Number Magic in the Bhagavad-gita

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
I will tell this prayer.
Explain the meaning of it. recite it together. Sartham Arjunas Yadav Purvan Geetam Tandav Lokat Prajopakarayat Asmay Krishnatma Renam Ahaam This was described Sartham Arjunas Yadav In the beginning that lord Sarthyam Arjunasya, he became Jagadhir Arjuna and he gave the nectar of the Lakshayudharita Lokatrayopakaraya, for what purpose? For the sake of doing good to all the people.
Asmai Krishnatma Nainamaha. Therefore to that lord Krishna I offer obeisance. So can you repeat after me? Sarthyam Arjunasya Dau Kurvan Geetam Dandadau Lokatrayopakaraya Asmai Krishnatma Nainamaha So today I will discuss some striking numerical features of the Bhagavad Gita.
That is entitled as number magic. So what is this number magic? While studying the Bhagavad Gita I noticed how there are some verses which have the same number, say 10.10 or 7.7 or 15.15 which have sufficient significance. And so when I noticed this then I studied the verses like this for all the chapters from 1.1 to 18.18 and I found these 18 verses actually convey the essential views of the Bhagavad Gita in distinctive and at the same time progressive ways.
So we will start and we will see depending on the availability of time how many of these verses we can cover. So we will discuss 1.1, 2.2, 2.3 like that and we will recite these verses and we will discuss them. So you can see the words.
Hidrashtra Vacha Dharmakshetre Kurukshetre Samveta Yutsavaha Mamaka Pandavasyaiva Kimakurvata Sanjaya So the Bhagavad Gita is the world’s only scripture that is spoken on a battlefield. There is no other religious scripture that has been spoken on a war field. There are books which talk about wars but there are no books which are spoken on a war field.
That makes it distinctive and in the whole Bhagavad Gita this is the only one that is spoken by Hidrashtra. And the Bhagavad Gita is a nested conversation. So at the outer level it is a conversation between Hidrashtra and Sanjaya.
At the inner level it is a conversation, primary level it is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna. And as we read Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita as it is, he gives us a purpose. So it is a conversation between Prabhupada and us.
And as we further assimilate the Bhagavad Gita, then the Bhagavad Gita’s verses reveal themselves as a conversation between a soul and a Supersoul. This is a four level conversation. So we start at the outer level.
Now in this outer level Srila Prabhupada himself would be very emphatic that some people try to say that the Bhagavad Gita is metaphorical. That actually no bloodshed took place. Why would God ask a war to take place? And they try to make this whole thing as symbolic.
Srila Prabhupada is strongly against that. But at the same time, Srila Prabhupada also in his Parpot mentions that Dharmakshetra has a particular symbolism. That it is the place where righteousness takes place.
So now if we look at the Bhagavad Gita, the message of the Bhagavad Gita is neither violence nor silence. Bhagavad Gita’s message is transcendence. India’s all sufferings are because we did not follow the Bhagavad Gita.
And what is the idea of following the Bhagavad Gita? If India had followed the Bhagavad Gita, the day India won independence, it would have wiped out Pakistan. That is the idea of the abdication of the Bhagavad Gita. So, in the Bhagavad Gita, if we look at the flow, actually, till the first to the second chapter, Krishna repeatedly asks Arjuna to fight.
Therefore, fight on. Therefore, not give this world. But then, if you move forward, especially after the twelfth chapter, there is not a single reference to fight.
In the eleventh chapter, twenty-third verse is the last reference to fight. Where it says, Therefore, arise and fight and win. And if you look at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna’s conclusion is not that I will fight.
Arjuna’s conclusion is, The 80.72 describes, I will do what you tell me to do. So, the Bhagavad Gita is not talking about violence. It is talking about transcendence.
Transcendence means harmonising with the will of God. And in that particular historical setting, harmonising with the will of God required fighting. But that is not the essential message of the Gita.
You know, Avadhikoti was preaching in various parts of the world. So, Avadhikoti had come from one of the African countries. I think it was Ghana.
So, he said that in our country, there are 375 religious groups. And he said that the government of Ghana gave us a special religion. He said, still now, the Hare Krishna’s are the only religious group that have not been involved in any riots.
So, the idea is that actually Africa is highly polarised. 55% Christians and 40% Muslims. And they have tremendous violence.
95% are mostly African native religions. And they try to maintain it. So, there is a lot of internal conflict there.
So, actually, now the Hare Krishna won’t follow the Bhagavad Gita. But the message is not a message of violence. The message is a message of transcendence.
And why does Krishna actually use the battlefield setting? So, the battlefield is a setting. So, there are two extremes to this. One is to say what many pacifists, pacifists when they go to Tao Peace, they say that actually the war never took place.
And everything is a war. And the other extreme is people who say that actually war should take place. And that is the Bhagavad Gita.
So, the two are extremes. So, one is entirely metaphorical. The other is entirely literal.
Literal means that we should fight. But the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita is actually, it is neither literally entirely nor metaphorically entirely. The literal idea is that literally a war took place at that time.
And Krishna encouraged Arjuna to fight the war. But that is not the application of the Bhagavad Gita for all time to come. Arjuna fought not because fighting was in the Bhagavad Gita, but because fighting was the way to harmonise with the way of Krishna.
And the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita is to harmonise with the way of Krishna. And that, in Karnataka, we can do by changing the movie. So, this verse, where it refers to Dharamkshetra and Kurukshetra.
So, he is saying that actually they have assembled for fighting. But what did they do? So, he wanted the fight to happen. But he still hasn’t written if the fight happened or not.
So, this question will be answered at the end, the last verse. Where Sanjay will tell that actually, त्रियों गेश्वर अत्रिश्ण इत्तबार्धोर नदर अत्रिशिन्यो भुरुति दुवानी थिर्म थेर्ममा निकी पूर्ण सेरिची ये He will describe that. Actually, Sanjay Dhrashtra is not asking literalistically what exactly happened.
He wants to know what is the conclusion. And he said that the conclusion, wherever there is Krishna, wherever there is Arjuna, there will be victory. So, the first verse itself gives us the blend of the symbolic and the literal.
Dharmakshetra is symbolic, the Kurukshetra is literal. Dharmakshetra is the place of dharma, that is the symbolic thing. But Kurukshetra is the literal place.
So, let’s look at the next verse then. So, these are Krishna’s first words in the Bhagavad Gita. शुनिभद्वानुवाचः कुतस्त्वातश्मनविदं विशमेसमुपस्थितं अनारितुष्तम्हस्वर्ग्यं अकीर्तिकरमर्जुना So, here Krishna tells Arjuna, कुतस्त्वा, from where does this, from पुता means where, कश्मनविदं, where does this contamination come upon you, विशमेसमुपस्थितं, विशमेस means at this time of great danger.
So, where does this come upon you? अनारितुष्तम्हस्वर्ग्यं, this is not becoming you. This is an Aarya, a dignified person, a cultured person, a spiritually refined person. This is going to become you, it will not take you to heaven.
अकीर्तिकरमर्जुना, this will make you in place. So, before this, Krishna has only spoken one word. In the first chapter, when Krishna takes Arjuna’s chariot, इंपित्युविद्वार्जु, पश्यनितान्पाण्डवुत्राना, पश्य, पश्य, just see.
Just see, just see who all are there. So, that’s the only word is पश्य. But of course, in the first chapter, Arjuna observes the Kaurava army and he sees Vishnu and Arjuna and he starts thinking, how can I fight with them? And therefore, he concludes the first chapter by saying, he just puts aside his book, he doesn’t speak the word, but he says, by the actions, इस्विज्जिसचरंचापं शोत्वसंविन्नमानसः, He just sort of tells Krishna, that I am not like you.
So, because Krishna and Arjuna are friends, So, Krishna doesn’t know anything about Arjuna. Krishna just gives a pep talk to Arjuna. A pep talk means, come on, you can do it, don’t be discouraged.
It’s like, say, somebody is playing cricket, Mahajan, and the bowler is just, the critical timing for a sixer. And I have to make him go, come on, don’t be discouraged. So, there, in these words, Krishna does not give any instruction.
Krishna’s instructions actually start from 2.11. In this and next verse, Krishna speaks. And Arjuna responds to Krishna’s speech from 2.4 to 2.9. And 2.9 tells the descriptive verse, this narrating like, and in 2.11, Krishna starts speaking. So, why is that? Because knowledge transfer can happen only when there is submission.
And Krishna illustrates that by withholding instruction. Withholding instruction. As long as Arjuna is discussing with Krishna as an equal, Krishna is like, okay, I like the ritual.
So, there can be any arrangement. But that arrangement is just a meeting pep talk. It is not translated.
So, through this verse, Krishna illustrates the prerequisite for knowledge. God himself may speak. But if a person is not ready to receive knowledge, God will not give knowledge to that person.
So, actually speaking, many people ask, why can’t I seek God? Even if God comes in front of us, actually we will not benefit by seeing God, unless we have a devotional vision. Unless we have a right attitude. So, therefore, here Krishna doesn’t abandon his duty as a friend.
He is a friend. He is my encouraged Arjuna. So, this verse demonstrates an action, a very important principle, which Krishna will tell you in 2.11. The principle is, As all people approach me, so I will reward them.
So, if we approach Krishna for devotion, he will give us knowledge. If we approach him for knowledge, he will give us knowledge. If we approach him for argumentation, we will find so much argumentation that there is no end to it.
Now, nowadays, there is internet everywhere, and people sometimes go on the net, and they find so many things about ISKCON, so many things about devotees, and they start thinking that things have disturbed. So, actually speaking, we have to understand that ISKCON is Krishna’s mission. It is also like Krishna.
Krishna only says, I will give you whatever you want. Krishna is like a Kalpataru. Now, Kalpataru means a desirator.
So, a desirator gives whatever you want. So, if we want arguments, Krishna will give us arguments. If we want controversies, Krishna will give us ISKCON, because more controversies, the more we get into trouble.
If we want doubt, we will get so many doubts, that for the whole lifetime, we can go. If we want power, if we want debates, whatever we want, we will get. And if we want Krishna, we will get Krishna’s.
So, that’s why, even when we come to a spiritual institution, even when we come to Krishna’s mission, what is important is bioethics. So, otherwise, we cannot really get anything. So, here it illustrates that, Albert Einstein also said, a problem cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created it.
So, Arjuna is not ready to raise his consciousness away. Arjuna’s argument is that consciousness is trying to prove how he is right. And as long as he is trying to prove how he is right, he cannot do it.
So, Krishna illustrates that with only instruction. This gives a backdrop. Let’s go by 3.3 now.
So, the third chapter is based on a question which Arjuna had asked, and then Krishna is answering that question. So, the question that Arjuna has asked is, Krishna, you told me first to, you are telling me first to, you are glorifying Jnana, you are glorifying Shanti, but then you are telling me to fight. Why are you giving me such an equal number of instructions, very complicated instructions, unvalued instructions.
So, then he responds. So, Shri Bhagavan uvaca, Shri Bhagavan uvaca, loke smriti dhanistha, loke smriti dhanistha, pura prokta mayanaga, pura prokta mayanaga, jnana yogena sankhya nama, jnana yogena sankhya nama, karma yogena yogi nama, karma yogena yogi nama. So, Krishna tells, smriti dhanistha, I have talked about two levels of path between, we have reduced to 2.39, where is kesha, jnana, sankhya, buddhi, yogena, mahasmina, buddhi, yogena, mahasmina, karma, nandana, sasi, so I told you two levels of paths, and pura prokta, pura means earlier, earlier is 2.39, I want these two paths, jnana yoga and karma yoga.
So, one of the special characteristics and of the Vedic culture in general is that it doesn’t offer her a sort of digital type of spirituality. You know what is the digital type of spirituality? One is Guru. You get this or get out.
There are various other religions in the world, the Abrahamic religions like Judaism, Christianity, Islam. They say if you follow this path, you will go back to God. If not, they are going to go to hell.
And even they have to let their pastors. Of course, but all religious practitioners are like that. But there are people, there are people who openly say that Jesus is the only way, Mohammed is the only way.
If you don’t follow this, you are going to go to hell. You speak like this. This is a very narrow-minded idea of spirituality.
Actually, if we go back to the original word of Jesus, you know, in the Hebrew revival of spoken word in the Hebrew. So, there is a word Zeku over there. Zeku means now.
So, now I am the only way. There is a passage in John that is, I am the way and I am the light and none shall go to the Father except through me. But a very important describer now is left out in the Bible translations.
So, I am now the only way. So, at that time Jesus was the spiritual master and the spiritual master is the only way at that time. So, what was at that time true has been improperly extrapolated and made eternal.
That becomes wrong. Krishna doesn’t say something like this. Krishna says, you can follow this path, you can follow this path, you can follow this path.
This is multi-level spirituality. And he allows us to choose what level of spirituality we can practise. See, I have given you two parts of it.
So, don’t get confused. So, actually speaking, it is very important that we understand this principle of multi-level spirituality. Because otherwise, we can get confused.
Sometimes some people may come along and say that, hey, in the Mahabharata, there are references about, there are verses which talk about meat-eating. And in Vedic culture, people do eat meat. So, how meat-eating is used? We say, the original principle is no meat-eating.
How is this? So, actually speaking, meat-eating is there in the Vedic scriptures. But it is not the recommended goal of the Vedic scriptures. What is good and what is bad depends on what level the person is.
For example, a father has two sons. And one is a British student who gets top marks. He gets 80% marks in the exam all the time.
And the other is a Dalit. He just barely passes the exam with 40%. And then today, both have come with the results.
And when both come with the results, both have got 60%. And the person, the 40% son comes and says, father, I have got 60%. And the father pats his head.
Shabash! Well done! Father, I have got 60%. Father slaps his head. Badmash! What have you done? Who has got 60%? Why, Shabbarpur, is it badmash for me? It depends on your method.
So, from 40% to 60%, it is praiseworthy. From 80% to 60%, it is just praiseworthy. Isn’t it? So, for somebody who is day in and day out eating meat, for him to eat meat only by offering to Kali on Ekamavasya days is like coming from 40% to 60%.
That is good. But somebody who can live completely with your life, somebody who can live without meat, and he says, because in the Mahabharata he said, if you eat meat, so I will serve it to you. That is like coming down from 80% to 60%.
So, it is multi-level spirituality. And because it is multi-level, it is user-friendly. User-friendly means, whatever level people are in, they will be accommodated and they will be elevated accordingly.
That is the speciality of the devotees. And we will see this in the 12th chapter also. We will come to that when we talk about 12th chapter.
But the important point is, the various paths that are there, they are not conflicting paths. They are progressive paths, one after another. Some people have the idea that all these different paths lead to the same goal.
We will discuss about that in 5.5. But actually, there is not different path, there is one path which multiple levels it. Multiple levels it. And we move forward gradually one by one to the highest level.
So, there is a progression. And that is what Krishna indicates. I have talked in two parts earlier.
This is a verse which indicates this aspect of Bhagavan’s multi-level spirituality. Then we come to 4.4. So, he is describing. Actually, before this what has happened? Krishna told Arjuna that I spoke this knowledge long ago to the Sun God.
So, Krishna speaks in 4.1 and in 4.2 he speaks. And in this way the knowledge will pass on in Parampara. And in 4.3 he says that now I will restart this knowledge.
So, before this 4.1, in 3rd chapter Krishna is asking Arjuna how one can conquer lust. In 3.36 Arjuna asks what is that force which makes us do wrong things. And from 37 to 43 Krishna answers that it is lust and how do you control lust.
And then suddenly when he is talking about how to control lust, suddenly he says I use this knowledge to Sun God. So, Arjuna is questioning where did Sun God come here from? Just now we were talking about controlling senses and mind and intelligence and suddenly Sun God. So, he gets a question.
So, once we start thinking then it is a question. So, now Arjuna is issued. Sometimes we get a question in the class and sometimes people in check they want to ask the question.
So, Arjuna agrees. When 4.1 he heard it, he didn’t ask the question in 4.2. He didn’t ask the question in 4.3 also. Actually, in 4.3 what happens? Krishna tells Arjuna that now I will use this knowledge because that knowledge was lost.
Then Arjuna is starting getting serious. Krishna, I want you to do something. How can I do it? Otherwise I am condensable.
So, he asks. You see, if you say that you are not Sun God but अपरंधबंदो जन्म Actually, he was a junior. Sun God is much older than him.
परंजन्माविवस्वताः विवस्वताः He was Sun God. So, then he doesn’t say. Arjuna is asking the question.
But the attitude of the question is very important. कथमेत विजानियाँ How am I to understand it? तमादो प्रक्तवानिदी Then he spoke it. So, he didn’t say outright to Krishna.
Krishna, I have nothing. You are lying. He says.
You think I am such a fool that I will believe you? He doesn’t speak like that. What does he say? He says, you are saying this. But how am I to understand it? So, then actually in questions, there has to be two things.
There has to be intelligence and there has to be specialness. If there is no intelligence, there is no questions. But if there is, Prabhupada would say there is over intelligence.
That means one starts thinking that one is cleverer than the speaker. And one’s goal in asking questions is not to get an answer but to prove one’s cleverness over the question. Then one can’t deny any question.
So, he says, there is respect for this. कथा नहीं तर दुझेना नहीं है? How am I to understand this? So, actually speaking, again if you look at the various scriptures of the world, the Bhagavad Gita is the only book where there are questions. The Bible doesn’t have any questions.
There is the Jew Bible and there is the Christian Bible. So, that Old Testament, New Testament. The Old Testament is basically a description of the lives of Jew people.
How they were first in captivity in Egypt and how they escaped and came to Israel and what were their travels and travels. Travels means journey and travels means travels. What are they going to do? So, it is mostly the activities of the people along with the ways in which God intervened.
So, it does have a lot of activities but there is practically no philosophy. There are no question answers. There is no systematic philosophical discussion.
And as far as the Quran is concerned, Quran is only a literal revelation. Muhammad was living a normal life till the age of 40. At the age of 40, once he went into a cave and he apparently heard the Archangel Gabriel speaking, Right! He said, I can’t write.
Is it right? He said, I can’t write. Is it right? And then whatever he heard, that is later on went to become the… So, apparently Allah spoke through Gabriel to Muhammad. And Muhammad, whenever he would get a revelation, he would tell people around him and then the people around him would write it down.
And like that, different surahs of the Quran were revealed at different times. And at one time, Muhammad got some revelation and he would write it down. And he wrote it down afterwards.
So, when Muhammad would get the revelation, he would sort of go into a trance like sleep. And then after he came out of the revelation, he said, that was not Allah speaking. That was Shaitaan speaking.
Cancel it. Cancel it. So, he cancelled, had those verses cancelled.
And those verses are called the Satanic verses. And Salman Rushdie, who wrote the book called Satanic Verses, based on the analysis of these verses, historical description, analysis of these verses. So, the idea is that the Quran, there are no questions on this.
Muhammad just got the revelation. And, when almost 40-50 years after Muhammad died here, then all the different people to whom Muhammad had spoken the Quran, the revelations, they all put it together and they gave it in a structure. So, if you see, the Quran is not in a particular sequence.
At least, the sequence it is in is not what the sequence was revealed in. And again, the important point is, there is no scope for questions here. Just read the actual revelation.
In the Bhagavad Gita, it reveals a God who respects human intelligence. Arjuna represents human beings. And, Krishna doesn’t respond to Arjuna and say, how dare you question me? He answers the questions.
So, the Bhagavad Gita is not a book of commandments. It is a book of choices. A book of choices.
God will organise. If you do this, this will happen. If you do this, this will happen.
Now, you choose what you want to do. So, this question is not the first question that Arjuna had asked. Arjuna had asked several questions before this.
And, he started by saying, what should I do in 2.6? Then, in 2.53, he asked, what are the signs of a great person? Then, in 3.1, he asked, what do you want me to do? And, in 3.56, he asked, what is the need between me? And, in 4.4, he said, this is the question that Arjuna is asking. But, this illustrates the mode of question. And, this question is the first question, which is almost like a challenge to Arjuna’s statements.
But, the challenge is also really respectful. So, this is the Vedic culture. If you look at the Upanishads, they are also filled with questions.
So, the Vedic culture doesn’t recommend blind reading. It actually asks intuitive questions and intuitive answers. This is illustrated in this particular verse.
Let’s move to the next part, 5.5. So, here, Krishna is describing, one who sees this, actually sees. This means that we can’t normally see just with our eyes. When we see with knowledge, then we actually see what it is.
For example, if somebody has an X-ray. When a doctor gets an X-ray, he can say, your X-ray is a question. He says, what does this X-ray mean? You have an X-ray.
What does it show? So, we see with the eyes of knowledge. So, what is the eyes of knowledge Krishna is telling? He is talking about two paths over here. The path of Sankhya and the path of Yoga.
So, he says, whatever is the destination that is to be attained, Sankhya prapti sthanam, sthanam is the destination of the body. Whatever is the destination that is to be obtained by Sankhya, that is also the destination that we attain by Yoga. And in this way, ekam sankhyam jiyo gancham.
In this way, both are one in the sense that they both lead to the same goal. So, some people have the idea that, okay, Bhagavad Gita is all about leading to the same goal. So, now Bhagavad Gita teaches that, when Shri Ramapal was in America, one person asked him, Swamiji, I don’t know the words, but I have heard it in Bhagavad Gita, says that, whatever you do, you go back to God.
So, Ramapal said, if whatever you do, you go back to God, then why does God have to speak the Gobi? Isn’t it? So, certainly this is not a message of Gobi. So, when we say all paths lead to the same goal, all paths lead to God, the idea is, first we should know what is the goal. Isn’t it? And then we have to see how that path can be made to lead to the goal.
See, it’s like say, if I have to go from here to Mumbai, now I can say, if I am here in Bangalore, now I can go this way also and come this way and come to Mumbai. I can go this way and come to Mumbai. I can go this way and find a way and come to Mumbai.
So, all paths, by all paths, I can ultimately come to the same goal. And I will know what is the goal. So, it’s not that whatever we do and wherever we go, that is the goal.
The goal is clearly defined here. And then, the path of Jnana does not lead us directly to Krishna. But, it can eventually progress and lead us to Krishna.
The path of Karma doesn’t… So, if we imagine this is the material world and this is the spiritual world, this is where Krishna resides. The path of Karma forms a bridge, which takes people from Prithvi Dora to Swamigal. But the bridge ends over there.
If you want to go further, you have to find some other bridge to move on. And if you don’t, then you slide back back again. You can only go from Vishanji.
Vishanji is there in 9.21. And once you are in Punya, you come back over there. So, the path of Jnana forms a bridge, which takes us to Brahma Jyotir. Which takes us to the impersonal departments.
But, somebody might go there, but he doesn’t know how to move forward there. But it’s one ahead. So, the only bridge that takes us right from the material world to the spiritual world is the bridge of Krishna.
So, all paths lead to Krishna. That means, from Karma, gradually one can come to the path of Bhakti. And then one will go back to the same goal.
From Jnana, one can come to the path of Bhakti and then one can go back to the same goal. Go back to Krishna. So, Krishna is telling Arjuna that Samkhya and Yoga, both are ultimately meant to go there, take one back to the same goal.
So, he is telling that you have to understand that goal, then you will go back to that goal. It’s not that automatically all paths lead to the same goal. You have to understand the goal and then originate the path accordingly.
So, that one can go to that goal. So, let’s look at 6.69. So, when I go here, it illuminates our inner world. paṇḍur ātmātmanas tasya yena ātmai vātmanājita anātmanas tu śatrutve vartet ātmaiva śatruvad So, here Krishna is describing paṇḍur ātmātmanas tasya that the māna is the bandhu.
For whom? The bandhu is mānajita, one who is conquered in mind. And anātmana, one who is not conquered in śatrutve. The mind that is conquered is the greatest friend.
The mind that is not conquered is the greatest enemy. Now, we will actually see in our lives as well as the lives of people around us that there is some dark force within us. Some voice which is dangerous.
Which tells us to do all sorts of crazy things. Sometimes it can prompt us to smoke, drink. We get frustrated.
We can pop this bridge now. We will get all sorts of things. And what is that voice? Actually, especially in sports, you see that sometimes some players do something extremely foolish.
And then they won the last ball the opponent wants to win. And he throws a sixer. You just need to follow your heart.
But he throws a complete full toss. And suddenly someone says, why did I do that? You know, so everybody feels that. So there are many sportsmen who say, I am my greatest enemy.
Mike Tyson, before he died, he said, there are some ugly demons within my heart. Ugly demons. So now, actually, you don’t know what those demons were.
So there are, in psychology, there are six different theories. There are six prominent theories about what the mind is. Some people say the mind is just matter.
Some people say the mind is a different form of matter. Some people say the mind doesn’t matter. Right? The mind doesn’t exist, so it doesn’t matter.
So there are different theories. So as far as the conception is concerned, all the theories are very different. But as far as the application is concerned, they are all the same.
None of them help people to control their feelings. So why is that? Because you just don’t understand. What is this mind? What is this? What happens in the other world? So the Bhagavad Gita gives a very clear analogy on this.
It helps us understand that there are actually the soul and the inside, but along with the soul, there is a subtle body. The subtle body has these two aspects. Sometimes it’s referred to the higher self and the lower self.
The higher self is the intelligence, which, so the soul is here, and then it also has these two aspects. The higher self is the intelligence, which encourages us to think long term, think spiritually, think wisely. And then there is the mind.
The mind always incites us to think short term, think material, think foolishly. So we always have this choice. And this choice, navigating it intelligently, is the essence of life.
And that understanding is given to us by the Bhagavad Gita. So, many times people wonder, what is the practical relevance of the Bhagavad Gita? So this, especially, even if somebody doesn’t believe in the soul, even if somebody doesn’t believe in Krishna’s supremacy, even if somebody doesn’t believe in bhakti as the dietary, even from an objective point of view, it’s an analysis of the mind, how it works, how it can be taken, that is extremely valuable from a practical perspective. So, we need a light to illuminate our inner world.
What is happening inside? And there is no light that can penetrate, no light from any modern science or research that can penetrate that inner world. The Bhagavad Gita offers that inner light. So, Krishna is, you know how he tells Arjuna that if the mind is your anything, you can control it.
He also gives Arjuna the guidance how to control the mind. And he ultimately describes the best way to control the mind is through love. What does love mean? You know, I think it’s by willpower.
I’ll not do this. Or I’ll do this. But when there is love, there is natural absorption.
So, when we have the love for Krishna, the mind will naturally absorb Krishna. And by the way, ultimately, he comes in the picture. So, till now, there is background happening.
Krishna has not yet come to the central aspect of the mind. From 7.7 onwards, the focus on the central aspect of the mind has changed. Mata Paratara Nanyat Hinchi Dasti Dhananjaya Mahi Sarvamitam Protham Shudremani Ganayiva So, this verse has two parts.
First part is saying, Mata Paratara Nanyat Paratara means something else. There is nothing higher than me. Hinchi Dasti Dhananjaya There is nothing higher than me.
So, some people have the idea that okay, Krishna is just a symbolic representation. And beyond Krishna, we have to go to the light. Beyond Krishna, we have to go to the light.
So, this is their idea. And this idea is popular because people think that okay, we have to merge in that light. But, if you look at Bhagavad Gita itself, Bhagavad Gita is very dynamic.
So, Krishna is standing in front of Arjuna and he is saying, there is nothing higher than you. So, there is no question of a light being higher than you. Krishna is the highest reality.
But, it is from him that the light comes. Just as from a bulb, light comes around. If a bulb is projected, light is coming out of it.
So, like that, Krishna is the person and from him, the light comes out. In 14.26, he describes, Ramayana Upanishad, he describes that actually, I am the support of the Ramayana. I am in 14.27, he describes that.
So, he talks about the Ramayana platform in 14.26 and how he is the support of the Ramayana platform in 14.27. So, this is a very, many people have the idea that God is the absolute person of any person. So, it is his hope, that the highest aspect of the absolute truth is, it is personal. And this will be very clear.
There is nothing higher than you. This is the first part of the verse. The second part of the verse is, that I am underlying all of existence, just like there is a thread underlying the nails.
So, by the first part, somebody will get an idea, how God exists in the highest truth, but God is so far away. Even God, hear my prayers. God does not even know that I exist.
He is going to care for me. So, God is not just somewhere out there far away. God is right here close by with us.
So, this verse talks about both these aspects of God. The aspect of God is an independent reality, separate from the world, that is called God’s transcendence. And God existing within the world is called as His emanence, His presence within the world.
So, this verse describes both, God’s transcendence and emanence. It describes Krishna as the highest truth. And this understanding of Krishna being the highest truth is very foundational for the practise of bhakti.
Because with the understanding of Krishna, Krishna is the highest reality. We can, just like one flash, we can solve all our problems, we can purify, we can liberate us. When we understand the shanmukha of this, then we will be liberated.
This verse is very, very clear about this. Let’s go. So, first of all, in this verse, Krishna is talking about Bhagavan.
He said that absolutely. In the next verse, verse 8.8, we talk about bhakti. Paramam Purusham Digyam Jatipadhanu Chintayam So, it describes, Abhyasa Yoga Nitya Abhyasa So, yoga, in the world, means connection.
Yoga doesn’t necessarily mean yogasana. It just means, yoga means connection. Some link that is one can connect with God.
So, Krishna says, Abhyasa Yoga. Why? Abhyas, in India, it means study. In Sanskrit, Abhyas means practise.
Practise. So, by practise of yoga, you obtain that. So, what is it going to do? Chetasa Na Anyagamina Don’t let the chetasa, don’t let the consciousness, go anywhere else.
Na Anyagamina What is it going to do? Paramam Purusham Digyam That supreme person. Jatipadhanu Chintayam Contemplate on that supreme person. Contemplate on that supreme person.
So, now, this contemplation on the supreme person is nothing but me. So, Krishna is describing, our bhakti is in Na Anyagamina Don’t let the mind go anywhere else. So, the process for attaining the highest success in spiritual life is concentrating the mind on Krishna.
Now, what is so special about concentrating the mind on Krishna? Now, some people may say, if God is like our father, then, you know, do you go to your father and take a japa mala of your father, father, father, father, father. Do you chant your father’s japa like that? Then, why would God want us to chant his names? So, actually, the father-son relationship is a good metaphor for our relationship with Krishna. But it’s only a beginning.
Now, the important difference is that, yes, Krishna is our father, but we have forgotten. We have forgotten our identity also. So, all of us are suffering from amnesia.
You know what is amnesia? Amnesia is sometimes when you are sitting in a movie, and there is some hero just driving along and his car just goes off a mountain top. And as the car is crashing on a rock, the hero just jumps out of the car and then he falls deep into a valley somewhere. And just knocking, he falls on some bushes or something like that.
And then he falls unconscious. There are some tribals over there. And they, he puts up water and they wake him up and then, What is your name? My name? My name? My name? My name? What is your name? He becomes like, What is your name? And then the tribals say, I don’t know where you came from.
And then, they don’t know what to do. So what happens is, they give him a name. They give him a name.
They give him a role. They give him a role. They tell him, Okay, become a woodcutter.
He says, This is a wood? They say, Relax, go and cut the wood and bring him back. So now, he may be a millionaire or something. But then, he becomes a woodcutter.
So now, why does this happen? Because of amnesia. Because he has forgotten. So similarly, in all of us, all of us fall into the spiritual world and the material world.
And when we fall into the material world, you know, society gives us a name. Isn’t it? You know, we may say that, I have a particular name. But that name came into existence after we came into existence.
Isn’t it? We didn’t come with a label of a particular name on our forehead. So, we have no names. Our names are limited, extremely limited.
Their designation is given to us. And then, society has given us a role and society has given us a goal. But, all this is a forgetfulness.
We don’t know who we are. And, if a person is suffering from amnesia, what is the best, what is the most feasible way to cure that person? To expose that person to stimuli from his previous life. Stimuli of his previous life.
So, if his father comes along, his father says, you are my son. He says, what are you doing carrying good over your son? Who’s son? He says, I don’t know anything. So, he doesn’t recognise.
But, the father, what he will do is, this is your watch. This is your shirt. This is your cap.
Do you remember? He puts it on him. And, like that, slowly, when he is exposed, then he says, I have some amnesia. So, similarly, actually, the process of Bhakti is essentially a process of curing our spiritual amnesia.
We have forgotten who we are. And, in the spiritual world, our most intimate connection is with Krishna. So, therefore, when we chant Krishna’s name, it is not to ask something from Krishna.
It is simply to cure our amnesia. Just by chanting Krishna’s name, very easily, the lost memory gets aroused. And then, gradually, we start realising, I am not the only Krishna.
I have a real love, a eternal love for Krishna. So, that is the essence of the process of Bhakti. It is not even just chanting the name of Krishna.
It is actually remembering Krishna. And, chanting is a very powerful way to remember Krishna. But, as Krishna’s name gradually changes up, now, I am not the only one.
Fix the mind on me. Fix the mind on me. By this, you are attaining the supreme destination.
Paramahamsa Shri Nityanandam, you are attaining the supreme destination, the great supreme person. So, now, after describing the highest reality, Bhagavan, and after describing the highest path, that is Bhakti, now Krishna will describe his relationship with the world and with us. That comes in 9.9. So, Krishna said to Bhagavan, that, I don’t become bound by whatever happens in this world.
Why? Asinam means to be seated. How am I seated? I am seated as if detached. And, therefore, I am asattam.
I am not detached. I don’t get detached. So, recently there was this movie called Oh My God.
And, therefore, in that movie, there was the idea that this main protagonist, the hero in that movie, his shop gets burnt. And the insurance company says that, this, not shop gets burnt, shop gets destroyed by earthquake. So, the shop gets destroyed by earthquake, then the insurance company says, we will not insure you because the earthquake is an act of God.
So, then the whole story moves forward. But the idea is that, to say earthquake is an act of God, so, somebody asks, is earthquake an act of God? Now, this is a question that is not meant to seek knowledge. It is meant to set a track.
Just like, you go to a man and ask him, have you stopped beating your wife? Now, if you say, no, what a shameless guy, beat your wife? If you say, yes, that means you might beat your wife also. So guys, there are some questions which are asked in such a way that whichever way you answer, it’s a track. So, they are not questions meant to seek knowledge.
They are just meant to set a track. So, how are such questions answered? They are answered by questioning the foundation itself. Now, who told you that I beat my wife? Is it you? So, the idea that is an earthquake an act of God? So, actually, first of all, what do you mean by an act of God? If earthquake is an act of God, then earth not quaking is also an act of God.
Isn’t it? Or is God acts only when bad things happen and God doesn’t act when good things happen? So, if the earth is quaking and then the whole idea of God should take compensation because my shop was destroyed. So, if the earth quaking is an act of God, then earth not quaking is also an act of God. So, if God should pay for the destruction of somebody’s house, then God should be paid for the non-destruction of somebody’s house also.
Isn’t it? So, actually speaking, it is not that these are acts of God. There are two kinds of evils in this world. There are moral evils and there are natural evils.
Moral evil means when you do things wrong. For example, in Delhi there was this terrible rape in the bus that has created a few roads. So, when people do wrong things, that is moral evil.
And natural evil means there are bad things which happen to people. So, the common idea is that moral evil is done by man. But natural evil is done by God.
That is when earthquake happens, when tsunami happens, that is an act of God. But actually speaking, both are ultimately manly. Moral evils are when people do wrong.
And natural evils are when there are reactions to the past wrongs that we have done. They are reactions. When an earthquake happens, it is a karmic reaction to what a person has done in the past.
A child can only see shot through. A child can only see shot through. A child may take a heavy stone and just throw it away from the balcony.
And the head in the stone is gone. But the parent understands that it is not gone, there might be some person below it, it will go on its head. So what happens is, the child can see only at that level.
So when people have childish intelligence, they can see only short term person. But when people’s intelligence broadens, then they can see a long term person. So actually, certain actions may bring reactions immediately, some actions may bring reactions over a period of time.
So udasinu rahasinam, Krishna means over here that he is due to action. So Krishna is like the judge. When a judge gives a penalty of say capital punishment to somebody and a judge gives a reward of one crore compensation to somebody, the judge does not punish you.
That’s why the judge doesn’t get incriminated. When the kasab was sent to the gang of us, it was not that the judge was punished for that. That was what he had done, for that he was killed.
So Krishna is saying, I am udasinu rahasinam. So we cannot blame God for the problems of this world. The problems of this world are actually created by man.
You know there’s a famous ecologist, E.O. Wilson. He is not a believer in politics. But still he says, actually nature is so beautiful and harmonious that if any species in nature gets removed there is a great problem with ecology.
You know if the grass gets burned, the herbivorous animals will have difficulty eating food. If the herbivorous animals die, carnivores will have problems. He says, every species contributes to the ecology of the planet except for one species.
And this one species, if it is annihilated, there is no problem with it. In fact, many ecological problems have been solved now. Which is that species? That means even from a scientific, non-spiritual perspective, we can see that human beings are at the cause of the problems in ecology.
It’s not that God is the problem. It is we who are the problem. And we are the problem because we are not harmonising with the Lord.
So Krishna has studied this verse, I don’t get bound because I am not unresponsive. Actually, it is you who are choosing and you are getting the consequences. This is a very important verse to understand God’s relationship with the devotees.
And after describing this in the next verse, 10.10, Krishna will describe his relationship with his devotees. It’s very special. 10.10, Krishna tells those people who are those people that I referred to in the previous verse, those who are always thinking of me, those who are devoted to me.
So the divine is talking about me. Those three positions, what do I do for them? This is a very interesting word, compound word. Buddhi yoga means I give the buddhi for which they can do yoga.
Yoga is connecting with God. So I give them the intelligence for which they can connect with God. I give them the intelligence for which they can all come back to me quickly.
So Krishna, what does he do when a devotee is trying to serve him? Krishna will not seem to do anything externally, but he does know Krishna is very active. Krishna is constantly giving guidance to devotees. And the more we become emotionally inclined, the more we start hearing Krishna’s words more and more clearly.
The more we become kind, the more we become illuminated, the more we become enlightened. So Krishna guides us to act in ways by which we can go closer to him and he guides us in ways by which others can come closer to him. So that was what is demonstrated through the attempts of devotees to share Krishna consciousness with other devotees.
One time, just like in programmes everywhere, devotees do programmes with prisms also. So there is a Tihar youth jail. Why youth jail? Because they have the idea that the youths get mixed with hardcore people and they also become hardcore.
So they have separate youth jail. So our devotees were invited there for giving a class. So when they were invited there, some of these young people and they were not interested in giving, but they were forced to come and give.
So when they came and sat, devotees who went to all these business clubs and they heard of a class after that many of them went to Bhagavad Gita where they had Gita and they joined and danced and sang and did things. And now actually in the Tihar jail, in the Tihar youth jail, there are something like 17 young people who are chanting 16 Ramas. And they have a warming programme over there.
They had a Ram temple which was completely neglected but they all come together and they reach the Loka’s mosque and they chant over there. So what was the first thing that he spoke? He said that you all of you are not believers. We are offenders because we did not believe in Krishna’s message.
Nobody has spoken it. You are wrong, you are criminals, you are this, you are that. But devotees like Krishna, what is the best way which others can do? And it’s not just a strategy.
When people are doing wrong things, as devotees we don’t condemn people. The idea is that they are doing wrong things because they don’t know the right things. So if people don’t know, that is our responsibility.
Krishna was intelligent to the devotees and that’s how the devotees become guided towards the things that are the best for them and the best for others. So now we are going to sing a song. This is a description of, this is a learn what you Vishnu van ki jai, Krishna paduki na ki jai, Shiva bhavati hi jai, Om mat namah shivaya.
Om mat namah shivaya.