Krishna’s moods in the Bhagavad-gita 1 – Chp 1-9

[Seminar at ISKCON, Melbourne, Australia]

Video:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna.
Thank you for coming today evening. And today I will be speaking on Krishna’s moods in the Bhagavad Gita. And I will take basically most of us have heard the Bhagavad Gita many times.
I have heard many classes on it. And the theme which I will focus on is how through all the philosophy the personality of Krishna comes out. Bhagavad Gita is not just a book of philosophy.
Yes, it is a conversation between two people. And both these people are having a very close relationship with each other. And their relationship and the moods that come in the relationship flavour the presentation of the philosophy and the discussion thereof.
So today I will try to cover about nine chapters. And tomorrow we will try to cover another nine chapters depending on how at what pace we can complete. So I will take one or two verses from each chapter and zoom in on them and try to understand what is the mood of Krishna conveyed through that.
So if you look at the first chapter itself, So the Bhagavad Gita is spoken by Krishna to Arjuna. But Krishna’s entry in the Bhagavad Gita is very sweetly indicative of the mood of the Gita thereafter. So what happens? First there is a description of the war field from Duryodhana’s perspective.
And the way the Bhagavad Gita’s narrative frame or narrative angle is there, we could imagine one way we could envision the Bhagavad Gita is that the Bhagavad Gita is like a verbal link. It’s a verbal camera. So we have camera here.
So I’ll use the camera metaphor quite often while explaining the Bhagavad Gita. So the Bhagavad Gita begins by starting with first Dhritarashtra’s camera. What is happening over there? Then it goes to Duryodhana’s camera.
And what Duryodhana speaks, he describes the soldiers on both the battlefield, both the sides of the battlefield. But he misses out one person. Who is that? Krishna.
And that his missing out Krishna is very indicative of the material vision. The materialistic vision, it considers God, even if God exists, then God is irrelevant. God is inconsequential.
And as if to reinforce that vision, when Krishna appears in the battlefield, in this Bhagavad Gita for the first time, he is in the position of not even a warrior but a charioteer. tatah shvetai hayai ryukte So how the description starts. Suppose if you have a movie going on and in the movie there is some kind of action happening, maybe some thugs, some hooligans are molesting someone and the hero comes charging.
Maybe the hero comes on a white horse in shining armour or maybe the hero comes on a motorcycle or maybe in a car. So then when the hero’s entry will be there, usually they will describe. First the car.
And then when the car door opens and even in the movie they might start the darshan of the hero from the foot. You show the foot and then you move up and move up and then you show the face of the hero. So, similarly here in some ways similarly but first the description tatah shvetai hayai ryukte First, the horses are described.
There are white horses. Mahati sandane sthitau. And there is a magnificent chariot.
And there on that chariot, Krishna is not the warrior. We have an entry of the hero and then you find the hero is not in the car. He is the chauffeur of the car.
If somebody is a big person, you might think they have a chauffeur or and they have somebody driving them. Or if there is an action kind of person, they drive their own car. But somebody driving someone else’s car.
Do not think of them as a hero at all. Isn’t it? But God enters into this Bhagavad Gita as a charioteer. Mahati sandane sthitau Madhava, Pandava Shaiva.
Madhava and Pandava. There are many places in the Bhagavad Gita has this poetic alliterations. Now, many different names could have been used over here.
Madhava, Pandava. So, there is a starting with the alliteration, the A sound and end with the alliteration, the O sound. So, the references are Pandava, Pandava Shaiva and what do they do? Divyau Shankhau Pradarmathau.
So, it is interesting there is some hint given that Krishna is a special person. In the subsequent list of warriors that is described, it describes that Yudhishthira blue is chari, blue is conch, Bhima blue is conch, but it is not described that their charioteers blew their conches. Normally, conches are blown by the warriors, not by the charioteers.
But in this case, although Krishna is a charioteer, he is much more than a charioteer. And as it is described, he blew a conch. And that indicates the beginning of the war.
Now, Krishna’s entry is in this very humble, unassuming position. And then that’s where the whole narrative seems to be going. Arjuna is about to fight the war and just before the war begins, he has his bow appraised, but he says, Please place my chariot in between the two armies.
And I want to see who is there to fight. And Krishna does that. In the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks only one word.
He says, Krishna speaks only one word, see. So actually there, there are a lot of times when Arjuna says, I want to see, I want to see, I want to see. And Krishna says, okay, see.
And now when he sees, what happens? That the eyes are often the way to temptation and illusion. And the ears are the way to illumination. So for Arjuna, he sees and he gets deluded.
He has a desire to see. Now what does he actually want to see? He, it’s not that he’s expecting some new warriors to be there on the war field. It’s like say, if a cricket match is going on, and then when the team are about to play, then each team will want to know who are the actual playing eleven.
Maybe they had fourteen, fifteen players out of which eleven are playing. So it’s not like that. Except for Karna, everybody was playing over there.
Karna had chosen not to play. So there’s not going to be any new warriors over there. And if he wanted to see the military formation, oh yeah, he can see everyone’s military formation.
It is not that he has to come in the middle. So why does he want to come in the middle like that? Senayor upayor madhya. Actually, he comes in no man’s land.
No man’s land means the place which does not belong to either side. And actually it is not a place of neutrality. It is a place of danger from both sides.
Because it is a place of disputed territory. So Arjun comes in the middle. And in from the middle he observes.
Because he knows this is going to be a great war. And in this war, who are all out there to fight so much? It’s a mysterious desire that grabs him at that time. I want to see who is fighting over there.
So it’s a, that desire when he has that, that indicates the beginning of his illusion. So now at one level, none of the Pandavas wanted the war. But somehow the war was unavoidable.
So as soon as Arjun says I want to see, Krishna says see. And then significantly, dheeshma drona pramuktaha. What he sees, first of all it is dheeshma drona pramuktaha.
Now this can have two different meanings. One is Krishna took the child in the middle but it was not in the middle, you can place it anywhere in the middle, middle is a long line. He took it in the middle with right in front of dheeshma and drona.
Or it can mean that he took it in the middle but as soon as Arjun saw, the first people he saw was dheeshma and drona. But either way, what happened, what he saw was the most damaging for his determination. And immediately his perception changed.
His perception changed. What happened is that he started thinking, initially he was saying dhartarastra si durbuddhe who are these people who are there to fight against, who have chosen to fight with this wicked Duryodhana. But immediately his vision changes swajanam hikatham hathva, how can I kill my own people? So earlier his vision was that they are the foolish, they are the people who sided on the wicked Duryodhana’s side.
But now his own people. The effect of what we see on our consciousness can be enormous. Nowadays we are assaulted with so much visual imagery through TV, through movies, through the internet and actually scientists have found that what we take in through our eyes.
Nowadays many people have screen addiction. It can be video game addiction, it can be movie addiction, it can be this addiction. So they have found that for the brain, there is no difference between what we take in through our eyes and what we take in through our mouth or our blood.
If somebody takes in a drug, say that’s an addiction. I don’t want to take anything into my body like that. Or if somebody takes in alcohol or somebody takes in smoke.
Now we understand that physical substance is going into our body and they can damage our body. Yes, that is there. The physical damage will be a part.
But what we take in through our eyes for the brain, the similar kind of stimulation comes up. And the brain wiring changes by that. That’s why the stimuli that we take in from our eyes can also addict us.
So the power of complete reversal of perception through the eyes is described right in the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita. And by the end of the Bhagavad Gita we will see the power of a reversion of perception through the ears. So that will come at the end.
The first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is just the setting. And then the second chapter starts. Krishna is initially in the mood of a friend.
And in the mood of a friend, he says, Arjun, come on, buck up. Don’t be like this. And he just tries to give a pep talk.
Pep talk is, just come on, cheer up. Arjun, don’t give in to this weakness. How have you given in to this weakness like this? kutas tvakash malamitam vishamesam upasthitam anarijishtham asvargyam akirtikaram arjunam kutas tvakash malamitam Where has this come in you? So the idea is you are not expected to be like this.
Where has this kind of contamination, this kind of weakness come in you? Now Arjun actually uses the word klaibyam maasmagam aham. Klaibya is a weak person, an important person. Now Arjun feels this word like a verbal slap.
For a great warrior to be called a klaibya to be called a weak or powerless person. It’s like for a person who is scholarly you tell him that you are a fool. I am not being weak.
I am actually out of compassion choosing not to fight. Now although he may choose out of compassion not to fight it’s not just out of compassion. It’s out of confusion.
And what happens? He finally concludes I don’t know what to do. And see normally Krishna demonstrates normally there is one thing which we are all very eager to give. Most people are not charitable.
But regarding one thing everyone is charitable. Can you guess? Advice. Everybody gives advice.
So now Krishna shows here don’t give advice unless you are asked. So when Arjun gives a decision I will not fight. First he says He puts aside his bow.
I will not fight. So now at this point he is not asking Krishna for opinion. He says I am not going to fight.
And Krishna just gives a pep talk. Come on. Don’t give him this weakness.
Although in one sense Krishna Arjun’s action in 1.46 the last verse of the first chapter and in 2.678 9.10 action is the same. Arjun again in 2.9 says I will not fight. But in between something very different has happened.
Arjun in between what has happened? He admits I am confused. And because I am confused he says I surrender to you. So I ask you what is Dharma? This is the key word over there.
Generally suppose we enter into a class and a question answer session is going on over there. And if we enter into the class after the question has been asked we are trying to figure out what is this going on over here. We have this point this point.
Ok. This is ok. But what is going on? If we hear the question then the answer falls in context.
And we can make sense of the answer. So similarly before we can understand the answer. Bhagavad Gita is the answer.
Before we can understand the answer we need to understand the question. And the question is So I want to know what is Dharma? So he is not asking should I fight or should I not fight? His question is much more universal. What is the right course of action for a human being? And that question is what makes the Bhagavad Gita universally relevant.
So when Krishna answers the question he sees that Arjuna is here asking a very serious question. And somebody might say that ok you give me your opinion. I will take your opinion and go and take someone else’s opinion also.
And then I will make a decision. But Arjuna says no. He says no other solution is going to work.
He says that even if I go by the counsel of someone else, I fight and I win the war and I get prosperity as much as that of the heavens. That’s not going to remove my grief. I need an answer but what am I meant to do in life? So he gets this question primarily because at that time Arjuna is torn between two dharmas.
His Kshatriya dharma and his Kula dharma. Kshatriya dharma is as a warrior he is meant to fight against aggressors. His Kula dharma is a member of the Kuru dynasty.
So as a member of the Kuru dynasty he is meant to protect the dynasty. How can he fight against the members of his own dynasty? So now in this particular situation when these two duties pull him into opposite directions he doesn’t know what to do. So he is asking for dharma samudha dharma samudha is see we don’t just need right values.
We need a right hierarchy of values also. If you just okay this is good, this is right, this is right but if there are two rights which are pulling us in two different directions, what do you do? We need a hierarchy of values. There is Taratamya.
Taratamya is hierarchy in Sanskrit. So Arjun’s question is what is our most important, what is dharma? When two duties are pulling me in two different directions, what should I do? And at that time, what does Krishna do? Krishna first Prahasaneva Bharata Krishna smiles. Actually it is Prahasaneva.
It is as if he smiles. Now why is he smiling? At one level it’s what is happening is amazing. Amazing.
Why is it amazing? Because it is so utterly unexpected. Say suppose cricket match is going on. Say India Pakistan World Cup final is there.
And just before the final is about to start the toss has been done, the fielders are already in the field, the umpire is there, the bowler is about to start the run up and then at that time the batsman is striking it. The striker calls the non-striker and they come in the middle of the field. And they start talking and they keep talking and they keep talking Now everybody wants to know what is there so urgent to talk? Come on, play the match enough you can talk afterwards.
So right in the middle of the battlefield when everybody is ready to fight at that time Arjuna asking, tell me about Dharma. So it’s such an amazing situation. Somebody might say this is not the time for philosophy.
But actually this is the time when philosophy can be heard the most. Because what happens, that is the time when we are on the border of life and death at that time we start thinking for bigger things. So Krishna when he sees how amazing it is, this warrior Arjuna has suddenly put aside his bow and wants to discuss philosophical questions.
And Krishna is expert, the expert teacher. Nowadays many teachers they want to do what is called experiential learning. Take students to the field, give them live experiential learning lessons.
So Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita gives the ultimate experiential learning lesson. What does he do? He converts a battlefield into a classroom. So and there by his presence and presentation he will rise to levels of wisdom that is rarely been seen before or after.
And because such an amazing thing is about to happen, Krishna smiles. And then he begins his message. So when Krishna begins the message, what does he do? The first thing he tells Arjuna is that learning begins with unlearning.
Now what we don’t know is not the problem. What we don’t know but think we know that is a far bigger problem. So when we, if we don’t know I will ask and we will learn.
But if we think we know then it is a big problem. So this is what happens. So Krishna tells Arjuna actually the test of your education is in your emotions.
It’s a very deep point. The test of your education is in your emotion. If you are educated, your emotion should be educated.
Education is not just about information. What do we mean by educated? The test of education is in emotion. Think a doctor is going to do surgery.
Now the doctor may or the surgeon may have all the theoretical knowledge. Okay I have to cut this body part like this, I have to do this, I have to do that. And the surgeon also knows that actually when I cut although there is a lot of blood bleeding but ultimately there will be healing.
And the surgeon’s education should be able to help him see help him see beyond the blood to the ultimate healing. And if the surgeon becomes overwhelmed by that time, I can’t do this surgery there is so much blood, so much cutting now. Then actually whatever medical education they’ve got, it’s not been assimilated.
So what applies to a surgeon also applies to Arjun over there. Kshatriyas have to fight and sometimes they have to fight against people who may be dear to them also. So it’s like the whole society is a body and sometimes if some limbs get amputated, limbs get deceased then those limbs have to be amputated.
So the Kauravas were like the diseased limbs of the body. So Krishna’s first point is that you think you are educated but you are not educated. Because the test of education is in emotion.
If our emotions are not changing, then whatever education we have got that has not been assimilated. And then what is the education? It’s interesting that Krishna doesn’t give new information to Arjun. When he says that you are not the body or the soul.
It is not that Arjun has never heard about it before. Most of us we may not have heard about it before. Or we may also heard but not really thought much about it.
In fact, Arjun also says in the previous chapter that I’ve heard that we will go to hell and we will live forever in hell if we destroy our own family tradition, if we destroy the dynasties. Now who is going to go to hell? Obviously the body is not going to go to hell. So it’s clear that Arjun knows that there is some part of us that is going to go to is going to survive after death.
So actually speaking, insight comes not just by getting the sight of something new. Insight comes by catching sight of the link between things that are already in sight. There are things in sight.
I can see this, I can see this, I can see this. But insight means all these are connected. That’s how.
Again a doctor says, I’ve got cough, I’ve got temperature, I’ve got weakness. For us these are three different symptoms. But a doctor may say, Oh you’ve got this disease.
So the insight is to see the link between things already in sight. So what is happening? Arjun is asking about all these things. Oh there is Kshatriya Dharma, there is Kula Dharma.
What should I do? So the first thing is, Krishna tells Arjun, you are not a Kshatriya, you are not a Kuru Nandana. So the fundamental point is, you are the soul. And begin from that point.
So Krishna starts by just changing the perspective completely. First, you are not the body, you are the soul. And Kshatriya is a role for you.
Kuru Nandana is a role for you. But don’t get so caught in the roles. Move to the fundamentals.
And then in the first chapter, it’s very analytical. We often say the Bhagavad Gita is a text of Bhakti. But you will see, Bhagavad Gita doesn’t have so much emotions.
It’s not that Krishna and Arjuna are dancing in ecstasy. Isn’t it? No. If you see, most of the time, Bhagavad Gita’s Bhakti is very very different from Chaitanya Charita Amrit’s Bhakti.
Bhagavad Gita’s Bhakti is more, you could almost say, unemotional. Krishna tells Arjuna, just be equipoised. So why is that? Because Bhakti is not just so much about emotion.
Bhakti, the essence of Bhakti, is dedication. Dedication to the service of the Lord. And in that dedication, emotion may also emerge.
And that emotion comes, that is wonderful. Many people say that the purpose of life is the search for happiness. Yes, at one level it is true.
But, actually, as devotees, our purpose is not to look for happiness. Our purpose is to look to serve Krishna, to express our love for Krishna. And, happiness will come as a by-product.
Life is so serious, the world is such a terrible place, in many different ways. There are so many problems in life, that happiness is not a very substantial purpose to pursue. Because happiness can go away at any time.
So, the essence of devotion is dedication. And a by-product of dedication is satisfaction. So, happiness is best experienced not as a product, but as a by-product.
Product means, if I go out and try to do things, okay, eating this will make me happy, watching this will make me happy, touching this will make me happy. Then, after some time, that happiness will lead to boredom. If not worse.
Many people get addicted because they are searching for happiness. So, the point is that Krishna is, for him, the search for happiness can often become the cause of the greatest unhappiness. So, the Bhagavata’s mood is search for service, search for dedication.
And happiness will come in its way. But in the case of Arjuna, it is his emotions which are coming in the way of his dedication. And that’s why the stress of the Bhagavata is be unemotional, be equipoised.
It is devotion, but it is devotion which is in which emotions are not allowed to come in the way. So, in that sense, it is unemotional devotion. Not unemotional, no emotion, but rather no emotion that comes in the way.
So, in the second chapter, mostly it is, you are not the body or the soul. Therefore, stay unemotional between bodily ups and downs. And then, by the end of the second chapter, Arjuna has heard so much that Arjuna is overwhelmed.
He is overwhelmed. Krishna has spoken a lot, but for Arjuna, it’s all the pieces have to fall together. So, sometimes what happens, we, somebody might be speaking something, but for the audience, sometimes what happens, if you are hearing a class and in the middle of a class, we get a question.
And then, that question fills our mind. And then, after that, whatever is spoken, we just don’t hear it at all. Because that question was occupying our mind completely.
So, sometimes, it happens not exactly like that, but something similar happens. So, Krishna is telling all this that, be equipoised, be undisturbed by worldly emotions. Then, Arjuna asks this question, Can you tell me the characteristics of such a person? And, what does he ask? His question is also, So, he asks, What language does he speak? How does he sit? How does he walk? Kim prabhashet? How does he speak? Now, this might seem like a very curious question.
Why would you ask, how does he sit? How does he walk? Arjuna is not asking about a person who is a fashion model. Isn’t it? And, he is not asking for somebody to pass, say, an English fluency test. How does he speak? Isn’t it? So, there are times when things are not to be taken literally.
Literal meaning can often completely confuse us. See, Prabhupada is strong that the Kurukshetra war is a historical war. That’s true.
But, the Bhagavad Gita is a Gita. It’s poetry. And, one of the beauties of poetry is that symbolisms are used.
So, here, it’s clear. The question will make no sense if you take it literally. How does he sit? How does he walk? What’s going on over here? So, then the Acharya explains, sitting and walking refers to, actually, how does he restrain the senses? How does he engage the senses? And, Krishna gives the whole answer.
But, for Arjuna, actually, when he’s asking this question, his driving thing in his mind is, should I be fighting or should I not be fighting? And, he gives all this answer, and Krishna is telling repeatedly, Arjuna was, at the beginning of the Gita, he was in great agitation. Such agitation that he was crying. Crying in public.
It’s one thing to cry. It’s another thing to cry in public. Even if we are overwhelmed by emotion, even if we start crying, even if we cry in public, we’ll try to go in private and somewhere cry.
Arjuna was the emblem of masculinity. Kshatriyas are trained not to show any pain or any negative emotion in a war, because that will be seen as a sign of weakness by the opponent and will be exploited. So, such a Kshatriya who’s trained to hide pain, is crying in public.
In the point of maximum visibility, which is in the middle of the two battles, two armies. This indicates how much trauma he must be in. And so, considering that trauma, Krishna tells Arjuna that if you attain the spiritual state of consciousness, you’ll be peaceful.
So, Arjuna is internally traumatised and Krishna is saying, but Arjuna is thinking, hey, shanti means no war. So, what happens many times, when I was studying public speaking a little bit, so I had that, what happens is that, when we speak, at best the audience gets 20%. And God knows which 20% it’s at.
So, Krishna is speaking from the perspective, Arjuna, you’re so agitated, you’ll calm down. Now, what happens is, that sometimes we are in a state of emotion, but we’re not even aware that we’re in a state of emotion. We’re so caught by that emotion.
Arjuna is thinking, I should fight, I should not fight. And Krishna repeatedly says, you’ll gain peace, you’ll gain peace, you’ll gain peace. Then Arjuna says, if you’re talking about peace, then why are you asking me to fight? So, then Krishna starts, okay, okay, let’s rewind now.
Let’s rewind, okay. Krishna says, okay, I talked about two levels. So, basically, for Arjuna, there are only two options.
One is, either you fight and get bad karma, or you renounce the world, and again, you’ll be irresponsible. But at least you’ll be acting in knowledge. So, for him, action and renunciation are two options.
But Krishna tells, these are not only two options. Actually, there is action, renunciation, and in between, there is action with renunciation. I mean, act with a mood of detachment.
And Krishna says that we are talking about different levels over here. And in the third chapter, the whole focus goes on action with renunciation. And then, when he’s talking about action with renunciation, Arjuna asks a question.
Each chapter, we don’t have so much time right now, but each chapter, Arjuna’s question also reveals his mood. Till now, Arjuna has asked the first question, The second question he asked was, What are the symptoms of a self-realised person? The third question he’s asked is, Actually, if you’re talking about peace, why are you asking me to fight? The fourth question he asks is 3.36, where he says, He says, What is it that makes us act wrongly? And when I first read the Bhagavad Gita, not the first, second time, first I read it when I was maybe five, six years old, I had read the Bhagavad Gita to memorise for a Shloka recitation contest. But after I came to Krishna Consciousness, first read the Bhagavad Gita, this was the word that stood out.
So striking. So many of us feel impelled to do something which we don’t want to do, at least in our good sense. So what is it that impels us to do wrong? So Arjuna asks this question because Krishna is talking about how we should stick to one’s duty.
And since how we should stick to one’s duty, at that time, Arjuna asks, but there’s something which pushes us away from duty. What is that? And so Arjuna is hearing this and he’s also thinking, am I being pushed away from my duty by something within me? So now if you see, what Krishna answers is Kama. Now Kama doesn’t necessarily refer only to lust.
It can refer to lust, but if you see the question, the question is what makes us act wrongly? So it can be any self-destructive desire can make us act wrongly. So anyway, at this point, Arjuna asks this question and Krishna answers. And this is Kama.
And then he says this is the eternal enemy. As long as existence is there, the self-destructive desire is there. And then, after that he says how to overcome it is the whole battle strategy from 3.37 to 43.
And then in 4.1, Krishna suddenly changes the scope. He says, I gave this knowledge long ago to the sun god. And immediately he says Krishna, Arjuna says, stop, stop, stop, stop.
You know, it’s like say if we are watching some movie or watching some match say watching a match and something suddenly happens what happened over there? Just replay it, replay it. He says, how could you speak to the sun god? Now here what has happened? It’s the first time in the Bhagavad Gita itself that Krishna’s divinity is revealed. At one level, Shri Bhagawan who watches there.
But that Krishna is God is explicitly stated over here. In 2.61, there is one verse, actually not even one verse, one fourth of a verse. He says that Krishna is not just the teacher of sense control.
Krishna is the object of the control senses. That’s what he tells over there. Next chapter he says, 3.30 There also indicates that Krishna is not the Krishna is not just the teacher of Karma Yoga.
He is the object of Karma Yoga. The Karma Yoga is meant to offer the karma, offer the work that is done to Krishna. What happens is when we do Karma Yoga for Krishna Krishna takes the karma and gives us the yoga.
Krishna takes the karmic entanglement and gives us the yoga, gives us the connection with him. So mayi sarvani karmani offer this to me. So there are hints like that in the second and third chapter, but the fourth chapter Krishna explicitly says that actually I descend repeatedly into this world.
I am the supreme and by devotion to me you can attain me. So, but at this point Krishna, so from 4.4 is Arjuna’s question and 4.5 to 4.14 or 4.15 we can say Krishna tells about his position. But in a sense that is a diversion for Krishna and Krishna’s main subject is Karma Yoga.
So again he comes back to Karma Yoga and starts speaking about Karma Yoga and while all this is going on Arjuna is still having this question. Okay, Krishna tells about how if you get knowledge that the difference is third chapter he said about how there is self destructive desire within us and by spiritual knowledge you can overcome it. And then after he talks about the power of that knowledge and how that knowledge can purify us and liberate us and then Krishna, Arjuna is thinking okay Krishna has said to Arjuna also you know you have to go to a self realised stage and learn from them and you have to cultivate this knowledge and then you will get liberation.
Now Arjuna is thinking maybe if I cultivate all this knowledge then I won’t have to fight. But then suddenly at the end of the fourth chapter Krishna tells Arjuna Therefore with the sword of knowledge rise and fight. Sword of knowledge.
What’s going on over here? So Arjuna asks again if you consider knowledge better than action then why are you engaging me in action that will lead to entanglement? Then Krishna again answers the question. Yes, knowledge is also good, action is also good but actually by knowledge, by action done in knowledge you can move forwards. You can move towards liberation.
And then in the fifth chapter Krishna talks about karma yoga in greater detail and then he concludes the one drop of bhakti in the fifth chapter which is in 5.29 So here Krishna is telling how can you get peace? By knowing me to be your well wisher. If you understand that, if you act according to my plan then you will get peace. Don’t think simply by avoiding war you can get peace.
Now peace comes not by simply avoiding conflicts. Peace comes by living in harmony with Krishna. That is a deep inner peace.
So that connection with Krishna gives the real security. Krishna says if you have connection with me then you will be secure. Then in the sixth chapter Krishna starts talking about how you can start practising yoga to advance spiritually.
So in the fifth chapter the conclusion there is that you will gain peace. But what is this peace? This peace again comes through dedication to Krishna. Conviction that Krishna is our well wisher.
By doing Krishna’s plan that is where I will get peace. In the sixth chapter Krishna talks about ashtanga yoga, about going to the forest, doing meditation and then it’s quite an intricate description. But at the end of it Arjuna asks two questions.
First question is hey this is too difficult. This is too difficult. How can I see everyone equally? It’s not practical for me.
So now what does Krishna do? I can’t do this. But Krishna what he does? First thing he does is he empathises with Arjuna. Yes it is difficult.
It is extremely difficult. There is no doubt that it is difficult. So what happens is sometimes even if we have to tell something which is unpalatable.
Begin with something which is palatable. Begin with the fact that we understand it. Say suppose we go to an eye doctor and we want to check our eyes and as soon as we sit down the eye doctor says okay this is your spectacles.
What? You didn’t even diagnose me. No no I know. Take the spectacles.
Now if we don’t feel the doctor has heard us we won’t be very ready to take the spectacles. Spectacles is relatively harmless. Somebody says okay take this pill.
Then it’s okay no I don’t want to take it. Somebody says okay do this surgery. Hey nothing doing.
So what happens is before we can understand we need to feel understood. If the patient feels understood then the doctor has understood my symptoms. Then when the doctor gives the medicine then the patient will take the medicine.
Similarly what first thing Krishna does is tells Arjun yes I understand. So here we see Krishna’s empathy. Now Krishna is the supreme and Arjun is saying I can’t control the mind.
Krishna says just buck up. Control it. Krishna doesn’t do that.
Okay I understand it’s difficult. Now after that what he does is yes it’s difficult but it’s possible. अनोधुर्निग्रहं चलं अभ्यासेन तु कौंतेय वैराजेन चिद्रुयते पई अभ्यास पाई स्थाड़ी पाई प्राक्टिस इतलिए पौसिब And then he reassures him and moves on.
So Krishna stresses that if you follow the right process it is possible. असाय्यतात्मनायोगो दुश्प्रापितिमेमति वश्यात्मनात्यतता शक्यो वाप्तुम उपायता If you have the right process you can do it. This is a very significant point.
That process will be told later. Sometimes people think that changing for the better is simply a matter of willpower. We all have certain our mind goes wild, our senses go wild we often, our emotions go wild so many times we think self-control is just a matter of willpower.
And anybody who doesn’t have self-control that means they don’t have any power. Well, it’s not that simple. Why? Because the way Krishna talks about Kama Kama is, again I said, not just lust but self-destructive desire.
He says it’s not just a desire that comes up within us. It is like a contamination that is already present within us. So, lust or greed or anger, they are not just emotions they are things that are present in our consciousness.
And they shape our behaviour in particular ways. So, just by raw willpower alone it may not always be possible to control them. It’s like, say somebody has, somebody is coughing a lot and they decide, by raw willpower I will not cough anymore.
No, no, no No! Or to take another example say somebody has got loose motion they say, willpower! Now, willpower is required, no doubt. But willpower is required to regulate the diet. To take the medication.
So, it is not just raw willpower that can cure a disease. It is willpower directed towards taking the treatment. That will cure the disease.
Similarly, what Krishna is saying that If it is not following a proper process, it is impossible. Upaya is remedy, treatment. So, it is possible if you follow the right process.
It’s a self-transformation or self-improvement. Changing ourselves, growing spiritually is not just a matter of raw willpower. I do it, I decide I’ll do it and I’ll do it.
But it is a matter of following the right process. And that process will be described later in the leela. Then, Krishna is very reassuring over here.
He is not judging. When we admit our faults to Krishna, we have to understand that Krishna is a very loving God. Krishna’s purpose is not to catch us when we do wrong.
Some may think Krishna is like a judge. If I do something wrong, yeah, Krishna will catch me. Now, get this karmic punishment.
It’s not like that. Krishna’s purpose is not to catch us when we do wrong. Krishna’s purpose is to catch us when we fall.
It’s like a mother who is helping a child to walk for the first time. When the child, while walking, falls, the mother is not going to laugh at the child. The mother is going to run and catch the child.
So, Krishna’s purpose is to catch us when we fall. So, Krishna is on our side. Krishna is by our side, inside us.
As He knows our weaknesses, He knows our faults. And He knows our struggles. He appreciates our struggles.
It’s difficult. I know it. But, if you follow the right process, it is possible.
There is, there are times, most of the times, when we think that we want to, somebody has to change something. Why are you doing like this? Do like this. We often think it’s simply a matter of I told you the way to do it, now do it.
We think it’s a matter of education or willpower. But, most often, you know, a major part of education, especially with respect to learning something, like skills, which we have to do, a major component of education is to give encouragement. Not just tell what to do, but give the confidence that you can do it.
If we don’t give that confidence, then even no matter how much we tell you, you can do it. Do like this, do like that. But, they are not able to do it.
So, Krishna is saying, yes, it’s possible. It’s possible. So, there is, giving encouragement is extremely important.
We all, just as the car needs fuel, the human heart needs encouragement. Without encouragement, we just become, we just become so disheartened. Just can’t continue on.
So, the sixth chapter, although at one level it is talking about very high levels of yoga, but at another level, you see that Krishna, while talking about his high levels, he is also very educated. The next question, also, is a question of doubt, of hesitation. In the fourth chapter, the doubt was more theoretical.
How could you have spoken to the sun god? But here, the doubt is more practical. One is, I don’t think I can do this. The second question is, he says, what if, what if, I’m not even, do I achieve success? Okay, I may start off on this spiritual journey, and then what if I can’t achieve success? He says that.
He gives a very poetic metaphor over there. He says that, there is a cloud, one set of cloud moving this way, one set of cloud moving this way, and one set of, one cloud leaves from here and decides to go there. But along the way, suddenly, wind comes and sweeps the cloud away.
Then, what happens to this cloud? Nagarka, Nagatka, as we say. Neither here nor there. So, is it like that? Krishna, when he asks, so, somebody leaves, one cloud is the materialistic way of life, the other is the spiritual way of life.
So, is it that we’ll neither get material success, nor spiritual success? We’ll be lost both ways. So, Krishna tells, the first thing, before answering the question, address the concern underlying the question. Sometimes, if there is emotion, there is fear, there is worry, then, what do we have to address? See the expert teacher, doesn’t just answer the question, it answers the intent behind the question.
Understands the mood of the questioner and addresses the mood. So, what Krishna does first is, here, when Arjuna is having doubt, apprehension, fear, then, what does he do? First, reassurance. Parthanaivehanamutra vinashastasya vidyate nahi kalyanakratkashyat durgatim tathagachyate So, Arjuna, neither in this world nor in the next world, he will attain auspiciousness.
nahi kalyanakratkashyat One who is engaged in good, nahi kalyanakratkashyat durgatim tathagachyate One will never attain an auspicious destiny. One who does good, will never perish, O Arjuna. Tatha is a word of very great affection.
O dear friend, O dear Arjuna, be assured that one who does good will never perish. It’s a very sweet and categorical assurance. Never perish.
And, when we do this, that is the point when we encourage others. If, say, a child is learning to walk, and a child falls once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, ten times, and a child has become disheartened, and a child asks the mother, and the child has fallen down also, a little hand is, maybe the elbow is injured, the thigh is, the knee is injured, and the child asks, actually, will I be able to ever walk? Oh, I’ve fallen down so many times. You’ll have to fall down many times again.
And if a mother says like that, that will be terrible. You will learn to walk. When a person needs encouragement, that’s what we need to give.
Once a devotee wrote to Prabhupada, he said, Prabhupada, I’m such a fallen soul. Prabhupada wrote back and said, I need many fallen souls like you to help me to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. So, when somebody is disheartened, at that time, the first thing we have to do is give encouragement.
And in fact, the Bhagavatam says, in the third canto, that the great saints travel around the world assuring people of fearlessness in the Lord. There are many things to fear in this world, but when we are living in the service of the Lord, there is fearlessness. So, Arjuna is assured this.
And then Krishna, of course, describes that, okay, if you can’t complete in this life, then continue in the next life. Either you’ll be born in a devotee’s family or you’ll be born in a well-to-do family. Either way, you’ll be able to continue and you’ll attain perfection.
The sixth chapter is both very philosophical in terms of exalted levels of samadhi, which I talked about, but it’s also very personal in terms of how Krishna addresses the doubts of Arjuna. And then, from the seventh chapter, there’s a dramatic change in the whole emphasis of the Gita. The first six chapters are about what? Anyone knows? Karma Yoga.
Actually, it’s not just about Karma Yoga. It is Karma Yoga leading to Bhakti Yoga. The middle seven chapters are about Bhakti Yoga itself.
And that is indicated in the right first verse itself. If you see, throughout the first six chapters, the whole discussion is, be detached, be equipoised, be unaffected by worldly ups and downs. The whole mood is about virakti, detachment.
But the first word in the seventh chapter is attachment. Mayi ahasakta manah partha yogam yunjan malashraya I once gave a seminar on the significance of each chapter of the Bhagavad. Each chapter’s first verse’s first word.
You know, each chapter’s first verse’s first word is actually very indicative of what is going to come in that chapter. So, mayi ahasakta. So, mayi ahasakta manah.
So, Krishna is telling that you can make your mind attached to me. And he describes the process. So, till now the whole point was about being detached from the world.
So, the Bhagavad Gita shifts Arjuna’s vision, first from the body to the soul. And then action at the level of the soul. That’s the first six chapters, which is Karma Yoga.
But from the seventh chapter, the vision shifts from the soul to the whole, to Krishna. And now the stress will be on Krishna. That’s why in the seventh chapter, it’s all about Krishna’s position.
How great Krishna is. And how he permeates everything. When you drink water, the taste of water is Krishna.
When somebody’s intelligent, their intelligence is Krishna. Everything, ultimately is permeated with the presence of Krishna. And then, Krishna says, They are not in me.
I am not in them. They are in me. So, this is actually a poetic ornament.
I earlier said that how the Bhagavad Gita is filled with poetic ornaments. So, this is one way of poetic ornament. In English, it is called chiasmus.
Chiasmus is, you invert the words. So, like, I think John F. Kennedy said, Ask what you have done for the nation. So, you have the same words, but invert them.
So, that’s what Krishna is doing over here. I am not in them. They are in me.
So, like that, Krishna will do later on in the ninth chapter also, in a verse, he’ll do that. But, here Krishna tells about his supreme position. And then, he talks about four kinds of people who don’t surrender to him.
And then he talks about four kinds of people who surrender to him. Who are the four kinds of people? Those who are distressed, those who are distressed, those who are distressed, those who are distressed. Actually, this is a lecture of Srila Prabhupada, where he is speaking to the hippies, and he says that all of you hippies are not very appreciated in America.
Because you are considered frustrated people. But he says, I appreciate you very much. He says, human life is meant to be frustrated.
It is when you become frustrated with the normal way of living, you look for something higher. So, broadly speaking, there are two ways people may come to spirituality. One is, material life becomes so unbearable.
There is so much pain in material life, I can’t bear this, there must be something better. So, that is Artho and Artharthi. Those are distressed, and those who desperately need money.
I can’t live this way, there must be something higher. But the other way, there is another way also. Another way is that people are pursuing material life, and they achieve success in material life, and then they realise, this is unfulfilling.
There must be something more. So, either because material life is unbearable, or material life is unfulfilling. So, the Jigyasu and the Gyani are in that category.
Okay, I have knowledge, but this knowledge, I want to know more about this. What is there? There is nothing substantial. So, both ways, somebody might come to Krishna.
And, then, Krishna says, he is talking about these people, and he says that, first he says, they are all Chaturvidha, Vajantemam, Janasukrutino, Arjuna. They are all Sukrutina. And then, after that, he says, that among them, the Gyani is the best.
Because, they can easily become fixed in devotion to me. Because they are interested in developing a personal relationship with me. However, then he says, others are also good.
He says, all of them are Udara. Now, Udara, means large-hearted. It’s charitable.
Now, normally, this word charitable, we will use when somebody gives a big donation, or somebody makes a big contribution. That’s what we call as charitable. And here, Krishna is talking about Sarva.
Those who come to him for money. They are coming to Krishna for money. How can Krishna say they are charitable? Normally, normally, if somebody gives money, you will call them charitable.
But somebody comes to Krishna to ask for money. How can you call them charitable? So, Ramanujacharya gives a beautiful explanation. He says, that Krishna is hungry for devotion.
Although God is omnipotent, but still, there is one thing which he can’t get. By all his omnipotence. And that is our heart.
He can’t get our heart by force. He wants us to offer our devotion voluntarily to him. And he is so eager to have a personal relationship with us.
So eager, that even if somehow or the other, if somebody comes to Krishna, even if they are coming for money, at least, what are they doing? They are praying to Krishna. They are offering a part of their consciousness to Krishna. They are having enough faith, that maybe Krishna will fulfil my desire.
So, in that sense, they are offering a little of their heart to Krishna. And Krishna is so grateful. They are offering that little part of their heart to Krishna.
And he says, oh, you are so charitable. And he is appreciating. So, Krishna is very eager for a personal relationship with each one of us.
He says, They are all very charitable. And they are all very dear to me. And this way, throughout the whole conversation that goes on, in the Bhagavad Gita, there are small, small words which are so pregnant with such personal import.
If you just look, then you will see there is so much personality of Krishna that is revealed over there. And the same Krishna, later on, as the chapter goes on, what does he say? Yes. Bhagunam janmanam ante.
After many lifetimes, they will come to me. Jnanavan mam prapadyate. But, later on, we will say that Krishna says that actually you don’t have to go through all that.
Wherever you are, you just come to me and you will attain me. I will talk about this when we come to the 18th chapter later. But here, in the 7th chapter, while Krishna is telling about his position, we have to see, what is his purpose? He is saying, I am God, I am supreme, and I am so great.
His purpose is not to simply proclaim his position. His purpose is to attract our devotion. To inspire us to offer our heart to him.
And that’s why he speaks this. And then, after that, the Bhagavad Gita moves to the 8th chapter. So, from the 7th chapter onwards, the focus is on Krishna.
Now, in the 7th and 8th chapter, there is an interesting discussion over there. Or, interesting transition over there. Suddenly, at the end of the 7th chapter, Krishna says, if you can be in this consciousness at the time of death, saadhi bhutadi yajnam mam saadhi yajnam chaividu prayanakalechi mam prayanakalechi mam If at the time of death, you can do this.
Now, you say, where did prayanakal come up? Where did death suddenly come from? Actually, they are on a battlefield. So, they are very much in the presence of death. But, the idea is, ultimately, spiritual journey, it culminates in what happens at the time of death.
It doesn’t terminate. It culminates. Culmination is at the highest point.
So, then, the whole 8th chapter is about large, not whole, but large part is about death. So, there, Krishna tells that if you remember me at the time of death, you will come to me. And then, he says, actually, to remember me at the time of death, you have to remember me.
Remember me always. Sarvesu kaalesu mam anusmargam techa. And then, he gives two methods.
Because, if you see, the 6th chapter, what had happened, Krishna had told Arjuna to practise the process of yoga. And Arjuna said, this is very difficult. Now, the point of Arjuna was that controlling the mind is very difficult.
And Krishna had said, yes, by the right process, it’s possible. But, what is that right process? Krishna has not told about it. Now, Krishna is coming towards that.
So, in the 8th chapter, Krishna tells about the process of ashtanga yoga. And he says, prayana prayana kaale manasa chalena ruor madhye pranamave shi samyak At the time of death, just with the process of yoga, with the power of yoga, fix your mind. You will attain liberation by that.
So, he talks about the process of yoga. And then, he comes to 8.14. 8.14 is the one verse in the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna says, you can easily attain. ananya chetah sadatam yo mam smarthi nityasah tasyaham sulabhah partha nitya yuktasya yoginah ananya chetah sadatam Those who fix their mind on me, tasyaham sulabhah partha They can easily attain.
Now, this sulabhah is a very significant word. Because, as I said, in the previous chapter in 7.19, Krishna has said, durlabhah. He has said that, bahunam janmanamante jnanavan mam prapuddhite vasudeva sarmaviti samatmasu durlabhah Those souls are very, very rare.
Those who know me in truth, those who surrender to me, those who attain me are very rare. But, he says, over here, if you practise bhakti, if you practise bhakti, sulabhah, tasyaham sulabhah partha I can be easily attained. So, this is Krishna glorifying the process of bhakti.
He is saying, if you practise bhakti, that which is very difficult will become attainable for you. That which is very rare and very difficult to attain will be easily attained. Because, bhakti attracts the grace of Krishna.
And then, after that, he talks about how this world is dukkhalaya. Now, if you see this verse, We often quote this verse, Krishna says, this world is dukkhalaya. But, actually, Krishna is not saying the world is dukkhalaya as a stress point.
Krishna is stressing that if you practise bhakti, you will go beyond this dukkhalaya world and you will attain me. So, it’s almost like that this world is dukkhalaya that everybody knows. It’s just okay, you can get out of this.
So, the point over there is this world is a place of misery. By practising bhakti, you get out of this world. So, that this world is a place of distress does not mean that we have to stay in distress.
That this world is a place of distress does not mean we have to stay in distress. What Krishna is saying is that this world is like a hospital. In a hospital, pain is inevitable.
But that doesn’t mean the purpose of the hospital is to cause pain. The purpose of the hospital is to provide the treatment by which the patient can be healed. And then what happens? The success of the hospital is that the patient goes out of the hospital.
Isn’t it? Not to the crematorium. But back to normal life. Similarly, Krishna says the success of the world is that the soul goes out of this world to the spiritual world.
So, Krishna is telling that at the time of death, we don’t leave home. At the time of death, we go home. So, it depends on what our conception of home is.
If our attachment to the world is so great that we think this world and the place which I have in this place, this is my home, then death is like leaving home. But if you understand, if our attachment to Krishna has become so great that being with Krishna is what we consider as home, then at the time of death, we go home. So, when he is telling this message, this world is dukkhalaya, it is not in a pessimistic mood.
This world is dukkhalaya, you stay dukkhi. Not like that. Krishna is saying this world is dukkhalaya, this world is a place of distress, but I have a process by which you can get out of this.
Just follow this process and you will come out. And then again, there are many places in the Bhagavad Gita which Krishna speaks by contrast. If you do this, this will happen.
If you do this, this will happen. There is one devotee who was doing some Hindu-Christian dialogue and he said I want to write an article or a booklet on the ten commandments of the Bhagavad Gita. Like there are ten commandments in the Bible.
I told him, please don’t write such a book. I said, he said, why? The Bhagavad Gita is not a book of commandments. The Bhagavad Gita is a book of choices.
Choices and consequences. Krishna is nowhere really taking the position I am God, you have to obey me. Although Krishna is God, he is not throwing his weight around saying you must obey me or I will send you to hell.
It’s not that mood at all. Krishna is throughout having a very reasonable argument. Saying, if you do this, this will happen.
If you do this, this will happen. And therefore, do this. So, Krishna is actually in the Bhagavad Gita giving a map and telling where does this road go, where does this road go.
So, you can decide where you want to go. So, what he says over here is, first he says in first he says that if you worship me, you will attain me. And then, next verse he says If, instead of worshipping me, you do anything else, wherever else you go, you will come back.
But, if you worship me, you will come to me. So, choices and consequences. This comes repeatedly in the Gita.
Third chapter, Krishna tells Arjuna, if you do this, this will happen. 3.30 and 3.30 and 31. Those who have faith in me, those who don’t have faith in me.
Again, 4.39 and 40 is, those who have faith in me, those who don’t have faith in me. What will happen to them? That the same mood will come repeatedly by contrast. Krishna is not saying when he says have faith in me, he is saying that if you follow the process of devotion, this is what will happen to you.
If you don’t follow the process of devotion, this is what will happen to you. Like a doctor is saying, you take this treatment, this will happen. If you don’t take this treatment, this will happen.
And you decide what you want to do. So, then the 8th chapter, when he concludes it, Krishna gives an assurance that if you practise bhakti, then he talks briefly about the whole Vedic process of dying at the right time. That there is, should die during Uttarayan, not during Dakshinayan and all those things like that.
And Krishna says you don’t have to worry about all this. Tasmad, Sarveshu, Kaleshu, Yogayukto Bhava Arjuna, Naitya Sruti, Partha Janan, Yogi Mohyati Kashyana. He says the yogi is not worried about all this.
Bhakti is not about getting the right time. It is about getting the right mood. When we die is not as important as in what consciousness we die.
He says if you live in this way, then you will attain perfection. And as Krishna starts speaking about bhakti, he actually goes into ecstasy. And as he goes into ecstasy, he just keeps speaking.
So that’s why 6th chapter to 7th chapter, there is no driving question. At the end of the 7th chapter, there is a driving question. In the 8th chapter to 9th chapter, there is no driving question.
Krishna has spoken about, Krishna has contrasted bhakti and yoga and then he concludes by saying bhakti yoga will happen. The yogi will attain the supreme destiny. Which yogi? The yogis observe in my mind in me.
Observe their mind in me. There is a bhakti yogi. And then we, so then as he is speaking about the glory of bhakti yoga, Krishna spontaneously goes on.
And then he speaks the 9th chapter. There, bhakti yoga is even more emphasised. Rajaguhya is the most confidential knowledge.
And in this 9th chapter, a lot of things are happening. First thing that happens is Krishna contradicts himself. First he says All living beings are situated in me.
That’s 9.4. And 9.5 says But all living beings are not situated in me. It’s exactly contradictory. Suppose I say, suppose I make a statement that okay, Krishna says this in the Bhagavad Gita.
And next person says, no, Krishna doesn’t say this in the Bhagavad Gita. I say, okay, I’m sorry. I made a mistake.
But Krishna speaks two contradictory statements and there is no mood of apology. It’s a mood of celebration. Just see my mystical opulence.
All living beings are situated in me, but all living beings are not situated in me. This is my mystical opulence. Now, what is Krishna saying over here by this? Krishna is telling us that his glory is inconceivable.
Now, of course, our Acharyas have tried to explain it in different ways. He says, Krishna is Paramatma is sustaining all living beings. But Krishna as Bhagavan is in his own spiritual world.
He is not carrying anyone. So, in a sense, this 9.4 verse is like a concise verse which tells about all three aspects of the absolute truth. That is talking about the Brahman aspect.
I pervade all of existence. All living beings are sustained in me. That is the Paramatma aspect.
I am not situated in them. That is the Bhagavan aspect. So, we have to know what Krishna is talking about.
Otherwise, it can seem contradictory. When Krishna is referring to himself, he is sometimes referring to different aspects of himself. Say, like if if the head of state, the prime minister or a king, they come home.
At that time, when they are talking about themselves, they are not in the mood of a prime minister. They are just talking about a family member. So, when Krishna’s moods are different, at that time, Krishna talks in different ways.
Even if somebody is like a big commander, they have a gun. If they go home, they will not go with that gun and show it to their family members. Their mood will be very different.
So, like that, Krishna is talking in different moods. And then, after the 9th chapter, it’s more or less, in some ways, a repetition of the theme of the 7th chapter, but with greater depth. Krishna talks about his great position and then the greatness of devotion to him.
And there are several special verses in this 9th chapter. So, one of them is that actually Krishna tells over there that if you become devoted to me, I will protect you. Yogam shemam vahamyaham.
This assurance of protection is given so that you can just focus wholeheartedly on practising bhakti. And then, this glorification of devotion is so great. Actually, Krishna contrasts devotion to him with worship of the devatas in four different ways in this chapter.
First, he says that actually, whatever you gain, you will lose it. When you go to higher planets, you will fall down. Whatever you gain is temporary.
But if you worship me, whatever you gain is eternal. And for worshipping the devatas, you have to perform big, big rituals. But for worshipping me, just offer me a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or maybe water.
The acharyas explain it is, Krishna is also speaking in singular. Not even plural. Patram pushpam phalam thoyam.
It is not even patrani, pushpani, phalani. Just one leaf, one fruit, one flower. So, Krishna is so eager that we come to him, he says.
So, longevity of result, simplicity of process. And then, third thing he says is, 9.2930, that actually speaking, even if somebody is a wrongdoer, does terrible wrong things, still, that person will come to me. And last thing he says is, even if somebody is considered conventionally lowborn, even they will come to me.
So, even if that person has some bad karma from previous life, or that person has done bad karma in this life, still, if you practise bhakti, you will come to me. And that verse, apichet suduracharo bhajate mama nanya bhag sadhure vasamantamya samyak vyavasito hi saham That, no matter how wrong a thing you have done, if you are determined to serve me, then, Krishna says, consider such a person saintly. And this is a very reassuring verse.
What Krishna is telling over here is, that we don’t have the power to ever do anything that will make Krishna stop loving us. We don’t have the power to do that. Sometimes we think, Oh, I made such a big mistake.
My life is ruined now. Now, yes, sometimes our mistakes may foil our plans. Now, our mistakes may foil our plans.
But, Krishna’s plan is so big that our mistakes can never block his plan. Yes, our mistakes may have consequences. But, our mistakes cannot block Krishna’s plan.
It’s not that Krishna’s plan is like a… Krishna’s plan is like one straight line. If you don’t follow that line, then you are lost forever. Krishna’s plan is like a network of paths.
And, even if we take a wrong turn, Krishna can guide us and bring us back on the right turn. So, Krishna is saying, I love you, and you cannot ever do anything that will stop me from loving you. It’s like, say, if you use a GPS, and GPS tells you to turn right, you turn left.
Then what does the GPS say? You didn’t obey me? Get lost. GPS doesn’t do that. It immediately reroutes and tells us the way ahead.
So, Krishna is like the ultimate GPS. And, no matter how many wrong turns we take, Krishna always reroutes and shows us the way back. So, Krishna is saying, no matter how many mistakes you have done, just have the intention to serve me.
If you have that intention to serve me, you will come to me. And somebody will say, no, this person has done terrible wrongs. Krishna says, no, if they are trying to serve me, kshipram bhavati dharmatma shashvachantin nigachyati, soon they will become purified.
And then, kaunteya pratijanihi name bhakta pradashyati. Name bhakta pradashyati. Krishna says, my devotee will never be destroyed.
So, Krishna here says that devotion is seen more in the firmness of our intention than the firmness of our action. Because sometimes our conditioning may be so strong that firmness of action might be impossible. I decide I want to do something or I don’t want to do something and then, one day, two day, three days and then, I not only forget my resolution, I also forget what was my resolution.
I just succumb completely. So, what happens? We may relax. So, firmness of action might not be possible for us.
But firmness of intention means that when the conditioning comes, they push us in a particular direction that, okay, we get pushed at that time but as soon as that conditioning goes that the surge goes away, we immediately come back on the right track. So, sometimes we think that our urges, you know, we have various urges, last anger, greed, envy. We think that urges are like a straight line.
If I try to resist it, it’s going to keep growing, growing, growing, growing, growing. And then, eventually I’m going to succumb. So, let me succumb now only.
We think like that. But our urges are not like an endlessly growing line. They’re not an endlessly rising line.
The urges are like endlessly recurring waves. The waves will keep coming. But every wave has a crest and then it has a trough.
So, when the wave rises, sometimes we get swept off in opposite direction. But as soon as the wave stops, then again we move forward in the right direction. So, Krishna says, if we just maintain that right intention, He says, even if you’re not able to overcome the conditionings right now, still, keep practising manti.
If you do wrong, okay. But come back on the right track as soon as possible. He says, sadhu, such a person should be considered a good person, a saintly person.
Why? Because saintliness has to be seen in action eventually. But initially, at least the intention has to be there. So, Krishna is actually opening his heart over here and saying that, you just have the desire to practise devotion.
You just have that intention, this is what I want to do. Even if you’re not able to do it, Krishna says, I will appreciate your intention. As much as you can do, you do it.
If you can’t do it, I’ll understand it. So, Krishna is opening his heart and telling us that, just come to me. Do as much as you can.
And in this way, when we see this Krishna, this particular verse is not to be taken, I can do whatever I want. It’s not like that. Sometimes, against what we want, we are pulled to do certain things.
But we don’t become disheartened. Just stay, continue practising bhakti. We may fall down, but we don’t have to fall away.
Fall down means, we want to do something, we are somehow not able to do it, fall down. But fall away means, we give up the path. So, no matter what happens, we never give up the path.
We fall down, rise and move on. We sometimes want to be consistent, we want consistency in our devotion. Yes, but consistency is difficult.
Even if we can’t have consistency, we can have resiliency. We can be resilient. OK, I fall, I rise again.
I fall, I rise again. And just by that, we’ll gradually become purified. Krishna says, kshipram bhavati dharmatma.
We’ll become purified, we’ll become virtuous. And by Krishna’s grace, we will ultimately attain the supreme perfection. That’s what Krishna has shown in the last verse.
manmanabha mad-bhakto madhyaji mam namaskuru mam evaiśyasi yuktvayivam ātmānā mad-parāyana He says, with your heart and soul devoted to me, you will surely attain me. So, this is Krishna. He is not demanding God, staying up there and saying, you come to me.
Krishna is actually a descending God. He descends to this world and he wants to lift us up. He says, I will hold you by the hand.
When you fall here, fall down, I will lift you again. Just come with me. That’s Krishna opening his heart and calling us to come to him.
Such is the beautiful heart of Krishna that is revealed in the Bhagavad Gita. So, I’ll quickly summarise. I don’t know if I can summarise this, because it’s so much.
But broadly, I spoke today about how the Bhagavad Gita is not just a philosophy, it is a personal conversation. And it begins with how Duryodhana’s vision is, it is in Sri Krishna. And materialistic people don’t think God as consequential.
And God also appears in an inconsequential position. He’s just a charioteer. But, what happens? He is blowing his conch, something significant is there.
He’s not just a charioteer. And then when Arjuna desires to see from the eyes, illusion comes in. For the brain, what we take in through the eyes or take in through the mouth or through the blood is the same.
It has the same effect of agitation. So, Arjuna gets deluded. And Krishna doesn’t instruct till he’s asked to instruct.
Doesn’t give advice till he’s asked for advice. Just gives a pep talk. But when Arjuna surrenders, then we need to understand what is the question.
The question is not whether I should fight or not fight, it’s what is dharma. So, he has a dharma sankat, kshatriya or kuladharma. And Krishna says, you’re not a kshatriya nor a guru, you are an atma.
So, test of education is in the education of emotions. And Krishna says, your emotions are not educated. And then in the second chapter, he tells about how to work, not work or renunciation, but work with renunciation.
And in the third chapter, Krishna has this question, Krishna is talking about inner peace to relieve Arjuna of his of his turbulence, emotional turbulence. But Krishna, Arjuna sees the outer peace, why are you asking me to fight? And then, Krishna answers again in third chapter. And for second and third chapter, he gives glimpses of how he is not just a teacher, but he is the object of teaching.
But in the fourth chapter, in response to Arjuna’s question, or how do you speak to sun god, Krishna reveals his position for ten verses. And then again, he shifts back to the teaching of karma yoga. But even in that teaching of karma yoga, he is focussing on how to act in knowledge.
And in the fifth chapter, again, he gives a hint of his devotion. He gives a hint of devotion by saying that real peace will come not by avoiding conflict, but by harmonising with me, by trusting you. When you say Krishna, he is saying trusting God and doing his will.
He is our greatest fellow. Sixth chapter is at the same time at one level talking about great austerities and very high levels of spiritual vision. They are also talking about a very understanding lord.
We need to first be understood before we can understand. So Krishna tells Arjuna, yes, it’s very difficult to control the mind, but it is possible. So, self-control or self-mastery is not just a matter of raw willpower.
You need the right process. And then, again, when Arjuna says, what if I don’t complete in this life? Krishna assures, yes, you can complete. If not in this life, next life.
Those who do good will never be destroyed. It’s a very reassuring tone. Seventh chapter shifts from detachment to attachment.
Bhagavad Gita initially talks about a very unemotional kind of spirituality, an unemotional kind of bhakti because the essence of devotion is not emotion but dedication. If emotion comes in the way of dedication, then you have to put it aside. But here, Krishna shifts the focus.
Main aasakta. Focus on Krishna. And then, the seventh chapter is revealing Krishna’s glory so that we can be inspired to surrender to Krishna.
And there, udaaraha. Those who are asking Krishna for money, Krishna is calling them charitable because Krishna is so eager to have our heart. That is not in His power to get.
Always omnipotent. So, if we offer our heart for whatever reason, Krishna feels indebted and says, oh, you are so large-hearted. And then, in the eighth chapter, He talks about death and how we can remember Him at the time of death.
And there, He assures, He contrasts the difficulty in practising yoga with bhakti yoga is sulabha. It’s very easy. And then, He talks about how this world is a place of death, but you can get out of this world by practising devotion to Me.
So, it’s not a pessimistic declaration. This world is an optimistic, hope-giving declaration. You can get out of this world by practising bhakti.
Bhagavad Gita is not a book of commandments, but of choices and consequences. And then, the ninth chapter, especially, talks about how He is glorifying devotion. The longevity of the result, the simplicity of the process, the lack of disqualification because of past bad karma or even present bad karma.
And lastly, I focused on how Krishna sees devotion not so much in terms of firmness of action as in firmness of intention. So, we may fall down, but we don’t have to fall away. If we just rise and even if we can’t be consistent, if we are resilient, then Krishna is not a demanding God.
He is a descending God. He doesn’t demand that we rise to Him. He descends down to our level and raises up by His finger up to us.
Krishna’s purpose is not to catch us when we do wrong. His purpose is to catch us when we fall. Such is a loving God who is revealed through the Gita and who inspires us and invites us to surrender to Him and thus attain Him.
Thank you very much. Shreemad Bhagavad Gita Ki Jai! Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai! Gaur Bhakta Vrinda Ki Jai! Jai Gaur Premanand! Thank you very much. Jai Krishna!