How can we overcome the infection of karma and jnana?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Purport of 9.3 in the Gita talks about three levels of devotees. There he says that actually one can rise to a higher level when the infection of Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga goes down or is vanquished.
So what does it mean and how can it be impractical? In our day-to-day activities, we focus on trying to remember Krishna and trying to serve Krishna. When we do that, basically Karma, Jnana and Bhakti are mentalities. Karma is centered on, I want to enjoy this world.
Jnana is focused on, this world is filled with so much misery, I want to give it up. But in both, it’s I-centered. This world will get a new enjoyment, so I want it.
This world is going to cause me suffering, so I want to give it up. It’s all I-centered. But Bhakti is Krishna-centered.
Krishna, I want to serve you and how can I serve you? That’s what I want to find out, that’s what I want to do. So we focus on that. And the more we connect with Krishna, the more we experience the joy of Krishna Bhakti, the more the contamination of Karma and Jnana will go away.
If we focus too much on trying to drive away the contamination of Karma and Jnana, that is a very negative focus. It’s like if I have, there’s a glass here. If I decide that I want to remove all air from the glass, I’ll need some vacuum-creating machine and pull out all the air.
And then even if some little hole is there somewhere, some passage, immediately air will come inside. So to create a vacuum for removing the air, that is a very complex thing. If I simply fill the glass with water, then the air will go away.
Similarly, if we try to think of I have to give up Karma, I have to give up Jnana, that is difficult. Focus on how can I serve Krishna? How can I do this activity in a mood of devotion? How can I increase my directly devotional activities? And how can I infuse devotion in my other activities also? Once you do that, the contaminations will automatically go away gradually.