cannot talk about origins. But it tries to talk about origins.
That’s where it goes beyond its jurisdiction. So now, metaphysics is philosophy. Physics deals with physical substances.
Metaphysics deals with substances that are higher than physical. It can be spiritual, it can be subtle material, like that, metaphysics. So now, let’s look at the, from the universal arrangement to the earthly arrangement.
So now, the earth is floating in space. So now, why is the earth floating in space? The Bhagavad Gita says that it is because of the arrangement, the infusion of the energy of the Supreme Lord. Why is the earth floating in space? Why my energy? Science may say that it is because of gravity.
But actually speaking, science doesn’t talk in terms of causes. It talks in terms of mechanisms. So, gravity is an explanation of mechanism.
It is not an explanation of cause. I’ll explain what is the difference between the two. We are going a little bit into science.
But I feel these are important points to understand for us. So we are discussing here about 15 points. Yeah, just a minute.
I’ll come to that. Yeah, that’s true. So gravity, I’ll explain, we’ll come to this point from where Newton started off.
Gravity is a matter of, is a mechanism, not a cause. What does it mean? See, if you ask scientists, what is gravity? Gravity is the force that, say, keeps planets in their orbits. Okay, fine.
Then, what is the force that keeps planets in orbits? That is gravity. So, see, now be very careful about it. You see, there is a difference between describing a phenomena versus explaining a phenomena.
So describing means something is happening and I give a name for it. So what causes an object to fall down from the ceiling to the ground? That is gravity. Now what is happening is, what is gravity is still not explained.
There is an observation and there is some mechanism over there. And I give a name to that mechanism. And I may also be able to give some description in terms of mathematics.
See, f is equal to gm1m2 upon r squared. But description is not an explanation. Simple example to explain this.
Suppose, you know, a person, he is on the road side and the person sees an accident where a person driving a car suddenly runs into a pedestrian and crushes him totally. Now the eyewitness person can describe clearly. Okay, this pedestrian was walking like this and this driver, he just veered off and at first the left wheel went over the pedestrian, the pedestrian fell down and after the left wheel went, the whole car went and the back left wheel also went and by that time the pedestrian was dead.
And then when I saw, his body was filled with blood and he was not even screaming, he was dead. This is a description. So it may be an accurate description also.
But it is not an explanation of why that happened. Was the driver drunk because of which he drove like that? Did the driver have enmity with the pedestrian that’s why he drove like that? Or was the driver a mercenary killer who was paid to kill? So description is different from explanation. So what science offers us is description.
I hope this point is clear. Road accident. Not accident.
Road murder. By car driving over a pedestrian. So how it happened and why it happened? So there is a big, big difference.
How it happened? Why it happened? So what science explains it? How it happened? So gravity is the explanation of how things happen. What is the force by which one object will fall on another object? But even when Newton was himself asked, you are saying that the Earth is exerting a force on the Moon then what is the means by which this force goes through all of space and acts on the Moon? So Newton said, I don’t know about the ontology. I am simply describing the mechanism.
I don’t know how it happens. I don’t know the whys. I don’t know what is the nature of this force.
I am only giving you a mathematical formulation for observed phenomena. So now later on Einstein tried to explain that this is a characteristic of space time. Gravity is a characteristic of space time.
But actually, although now currently that is the mainstream accepted explanation but it is basically a house of casuals based on concepts. You know, first of all gravity is a concept and space time also is a concept only. So to observe, explain motion, first we postulate gravity and to postulate gravity then we propose space time.
So it is just building concepts upon concepts. It is not really a solution to the problem. So, yes, there may be some material mechanism by which things happen but there is also a cause for how things are happening.
So I will conclude this, I won’t go into this discussion further. I will conclude with one example here. Most of you know billiards, isn’t it? Billiards is played on a table where there are a number of balls kept and there are long sticks and with the sticks the ball is hit.
So now, depending on how the ball is hit, maybe there is a central formulation of many balls and there is a ball in the corner. The ball is hit with a stick and then that goes and hits the centre balls and then some ball may go into the hole in the corner. It is like carrom.
There are holes in the corner and you have to put the ball in the holes. Now, if somebody’s vision is fixed only on the billiards board and we are not looking outside the billiards board at all. So then you see a stick coming in and hitting a ball and this ball goes and hits another ball and then it goes and hits various balls and the pattern on the billiards board gets scattered.
Now the whole motion of all the balls can be explained in terms of mechanics. This stick hit this ball with this force. This ball hit this ball with this force and then we can explain in terms of mechanics everything.
So the mechanism is there but still outside the picture of the billiards board there is a player who is playing. Isn’t it? So the explanation of the billiards board in terms of mechanical forces is correct. Because this ball hit this ball at this force on this angle therefore that ball went into a hole.
That explanation is correct in terms of mechanics but is it complete? Now why did this ball hit that ball at that angle and that speed? Because this player was an expert player and he knew this is the way to hit the ball by which it will go into the hole. So the scientific explanation is correct but not complete. And the scientific and spiritual explanations are not contradictory, they are often complementary.
So billiards board balls correct but not complete. So we don’t have to say that gravity is not a force. Gravity is a correct force.
It is correct but it is not a complete description. So scientific and spiritual explanations are what? Complementary not contradictory. So Big Bang and the Vedic description, they are not necessarily contradictory.
There are some contradictions of course no doubt. But overall they don’t have to be contradictory. They can be complementary also.
So we accept that gravity is a heuristic tool. It is a tool by which we can analyse how the material world is functioning. But there is also a deeper explanation that is there.
Yes. Do we have to reject the Big Bang? See we are not saying necessarily the Big Bang is correct. We are saying the Big Bang is not necessarily incompatible with Vedic cosmology.
So we don’t have to support the Big Bang but we don’t have to dismiss the Big Bang also. So the point is that what we are trying to explain in D.V.I.S. 1 is that without design the explanation is not correct. So without design the explanation is not correct.
But there are levels of explanations also and at a particular level things may have happened that way. So I am not saying that we have to say the Big Bang is right or we have to say the Big Bang is wrong. I am simply saying that the two are compatible.
Ok. So we try to portray the Big Bang as a nonsensical story. See we are talking about different levels of explanation.
See if you want to talk with people who are serious scientists they will say yes as far as the origins is concerned we can’t explain it. But after the origins the Big Bang does seem to explain things quite well. So we don’t know about the origins.
So what happens is there are scientists who are atheists and see this is a very important point. Science in and of itself is not atheistic. Science is basically a tool for knowledge acquisition.
So science has been hijacked by atheists. The conflict is not between science and religion. The conflict is between spirituality and materialism.
And science is a tool. But the tool has been hijacked by atheists. And that’s why the lines of the debate have now been reformulated.
It appears that it is not a debate between spirituality and materialism. But it is a debate between science and religion. That’s not at all true.
So we don’t have to necessarily pit ourselves against science. So the conflict is between spirituality versus materialism. Or more specifically, you could say atheism.
Not science versus religion. When we say science versus religion, it appears as if science has to be atheistic and religion has to be non-theistic. Sorry, science has to be atheistic and religion has to be theistic.
It’s not like that. Actually speaking, science in and of itself doesn’t either prove or disprove the existence of God. Science doesn’t talk about absolute causes, ultimate causes.
So science is a tool for acquiring knowledge. So what has to be done? So when we make ourselves appear confronting science, then we alienate many people who identify themselves with science. And we don’t have to do that.
So when we explain properly that science doesn’t directly talk about God. There are many scientists who have believed in God in the past. The topmost scientists have believed in God.
And even today many scientists believe in God. But science in and of itself is a tool. It’s like a map.
The map doesn’t tell anything much really positively about the people living in that territory. So science is a map and we should not let it be hijacked by scientists. So we don’t have to be unduly confrontationalist with science.
Okay, last question. We have to move forward. Like the whole system of metaphysical forces or whatever laws they have drawn, that could also be just one system which is to be correct in our limited knowledge.
But do they accept it as something like, because the whole system of our knowledge is clearly scriptured, so the acceptance is just for time’s sake we accept that also. Okay. So if we accept science as correct but not complete, is it just to avoid confrontation? Because science also is not a universal body of knowledge and what science teaches is not mentioned in the scriptures.
First very important point is that the scriptural knowledge that we have is extremely partial and incomplete. I mean there are one lakh lakh verses in the scriptures. What we have is extremely limited.
The aparavidya, the material knowledge that was there in the scriptures, we have very little of that knowledge available today with us. So, we may say that the Vimana Shastra and there are so many advanced technology in the past, but we don’t have any knowledge about how those things were done. So, first point is that our material knowledge, the material knowledge that we get from the scriptures is limited.
So, we do need material knowledge from somewhere. We may recommend Ayurveda, but if Ayurveda doesn’t work, we may track that as allopathy. So, now allopathy also works.
It does cure people of many diseases. It may have its own consequences, but it does work at a particular level. So, now if it works at a particular level, that means it is true at least within that framework.
So, now does science make absolute claims of know for knowledge? Well, many scientists do and certainly atheists do. So, we don’t accept the absolute claims of science. But the claims of science, where they work in a relative frame, by rejecting them, what do we gain? Because even we ourselves are using it.
We are using laptops and cell phones and medicines and surgeries and aeroplanes. So, is it necessary that we have to reject science when it obviously works at a particular level and also that we use it for working at that particular level. So, therefore, the point is that we don’t have to make confrontation a virtue for its own sake.
We don’t have to make confrontation a virtue. It’s not that we have to always be confrontationalist. So, are we trying to avoid confrontation? Well, we don’t want to provoke confrontation if it’s not necessary.
So, science as a body of knowledge, is it, we certainly don’t agree that it is complete. But within limited framework, is it correct? Well, yes, it does work. So, in that limited way, we can say it is correct.
And Shila Prabhupada, see what happens is, Shila Prabhupada has made various statements. So, generally speaking, the statements which involve fools and rascals, they are like the high octane sound bytes. You know, they are what stay in our memory.
And we often assume that that is the position of Shila Prabhupada. But there are many places where Shila Prabhupada has talked positively about science in terms of how, Prabhupada says, you know, in the 1522 purport, he says that science should be used to prove the existence of God. Isn’t it? So, that way, Shila Prabhupada was not necessarily against science if it could be used for theistic purposes.
Clear? So, let’s move forward now. Now, Krishna has described till now about how we are being maintained in the universe. So, he will describe at the human level.
So, So, now he is saying that the juice in the animal, juice in the bodies, juice in the vegetables comes from comes from the moon. Now, we know that science says that photosynthesis is required for the growth of vegetation. And that means sun is required.
But there have been many mysterious observations which have not been explainable till now by science. One of them is that the presence of the moon or its absence because of overcast conditions. Overcast means clouds being there in the sky.
That affects vegetation. So, there has been a significant body of research. That means if the sky is overcast at night, the moon is not there, then the quality of the vegetation that comes up, it is not as good as it is otherwise.
So, there are various, there is one phenomena, some scientists call it the Krebs cycle. Now, this is not a widely accepted concept. It is just being researched.
But the point is, vegetation, how it grows and what determines its quality, especially in terms of, now Krishna is not telling us the growth. He says that and the juice of the vegetables. So, what determines the juicy content of the vegetables, that is not something which is very clearly explainable through science.
So, this is just something which is as of now, beyond the jurisdiction of science. Prāṇināṁ deham āśritah Prāṇāpāṇasamāyuktah Pachāmya annam chaturvidham So, annam chaturvidham, what are the chaturvidha? chaturvidha bhajante māṁ viśe No, chaturvidha, chaturvidhāśrī bhagavat prasāda svādhvānda-truktaṁ haribhau So, eaten, drunk, swallowed, sucked. Yeah, four different kinds of food.
So now, chewed, swallowed, sucked and drunk. So, these are four kinds of food. Krishna says, it is I who digest them, as Vaishvanar.
Now again, scientists have tried to find out about the process of digestion. And they found that the process of digestion is so complex. You know, sometimes a person’s hand is fractured, you put artificial hand and if the if the heart is weak, then they put a pacemaker.
If the liver is not working, they use dialysis. They thought, so many people have digestive problems, so can we put an artificial digestive machine inside the stomach? So that people’s digestive problems will be solved. And they found that, actually the process of digestion is so complex that you will not need, a machine will not be enough, they will need a factory.
And a factory that runs over two miles. So complex are the reactions that happen. Even with nanotechnology, still it’s a huge factory.
It’s a very very complex mechanism. And they found, you know, in physics we call it as work is force into displacement. That means, say, if I have to carry a 25 kg bag, so if I have to carry it from here to the door, that’s a little bit work.
But if I have to carry it from here to the bus stop, that is a lot of work. Because there is force also and there is a huge amount of displacement. So work is force into displacement.
So they say that actually, once we put food into our mouth, and then for it to go from the mouth through the whole alimentary canal, till the time it gets digested, assimilated and excreted, then the amount of work that is involved, there is a peristaltic motion that is there, which causes the food to go down, while it is also processed. That is so much work, if W is force into displacement, that is so much work, that the amount of energy required to digest one morsel of food is more than the amount of work that an average human being performs throughout the day. So actually, who is doing all that work? We are not certainly doing that work.
We are not even aware of it. The only time we think of our digestion is when it doesn’t work. So, it is said that God gives and forgives, we get and forget.
So, we get and forget. So, actually even our digestion depends on Krishna. And after that, he will describe now.
So, Krishna has still not described about how he maintains us materially. So, by Jnana Chakshu, we can understand, how Krishna, even for our material existence, we are dependent on him. And then, Krishna says that he is arranging not only for our material existence, he is also arranging for our spiritual elevation.
Okay. In spite of taking shelter of the Lord, still many devotees have digestive problems. I didn’t know that Krishna had opened a digestive insurance company.
So, it’s not that just because we are practising devotional service, we won’t face material problems. But, there are several factors. You know, I have talked about this with doctors.
why it happens? Actually, if you look at the cross-section of the population, and if you look at, say, Brahmacharis in the temple, is it that the Brahmacharis’ health is poorer than the cross-section? Yes and no. Yes, in some ways, as I said, some problems, specific problems like digestion and others, they are more. But, overall, in terms of, say, what shall we say, debilitating long-term diseases, you know, it’s not so.
It’s not so. That means, in terms of severity of the problems that people face, because the overall lifestyle is clean, people don’t get into that extreme problems. Now, as far as, why the digestive problems are there? Several reasons.
One of them is, actually, generally, when cooking is done in large quantities, it’s difficult to maintain quality. So, that is often one major issue. So, now, if we take greater care of the way the food is cooked, that also helps.
And, there are several devotees, Congregational devotees, those who have digestive problems, they come to the temple for programmes, but they don’t take prasad in the temple. They go back to their home and take prasad. Because they say that, we just can’t digest this food.
So, especially when it’s cooked for thousands of people, often maintaining quality is not so easy. I’m not saying that don’t take prasad. That’s not the point.
Now, of course, in most temples, the attempt is made to try to provide good quality prasad as much as possible. So, another problem is that, for devotees, the whole sense gratificatory desires get concentrated on you. So, so, all sense gratification, there is no TV, there is no sex, there are no newspapers, there is no cricket, so many other ways, no parties.
So, what happens is, all this gets concentrated on prasad. So, often, that unregulatedness also has its consequences. And, another problem is that, especially in youth, you know, when there is, our life may not have stress in terms of, say, deadlines, in terms of people have to work in companies, but there is a significant amount of stress because of battling with the desires.
And that also sometimes has its effect. In terms of, see, actually, you know, there is anatomy and there is physiology. Physiology is how the body’s mechanisms go.
And anatomy is the structures. So, the psychology, the way the mind is working, that doesn’t affect the anatomy so much. But it does affect the physiology.
So, that’s why, sometimes, if there is too much tension, then that leads to also some physiological problems, like digestion. So, how it is happening is, that we are trying to live a sattva guni lifestyle. Overall, the brahmacharya lifestyle is sattva guni.
But then, the pace of our life is, to some extent, rajoguni. You know, we are waking… I mean, I am not talking about everyone else. I am talking about myself also.
You know, you wake up at 4.30, but the way we run for Mangala Aarti is faster than what people run for local trains. So… So, what happens is, there is a sattva guni lifestyle and there is rajasic pace in it. So, that also creates incompatibility.
So, then, if we adopt something like yogasanas, then we are bringing our lifestyle more towards goodness. And that’s why that has effects. So, even ayurvedic treatment, it works best when we have a sattva guni lifestyle.
So, that’s why there is this incompatibility which may lead to problems. But, over a period of time, we also learn regulation. So, once we learn regulation, then the problems go down.
So, once we learn regulation, then the problems start going down. So, I think, it’s more a matter of learning how to pace ourselves in brahmacharya life. So, pacing ourselves is not just in terms of eating, but also in overall living.
Once we learn that, then the health problems are not so severe. Hare Krishna! We are way, way behind schedule now. So, okay.
We’ll have a break after this. One, two, three questions. The regularity is the key, you told.
But, as far as our institution is concerned, the kind of, I’m not saying deadlines or targets, but everybody do have preaching engagements. Like, the voice is there, or book distribution is there. So, when the target is given, the meetings are done.
Then, the regularity goes wherever it goes. Like, yoga sanas were taught. But, hardly four or five devotees are there who are actually doing yoga sanas.
I’m one of them. I’m observing it. But, the thing is that, indigestion problem is coming because there are sevas, Prabhuji, to do it, and there are stress of it.
So, how to balance these things? See, okay. So, there are pressures, there are deadlines. We all also have ambitions.
There are two different issues here now. See, in general, in youth, we do have passion. And, if we don’t try to do something ambitious for Krishna, we will ourselves start feeling that I’m not doing anything worthwhile in my life.
So, to some extent, although there may be some external stimuli for us to challenge ourselves and do a lot, often there is also a lot of internal passion which has to be channelised. So, it is not just external pressure. We also want to do a lot for Krishna’s sake.
So, that’s why, it is a matter of over a period of time, we will learn. Okay, how much can I do? And, in general, we may have to do some things fast and under deadline, sometime. But, if that is what we try to do regularly, it’s not going to work.
So, we will have to have some breaks, some phases when there is intense activity. But, after that, there have to be phases when there is withdrawal and recouping and slowing down. So, we cannot avoid that.
For example, festivals are there, camps are there. So, it’s like, you know, we want to be regulated, but we don’t want to be attached to regulation. We want to be attached to Krishna.
But, in order to be attached to Krishna, we do need some amount of regulation. So, it’s like you have to come back to balance over a period of time. So, many devotees told me that, when I try to do yogasanas, I do different exercises.
I do stretching exercises. You try to do seven days a week, it happens that you don’t do even one day per week. But, if you plan, I’ll do four or five days per week, then they are able to manage it.
Because, some days the pressure is too much. So, we don’t have to go that, I have to make an absolute standard that I have to do it always. And, if I can’t do it always, I’ll do it never.
So, we can arrive at some reasonable balanced standard. So, that way, even with respect to diet, doctors say that if once a week or once a fortnight, you eat opulent food, that is not very bad. But, if you are eating opulent food everyday, that has its consequences.
So, we cannot have a clockwork like regulation. The clock moves always at the same speed, day in, day out, month after month. We cannot function like that.
But, you need to have some level of regulation. Yes, please. Is the description that Krishna is giving same as Vibhuti? No.
Vibhuti, if you remember, is one among the many, one above the many. That is, he is talking about the extraordinary manifestations in the material world. Here, he is talking about the maintainer of things.
The maintainer of things. He is assisting us by maintaining material things for us. So, here, this is not the Vibhuti, this is the, what shall we say, his role as a bharata or a maintainer.
How he is maintaining material existence. So, this can also be called a Vibhuti, but specifically the context is talking about how he is helping us and maintaining us in material existence. What exactly is Vaishwanath? No.
Is it a direct explanation? No. Bhagavatam says that there are demigods in charge of various parts of the body. So, Vaishwanath is the devata in charge of the digestive system, just like the mind is in charge of the sorry, the moon is in charge of the mind, like that.
Vaishwanath is the devata in charge of the digestion and he is assisting Krishna. So, it is not necessary that he is a direct expansion of Krishna, but it is Krishna who is acting through him. It is Krishna’s arrangement, like Aditya.
Aditya is a separate demigod, but he has been arranged by Krishna to provide son. Similarly, Vaishwanath has been arranged by Krishna to provide digestion. Well, generally all examples are specific.
So, you know, why is Krishna talking only about illumination? He could have talked about other aspects of the universe. He could have talked about say, aeration or water provision or whatever. No.
Examples are specific. They are supposed to indicate the trend, indicate the pattern. So, for each case, he gives one one example.
So, for example, the earth, he can talk about various things. He talks about the flotation of the earth. Among various food items, he talks about vegetables and he talks about their juice.
So, he is basically taking one one example. the dehamashrita, praninam dehamashrita. So, the prani, the soul, takes shelter of the body for the sake of enjoying.
But Krishna is telling that actually even the body you cannot enjoy unless I maintain the body. So, in a sense, most people often say that Bhagwan khana dene wale hai? If I don’t work, who is going to put food on my dining table? But actually, even if you put food on your dining table, tum pachane wale ho kya? Bhagwan pachate hai. It is God who ultimately digests it.
So, food is, according to most people’s conception, central to existence. So, Krishna is telling how even the digestion of food is provided by me. Krishna talks about food earlier, the provision of food earlier in terms of annad bhavanti bhutani, then he talks about yajna.
3.14. So, he is talking about digestion of food. Yes. Quickly.
Hare Krishna. I don’t have specific question, but I just wanted to share one small piece of information. When you are comparing this lifestyle of generally outsiders and a devotee, in this Maharashtra Institute of Technology, there is one research scientist for in bio field sciences.
She works on the energy radiation coming out of the body. So, she was telling me that the overall energy coming out of the body of the devotees is much more high, although their bodily symptoms show some sickness, but it is because of their spiritual practises, the energy overall is very high compared to any other. She has done research on Radhanswami Maharaj and Bhakti Rasamrith Maharaj.
I also happened to be there at that time. So, this is what she was sharing. It is called aura technology.
Aura photo imaging. So, yeah. I had also gone for a conference.
I gave a presentation. She also gave a presentation over there. Radhanswami also gave a presentation.
Radhanswami also invited her to address IYF meeting about the three modes. So, yes, now the aura imaging is not yet something that has been accepted by mainstream science. It is in the fringe sciences.
It may get accepted over a period of time. So, certainly we don’t debate the point that from a spiritual point of view or even a psychological point of view, devotees are stronger than non-devotees. I think the issue discussed over here is from the health point of view, why is it that the devotees don’t seem to be healthy.
So, no doubt, at the psychological and spiritual level, devotees are definitely stronger. That’s true. And if we can get some empirical demonstrations of that, that is definitely helpful.
Yes. It is said that the soul floats on five kinds of air. So, how is, how does this happen and what happens to the soul? Soul floats in five kinds of air.
Soul floats in five kinds of air. What exactly does that mean? Actually, this prana, jnana, prana, apana, jnana, samana and udana. These are specific airs with specific functions.
In modern science, air is just seen as that which flows, gaseous element which flows around, air orbit. But, in the Vedic understanding, air is classified based on its functioning. So, within the body, it is said that there are different kinds of airs.
And all of them, so, for example, peristalsis, the contraction and expansion that happens, that is governed by one air. Then, the respiration, we just talked about respiration, but that is only one type of air. So, these different airs, they exert forces.
Those forces are like vectors. A vector is like an arrow with a direction. So, these five airs, they are like five directed vectors.
And, the resultant of those five vectors is zero at a particular point that is in the region of the heart. And that is the place where the soul is situated. And as the person becomes purified, we say the prana rises.
That means what? The centre of zero equivalent, centre of zero resultant, that rises upwards. And along with that, the soul rises. So, it floats in the five airs.
That floating is not a literal floating in terms of, say, like a balloon floating in the air. But, it is more like the soul being resting, resting at a point at which there is a zero resultant of these five airs. Let’s complete this one verse, then we’ll have a break.
Because this is an important verse. So, this is also an oft-quoted verse. But, like 15.7, 15.7, which I said, has two distinct parts, you know, which are related.
So, like this also. This has two distinct parts. First is, the first part talks about the role of Krishna in giving knowledge internally.
And the second part talks about the role of Krishna in giving knowledge externally. So, 15.15 A, B talk about Krishna giving knowledge internally. He is present as a super-soul.
And as a super-soul, he gives knowledge. Then, 15. C, D, he talks about Krishna, he giving knowledge externally through the Vedas.
So, matta-asmutir jnanam apohanam ca So, now let’s look at these three specific items. Smriti, jnana, and apohanam. So, you know, Krishna gives us jnana, knowledge, to Guru, Sadhu, Shastra.
And, as a Chaitya Guru, as a super-soul in the heart. He gives us knowledge both ways. antar bahir tanubhrutam asubham vidhunvan acharya chaitya pusha swagatim yanakti In the 12th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam it is described that, antar bahir, from inside and outside, tanubhrutam asubham vidhunvan He washes away the inauspiciousness.
acharya chaitya pusha swagatim yanakti swagati, the real auspiciousness tells by acharya externally and chaitya, the Chaitya Guru internally. Now, now what happens is, when we have, after we get the knowledge from outside, if we have the desire to serve, then he will give us the remembrance. And if we have the desire to enjoy, he will give us the apohana.
So Krishna will give us knowledge first, and after that, based on that knowledge, we can choose our desire. So, even after having the knowledge of what I should do and what I should do, if I choose to enjoy, then Krishna will give me a blackout of what I have heard. You want to enjoy still? Then I won’t obstruct your enjoyment, so I will make you forget whatever you have heard.
So Krishna will give us a blackout. On the other hand, if we want to serve, if we really want to try to serve Krishna, then at the right moment, Krishna will give us the remembrance. Hey, it’s like this, do this, do this, do this, like that.
And in that way, we will be protected. So, this is how this reciprocation works. That’s why Krishna in the Supersoul is very, very, the Supersoul is very reciprocal.
According to our desires, he reciprocates. Sometimes, we may ourselves sincerely pray, Krishna, I don’t want to succumb to maya. But still, when temptations come, we succumb.
That is often because the past momentum of the desires is very strong. Now, if a car is moving fast, there is a momentum. And even if you put the brake, the car keeps moving for some time, then it stops.
So, like that, the momentum of our past desires may still keep us vulnerable to temptations. But, if we keep sincerely desiring Krishna, that I don’t want to succumb. So, over a period of time, that will stop.
See, how it happens is that sometimes, at least initially, when we start practising Krishna Consciousness, the temptations are always there in the background of the mind. And, sometimes when the opportunity comes along, we succumb. But over a period of time, that succumbing may still happen, but we are not contemplating on the temptations.
We are not planning to act on them. We are fighting against them. So, there may be certain moments when there are lapses.
But, what happens at the remaining time? So, if at that time, we are constantly showing Krishna, that I really want to serve you. I don’t want to go away from you. I don’t want to fall.
Then Krishna sees that. And over a period of time, all that will check the momentum. And finally, it will stop.
So, the whole process of bhakti centres on showing Krishna our desire, through our thoughts and our actions. Our thoughts means what kind of thoughts we cultivate. And, how we act.
So, over a period of time, we will definitely see that when we are practising Krishna consciousness, some temptations come, suddenly something, we will remember something. Suddenly, somebody will remind us of something and we will be protected. So, it will happen over a period of time.
So, rather than worrying whether in the future when temptations come, whether I will be able to defend myself against those temptations. We should worry about right now, am I doing everything that I can to avoid the temptation and to show Krishna my sincerity. actually, if we just focus on the present.
So, that’s what, you know, the only time we can ever battle with maya is in the present. Now, we cannot battle maya with the future. Now, how and tomorrow temptations come, I will deal with them, I don’t know.
And, even if I have fallen prey to temptations yesterday, I can’t do anything about it. So, the only time I can battle with maya is the present. So, if right now, I am doing well, I am trying to chant sincerely, I am trying to study sincerely, I am trying to serve as well as I can, I am doing the best that is possible for the future battles.
So, often, we just worry too much about the future. But, in the future, Krishna will take care. We just have to take care of the present.
There is a saying, the future is always very bright. The present’s brightness is in your hands. You know, for a devotee, the brightness of the future will be arranged by Krishna.
But, whether the present is bright or not, that depends on whether we are Krishna conscious or not. Krishna will take care of the future. But, actually, if we just keep focussing on the present, one moment at a time, one hour at a day, one day at a time, we can keep going.
By choosing to serve Krishna sincerely now. Now, that’s all that I have to deal with. So, both the past and the future are there.
So, right now, let me show Krishna my sincerity. If I show it, in the future, I will show one more moment, one more moment, one more moment. I will just take life one moment at a time.
All that life is essentially about is showing Krishna sincerity. Just showing Krishna sincerity will take us through the whole journey of life. So, the first part, so, just focus on the present and face the battles as they come.
Yes. Not now. It’s a big question.
Afterwards. We don’t have time today. We will discuss this maybe in the 18th chapter.
Yes, but we are really beyond time today. We will talk about it later. Now, second part of this verse is Veda So, Krishna is saying, I give Jnana.
So, implied in this, now Krishna has talked about how among the various kinds of Jnana, it is spiritual Jnana that is the best, that is the Raj Vidya. So, he is talking about that Jnana over here. Smriti and Apohana about that.
Now, beyond that, Krishna is saying, okay, that I am the provider of knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness and also Vedaishthi Sarvair Ahameva Vedyo Vedanta Krita Vedavideva Chaham that actually he is the ultimate goal of the Vedas. He is the compiler of the Vedas and he is the knower of the Vedas. So, let’s look at the relationship between the three.
The goal, compiler and knower. Krishna is talking about these three features. So, Vedaishthi Sarvair Ahameva Vedyo What does this mean? Here, Krishna is now shifting focus from the previous.
Okay, he is saying that I give knowledge, but what is that essential knowledge? Ultimately it is I who am to be known by the whole Vedas, all the Vedas. Okay, because ultimately if we know Krishna, then we know everything. Krishna has also talked about it in 7.3. यज ग्यात्वा ने हभुयोन ने ज्ञात्वा में मवशिष्यते Once you know this, there is nothing more to be known.
So, now how can Krishna make a claim that he is the goal of all the Vedas? He says, because I am the compiler. All the Vedas are ultimately written by me. How is this? Vyasadeva is a literary incarnation of Krishna.
So, in that sense, he is the compiler of the Vedas. And because he is the compiler, who can know a book better than its author? He says, I know the Vedas. So, therefore, वेदान्तकृत् वेदविद एवचाहम् So, this verse starts with सर्वस्य चाहम् and ends with चाहम् चाहम् So, now, after this, Arjuna gets the question, Okay, if you are the compiler and knower of the Vedas, please tell me, what is the essential message of the Vedas? And that Krishna will discuss in the next three verses, which is the Trishloki Bhagavad Gita.
So, we will discuss that after a break. 10-15 minutes, how much should we have? 15 minutes? Or you have to take prasadam? Okay. Okay, wait a minute.
Now, let me think. Prasadam goes on till what time? So, surely we need a break.