Sattva-guna – A competitor to bhakti and a stepping stone to bhakti

[Bhagavatam class at Govardhan Eco-village, Wada, Mumbai]

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Transcript

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Today morning, this verse is discussing about the spiritualization of one's karma. This verse is in the Bhagavad Gita also, 5.11. It's a similar spirit, kāye, kāye nambu. So, 5.11. No, let's read 5.9. 5.11, it talks about how with the body, with the mind, with the intelligence, even with the senses, one engages yoga ātmāhi vishuddhaye, that one engages in the purification of oneself.

So, the idea is, how is it? kāne manasa buddhya kevalen indriya yoginah karma kurvanti sangam tattva ātmāhi vishuddhaye So, ātmāhi vishuddhaye, for the purpose of purification. Now, the Bhāgavatam is a book that has emerged, it is timeless. Jīva Goswāmī talks about how it is channa śruti, just like Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's channa avatāra.

So, it's like a covered śruti. At the same time, while the Bhāgavatam's essence is eternal, the Bhāgavatam itself, as we have it, was spoken at a particular situation. And that situation was that, if we consider the two contexts of the Bhāgavatam, we could say one context is the stages of naimiśāraṇya, and they are performing sacrifices.

And those sacrifices, the fire sacrifices, have not produced any worthwhile result. They just smoke, which is causing tears in our eyes. That's all.

And then they are told, you do the yajña of hearing the heart. And, if we consider the second context, is Parīkṣit Mahārāja, who is being cursed to die. And then, he is told, just hear it.

Now, in both these contexts, if we see, the focus is on an audience who is already very elevated. The audience, in the case of stages of naimiśāraṇya, they are already very elevated. They are in sattva-guṇa, they are actually performing yajña for the welfare of all living beings.

But they are just not knowing what is the best way to perform it. So, with Parīkṣit Mahārāja, one of the questions that the sages ask is, why did Parīkṣit give up his body when his body was used for the service of people? He is a protector of people, why did he give up his body? So, Parīkṣit Mahārāja is also engaged in the service of people. So, in this case, what the Bhāgavatam is demonstrating is, in a generic sense we could say is, how people who are already situated in sattva can rise to śuddha-sattva.

How people who are already situated in dharma can rise to parā-dharma. And that's this thrust of the definition of dharma that the Bhāgavatam also gives. The Bhāgavatam's definition is, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato tira-dhauṁ śuddha-sattva.

ahaitukyatā yata ātmā-suddha-siddha-dhauṁ śuddha. That is, the parā-dharma which enables one to develop, render unmotivated, uninterrupted service to the world. Now, we have various… If you understand the broader intellectual context in which the Bhāgavatam is spoken, you will understand better the significance of these words.

The Vedānta-sūtra begins with the question, athāto brahma-jijnās. So, there are various sūtras like this in the Vedic tradition. And all of them begin with a question of enquiry.

So, for example, Śāṇḍilya's Bhakti-sūtra begins with the question, athāto bhakti-jijnās. Similarly, Jaimini's sūtras in Mimamsa, they begin with the question, athāto dharma-jijnās. Now, one has to enquire, what is dharma? And in that question, one is asked, actually many definitions of dharma are there.

And it is not that these definitions are wrong. Now, if you see, Krishna Prabhupāda, in his introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā, defines dharma in a particular way. He talks of dharma as our inalienable, inherent nature.

Dharma is that which makes us, us. Essentially, we may have particular designations as genders, as professions, as nationalities, as races, whatever. But whoever we are, in terms of these designations, we have a longing to love and to be loved.

And Prabhupāda focuses on that as our dharma. And then he says, this longing to love and love and be loved, when it is directed towards an eternal object, then it will bring us eternal fulfillment. And the process that enables us to direct this innate longing towards an eternal object, that is sanātana.

Now, this is one definition of dharma. Now, if we look at the Bhagavad-gītā itself, and where all it uses the word dharma, there is a type of book which is called a concordance. A concordance is basically a book which analyzes the way words are used in a book.

So, for example, a Bhagavad-gītā concordance would mean, it will be a book which will analyze all the words in the Bhagavad-gītā. So, for example, it will take, where all is the word dharma used? And then, in each of these contexts, what is the meaning of the word dharma? So, words don't always have fixed meanings. Sometimes if you look in a dictionary, you'll find 5, 6, 7, 8 meanings.

And sometimes our meanings are actually contradictory. There is a word called epithet. The word epithet traditionally meant a glorificatory address.

It's epithet. But nowadays the epithet is used negative. So many words have sometimes meanings which are which are not always the same, which have some varying shades of difference and sometimes they can be contradictory also.

In today's language, the word wicked usually means cruel. In today's language, the word wicked means enjoyable. That was a wicked match.

An exciting match. So, words, their meanings are not fixed. So, concordance basically takes the meanings of words, takes words as they are found in the book and analyzes what is the meaning of those words in different contexts within that book.

So, now if you do a concordance with the Gītā and its usage of the word dharma, so we will see that the Gītā itself uses the word dharma in many different senses. So, for example, we consider the concluding shloka of the Gītā, Charan Shloka which Ramacharya says, 18.66 sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja So, Krishna is saying, give up all dharma and surrender to me. Now, if dharma is our inherent nature, then how can dharma be given up? And Krishna is saying, give up all dharma.

So, all dharma, the word all basically means plural. If it's one, you don't say sarva, it's only one. So, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja So, here Krishna is not using the word dharma in the sense of inherent nature.

Here Krishna is using the word dharma in the sense of duty. And the context of the Gītā is that Arjuna at the start of the Gītā has a dharma-saṅkata. Dharma-saṅkata means there is a crisis of duty.

There are two duties which are pulling a person in two different directions. So, this same crisis of duty which Krishna, which Arjuna faces at the start of the Bhagavad Gītā, that same Yudhiṣṭhira also talks about this just before the Bhagavad Gītā in the previous parva of the Mahābhārata. The Bhagavad Gītā is spoken in the Vishva parva of the Mahābhārata.

The previous parva is the Udyoga parva. In the Udyoga parva, the Pāṇḍavas are basically doing two things. They are trying for the best and they are preparing for the worst.

Now, this is said to be always the strategy of any army. Say, the Indian forces are deployed on the war field on the border of Pakistan. They are trying for the best.

They are trying to avoid the escalation of hostilities. Whatever hostilities are there, try to revolve them amicably. So, the Pāṇḍavas are doing that.

They are sending various peace messengers. Krishna himself goes in the peace messenger. They are trying for the best.

That is one Udyoga. Udyoga is activity. Another Udyoga is, you cannot just be trying for the best because the enemy is trying to attack and the enemy attacks.

If we are simply in the mode of trying to seek peace, it will not work. They also have to prepare for the worst. The Pāṇḍavas are preparing for the worst by making treaties, by forming alliances and getting more and more forces on their side.

So, while they are doing both these things, at that time, Yudhiṣṭhira also expresses his apprehension. So, what is his apprehension? He says, I have my kṣatriya dharma and I have my kula dharma. Arjuna also uses the word kula dharma sanātana in the first chapter.

So, of course, actually the kula dharma is not sanātana. It is not all sanātana dharma. But Arjuna is using the sanātana in a, in the sense of very long.

He is not using it in the sense of eternal. Like Arjuna also uses the word narake niyataṁ vāsa bhavati ityam śuśram I have heard that those who destroy family traditions, they go to hell forever. Now, hell is not forever.

Nothing is forever in this world. So, narake niyataṁ vāsa. Niyata is used in a non-literal sense over here.

Not eternal, but for a very, very long time. So, there Arjuna feels that according to his kula dharma, how can I fight with my relatives? How can I kill my relatives? So, kula dharma is telling him, how can I kill my relatives? And kṣatriya dharma is telling him, you have to fight. There are aggressors, you have to fight against them.

So, Arjuna is unable to decide which dharma is to be given precedence. Should I give kula dharma the precedence or should I give yuga-kṣatriya dharma the precedence? And that's why Arjuna's question when he surrenders to Krishna is pṛcchāmitvāṁ dharma-sambhūr jetā I want to know what is dharma. So, he has two dharmas in front of him.

Now, here the word dharma is not in the sense of eternal nature or inherent nature. Here the word dharma is in terms of unity. So, now I talk about the word dharma has multiple meanings but I will focus on three meanings of the word dharma and then we will focus on how this verse relates to our practical life.

So, one meaning of the word dharma is at the transcendental level that which is our eternal nature. The soul's nature is to love and serve Krishna. And that is our sanātana dharma.

Now, we are at a particular level in this world where we all have our particular natures. Some of us may have brahminical nature, some of us may have kṣatriya nature. We all are in different countries and each country we have.

So, we consider dharma in terms of our material situation. So, dharma in this sense refers to beauty. Dharma in the transcendental sense refers to nature.

Dharma in our present sense refers to our conditional duty that is born from our conditional nature. That is svabhāva and that is svadharma. The Bhagavad Gita also uses these two words.

svabhāva and svadharma. svabhāvan jena kaunteya nivaddhasvena karma kartum necchaseya moha kareśaseva śopita In 18.60 Krishna says that Arjuna, the duty that is born of your svabhāva you cannot say I will not do it. You will be forced to do it.

You are a kṣatriya. You will be forced to fight. You cannot avoid it.

So, this svabhāva is not related to the svarūpa. The svarūpa of the soul is in the spiritual world. So, at the place where we are presently according to the situation we are in we have to do certain duties.

And those duties are largely going to be different for different people. And the whole theme of the Bhagavad Gita is śreyāṁ sa dharmo vimunā pala dharmāṁ samuṣṭhita No. At least at the condition level what is your duty Arjuna? Or what is your duty Arjuna? Don't do something as somebody else's dharma.

Don't think that oh, kṣatriya dharma requires fighting brāhmaṇa dharma allows non-violence. So, I will prefer the brāhmaṇa. Do your kṣatriya, do your kṣatriya.

So, in English it is said that the shoe that fits one leg bites another leg. So, the shoe that fits one leg the shoe fits very nicely in my leg. But then I will be weird.

No, but it is too small for me. No. Why are you complaining? It works so nicely for me.

No, no, but it doesn't fit me. No. You are not sincere.

What do you mean you are not sincere? If the shoe doesn't fit my leg, it doesn't fit my leg. So, it is not a matter of sincerity. It is just a matter of compatibility.

So, when we don't understand the point that the different people at the material level are different then we mistake incompatibility to be insincerity. Some service, some activity, some particular things we just not be compatible with some people. And that not being able to do that is not insincerity.

That is just incompatibility. So, a kṣatriya if required can do the duty of a brāhmaṇa. But that is not the natural activity for a kṣatriya.

So, there is the duty and the conditioning nature. And the Bhagavad Gita's message is that whatever duty you are having, whatever is your nature, whatever is your sabhava, do your dharma according to that. And that will help us to be harmonious at the material level.

The kṣatriya has to do the duty of a śūtra. The kṣatriya will be very dissatisfied. Similarly, the śūtra has to do the duty of a brāhmaṇa.

śūtra will be miserable. It will not work. So, everybody has to work according to their conditioning nature.

That is the duty, we could say, at the material level. But that is not the only duty. So, by doing our duty at the material level, we will be harmonious at the material level.

And we will also rise upwards. But it will be a very gradual rise. Along with this, we could say there is another dharma which raises us upward rapidly.

And that is the dharma of our sādhana. Sādhana comprises of specific spiritual practices that raise our consciousness. So, for example, the sādhana that we do, our japa, our deity worship, our study of scriptures, our evening classes.

Basically, what Rūpa Goswami talks about, the 64 elements of devotional service in the Bhakti Sādhana Sūtra. This is what is from where we are to raise ourselves upwards. That is, if we see, this dharma has got nothing to do with functioning in the world.

That is why in the 64 items of devotional service, Rūpa Goswami is not talking about what kind of vocation you should do. He does not even refer to Vāyanaśrama. Why not? It is not that Vāyanaśrama is not important.

But that is not the thrust of the book. The thrust of Bhakti Sādhana Sūtra is how can we experience Bhakti Sādhana. So, we have to live in this world, but our goal is not just to live harmoniously in this world.

If we are living disharmoniously in this world, we will be frustrated. But even if we are living harmoniously in this world, still we will be frustrated. Because this world is ultimately a place of frustration.

So, just harmoniously living in this world is not the purpose of life. So, from the harmonious living in this world, we have to rise above this world. And that is what the Sādhana Bhakti does for us.

So, we have talked about three conceptions of Dharma. One is Dharma as inherent nature, and the soul's nature to love and serve Kṛṣṇa. And that is what the soul at its pure state naturally does eternally.

Then we talk about two other conceptions of Dharma. One is the Dharma which enables us to live harmoniously in this world while we are living. That is largely the Svadharma that emerges from our Sobhāvas.

And the other is that Dharma which enables us to rise from where we are towards a spiritual perfection. So, we could say Dharma refers to nature, and Dharma refers to the beauty that enables us to realize our nature. And that beauty has two parts.

We have to live in this world. So, we regulate. So, that is one aspect of beauty, live harmoniously.

And if you see the Bhagavad Gita first also, in that chapter, युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसू युक्तस्वत्नावोधस्य योगोभवति दुखा So, with regulation, when one practices yoga, then by such practice of yoga, योगोभवति, by this, yoga what will happen? दुखा, one will become free from misery. So, by regulation and by the practice of yoga, one will become free from misery, that is, one will transcend mental existence. So, this is, both is required.

Will you harmoniously according to our nature and we practice bhakti to raise our consciousness upwards. Now, going back to the context of the Bhagavatam, as I said earlier that there is a temptation that while living harmoniously at the material level, one becomes satisfied in that. Exactly, whatever is required for that.

So, many of the lectures that Srila Prabhupada gives in the especially, which he gives in India, they focus largely on the differentiation between अपराधर्म and पराधर्म. And the Bhagavatam is so strong that it calls even अपराधर्म as कैतवदर्म. So, कैतवदर्म.

Now, what does it mean by cheating religion? It is what the Vedas have taught. And it is not that it is to be rejected. But, when the material dharma becomes a competitor to the spiritual dharma, because I am doing material duties, I don't have to do anything else.

The material dharma becomes a competitor to the spiritual dharma. Spiritual dharma means, the dharma which enables us to raise our consciousness upwards and go towards Vishnu. Then the material dharma is, as I said, कैतवदर्म.

It is cheating us of our potential for attaining eternal life. But the material dharma in itself is not bad. When the material dharma becomes a competitor to spiritual dharma, then it becomes something which checks us, chokes us spiritually.

And that's why it's considered to be, it's criticized. So, the point of the Bhagavatam is, its audience, primary audience, is someone already at the level of sattva guna, already practicing dharma. And they are encouraged, exhorted, inspired by the Bhagavatam to rise to para dharma.

And while rising to para dharma, at that time, because for them dharma is a competitor to para dharma, so dharma is sometimes criticized. Now, in today's world when we live, people are mostly not practicing dharma. People are, most of them, are at the level of adharma.

And from adharma, for people to come to the level of dharma is also good. So, the Bhagavatam is not a critique of dharma per se. The Bhagavatam is an exposition of para dharma.

And for the exposition of para dharma, in its context, because the competing meaning of the Bhagavatam is apara dharma, apara dharma rather, or ordinary dharma, that is criticized. But the primary purpose of the Bhagavatam is para dharma. So, with the same principle, the material activities that we do in this world, according to our material nature, if we just become comfortable and complacent doing those activities, and think this is all that I need to do, then they become competitors to our spiritual growth.

And then they are to be reproached. But, this is not the only way the material activities can function. The material activities that we do according to our material nature, they can also help us to serve Krishna.

And that theme is what is talked about over here. Anushruta Swabhavat The Swabhavat that we have acquired by our nature, we can use that for serving Krishna. So, kāyena vāchā manasa indriyairvā udhyātmana So, here five faculties are talked about.

The body, the speech, the mind, the intelligence, and the ātmana. Ātmana is the purified consciousness. So, we could say that the previous four, will be directed by the purified consciousness towards nārāyaṇa eti samarupayetā for the sake of nārāyaṇa.

They will be directed. And the significant thing is karoti eti sakalam padasmi So, whatever you do, it means for different people, their nature will be different. In the Bhagavad Gita, whatever is your nature, Anushruta Swabhavat, according to that, you serve Krishna.

You serve Lord Nārāyaṇa and by that you become purified. In the Bhagavad Gita also, a similar declaration comes. In the 18th chapter of the Gita, from 18.40 onwards till 18.55, Krishna talks about the progression from karma yoga through jñāna yoga to bhakti yoga.

So, 18.40, 41, 42, 43, 44, he talks about the varṇas and their new characteristics, and then there are the verses, So, 18.40 to 46, 47, he's talking about karma yoga directed towards transcendence. Then, he talks about jñāna yoga. laghvāṣi, vivek-sevi, eat less, go to the forest, stay in seclusion, and then by that, you come to the brahma level.

brahma-bhūta-prasannātmā-naśocakī-nikāṁśakī That's the 18.40. And 55 talks about bhaktyā-māṁ vijānāti. By coming to Brahman realization, mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parā. We'll continue bhakti.

And by attending bhakti, you will know me. So, 18.40 to 18.55 talks about this gradual progression from karma yoga through jñāna yoga to bhakti yoga. But then, in 18.56, Krishna talks about something radically different.

In 18.56, he states that whatever be your work, you do that work and by that, you worship me. So, he says that sarva-karmāṇi-viśada-pūrvāṇo mad-yapāśraya So, sarva-karmāṇi-viśada, whatever be the karma that you are doing, you do that mad-yapāśraya while taking shelter of me, for my purpose. mad-citta-sat-tambhava And the next verse says, mad-yapāśraya mad-citta-sat-tambhava Krishna says that whatever is the work you are doing, you do it by which you can come to me.

So, Arjuna is thinking in terms of the succession that was given previously. From karma-yoga, through jñāna-yoga, to bhakti-yoga. That is the normal traditional propagation that has been talked about.

And Arjuna was analyzing in terms of that that okay, I am in this world, I perform my duty, if I go to the forest, I renounce the world, that will be one level higher for me. And that is also conventional understanding. So, from the level of, say, we could say, a pious householder, a karmakāṇḍī, to the level of renunciation.

That is one step higher. But in bhakti, Krishna says, wherever you are, from there you can move upwards. From wherever you are, you can rise towards spiritual perfection.

sarva-karmāṇyapi sadā kurvāṇo mad-yapāśraya So, this means that the normal progression of action is not necessarily progressive for a devotee. A devotee doesn't have to go from action to renunciation to devotion. A devotee can do action itself in the mood of devotion.

So, do action itself in the mood of devotion. That is the mood over here. karoṭi yathya sakalaṁ parasme nārāyaṇāyati samādhi So now, whatever you are doing, do it for the service of Kṛṣṇa.

Now, in Śrīla Prabhupāda's presentation of bhakti, also, we will see both these things. Sometimes Śrīla Prabhupāda talks about sattva. Many activities are in sattva.

He may criticize them because they are competitors to śuddha-sattva. But at other places, he encourages those activities because they are getting people to sattva. So, I will give you two examples of this.

First is, Prabhupāda talks about yoga. Many times, Prabhupāda says, you know, the yogis who just sit in meditation and they meditate on some void, that is actually illusion. And this sort of yoga will not lead to any spiritual growth.

But then, if you look at Śrīla Prabhupāda's biography, there is a book called Prabhupāda-līlā, which is like the appendix to Prabhupāda-līlā āmṛit. So, there was Prabhupāda in South America. At that time, many people were interested in yoga.

And the yogis come and ask, Prabhupāda, these people are interested in yoga. So, what should we do? Prabhupāda is not at all critical about yoga. He says, yes, they are interested in yoga, that is very good.

But you should tell them that, what is the perfection of yoga? Yogināṁ sarveṣāṁ makṣa-jñāntarāṁ. That means, yoga itself, we could say, is an activity in sattva. Now, sattva can be a competitor to śuddha-sattva.

But sattva can also be a procreation towards śuddha-sattva. Sattva can be a competitor to śuddha-sattva, but it can also be a procreation towards śuddha-sattva. And, in different contexts, if a person is in rajo or tamo, then getting the person to sattva is important so that he can progress towards śuddha-sattva.

If the person is completely in sattva, then sattva has to be critiqued so that they can rise towards śuddha-sattva. So, it is said, preaching means to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comforted. Preaching means to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comforted.

So, to comfort the afflicted means, let's say, somebody has lost a loved one and they are very distressed. Then we tell them, actually, the soul is important and the person will be loved somewhere else. And by doing spiritual activities, you can benefit people.

And you yourself are eternal. And you have eternal love. You got your eternal love.

So, we comfort the afflicted. And then, we afflict the comforted. Afflict the comforted means that somebody is living very comfortably.

For one, especially in America, you know, you Americans, you think you are wealthy, you are good looking, you are powerful. But, how long is this going to last? Robert talked about JFK. He was young, powerful.

In a short one moment, finished everything. Life is temporary. So, we comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted.

But, if you do the opposite. By preaching, we afflict the afflicted. Somebody has lost a loved one and they are very distressed.

We tell them, actually, all relationships are temporary. You know, whoever is giving you shelter, they are all going to go away. Ultimately, you are all alone.

Nobody is there in this world. They may sink into terrible depression by that. So, preaching means that we have to do different things at different times.

But that which is conducive for the raising of consciousness of that person. So, if we do the same thing, if we afflict the afflicted, that is not going to work. And on the other hand, we comfort the comforted.

Somebody is practicing. You are doing this continuously. We have to raise people from where they are.

And where people are is different for different people. And how much they can rise from there is also different for different people. And that is where the practical expertise of the preacher comes into picture.

And so, in today's world, because the world is, in Prabhupada's first observation, when he went to America, on the American coastline, what is it? He said, these people are simply covered by Rajoguna Tamil. And what is the consequence of that? He says, and therefore, they cannot they cannot delight in Vasudev Katha. Now, we can say Vasudev Katha is transcendental.

It doesn't depend on whether somebody is Rajoguna or Tamoguna. Vasudev Katha is transcendental. But, to appreciate Vasudev Katha, one needs some level of peace of mind.

One requires some level of focus. And if one is too much in Rajoguna or Tamoguna, one cannot appreciate Vasudev Katha. So, Prabhupada's first observation, when he went to America, is that Rajoguna, Tamoguna are very strong.

And to the extent we can bring Sattva, to that extent, people will appreciate Vasudev Katha more. So, now, the attempt to bring Sattva is something which many people are doing. They may not use it.

Many people all over the world, they are fried out with the fast-paced, super-stressed way of living in today's world. And they are trying to come to Sattva. Now, for many of them, Sattva is the perfection.

And they may not know anything beyond Sattva. But, they are interested in Sattva. And, if we provide such people an opportunity to come to Sattva, and within that Sattva, we give an opportunity to rise to Shuddha Sattvas, then such people, who are anyway looking to Sattva, they will come to Sattva and some of them will also come to Shuddha Sattva.

But, if we don't provide them an opportunity, Sattva is all mundane. We should focus only on Shuddha Sattva. Sattva is mundane, we should focus only on Bhakti.

They will just not appreciate Bhakti. And what will happen is, they want Sattva. So, they will go somewhere else for Sattva.

And they will stay stuck at Sattva. And that's how they will miss out on the opportunity to do Sattva. So, that means, Sattva can be seen in two ways.

One as a progression in Shuddha Sattva. The other as something which is to be rejected for the sake of Shuddha Sattva. But, if somebody is not even at the level of Sattva, and at that time we tell them to reject Sattva, then what happens is, Sattva is what seems good to them.

And they reject us because of that. So, they say, you people are just too passionate. We are not interested in this.

So, that is, whatever people are inclined to do, whatever they are inclined to do, encourage them to do it for Lord Narayan. That is the mood of this verse. And that is the expertise of the Acharyas.

How they provide atmosphere for people from wherever they are to engage in the service of Lord Narayan. So, I'll summarize. I'll start by speaking about how this verse talks about whatever we are doing, according to our body, mind, intelligence.

The Bhagavad Gita also talks about the same thing. We do it for the sake of purification. And how does purification happen? By doing it for the sake of Lord Vishnu, Lord Vishnu, Lord Narayan.

And in that connection, I talked about the Bhagavatam is spoken to a very elevated audience. Both the sages Namisharini and Parishad Maharaj. They are already practicing dharma.

And the Bhagavatam stresses on taking them from dharma to paramdharma. And then because dharma is a competitor for them, so, the dharma is sometimes spoken about negatively. Arjuna also.

So, the word dharma has many meanings. I talked about concordance, which talks about, it's a book which gives various senses in which a particular word may be used. So, words can have different, even opposite meanings.

I talked about the word epithet in the Kerala. Like that we use in Sanskrit also. So, the word dharma at one level means inherent nature.

That is the meaning that Prabhupada uses at the start of the Gita, in the introduction. In the Gita itself, in the Charan Shloka, the word dharma is used not in the sense of inner, internal nature or inherent nature. It is in terms of duty.

So, Arjuna has a conflict, should I do my Kshatriya dharma or my Kula dharma? And Krishna says, give up all these considerations. Do that dharma which will enable you to come closer to me. Ma me kanchayatam.

It is the dharma by which you can surrender and come to me. So, dharma we discuss three meanings. One is the inherent nature.

The other is our present situation and the activity that is compatible with our present situation. So, our material subhava and the material swadharma. And if we are not engaged in a harmonious way, we will be very dissatisfied.

Krishna says that it just doesn't work. You have to work according to your nature. But the problem is, in working harmoniously according to our nature, we become satisfied and complacent in that.

At that, I think that is all that I need to do. But there is another dharma. There is a dharma of bhakti, of sadhana, which raises us from where we are towards spiritual consciousness.

Towards our paradharma. So, dharma can refer to our transcendental, eternal, inherent nature. Dharma can refer to our present conditioned material nature.

And dharma can refer to the activity that raises us from our conditioned nature to our eternal nature. So, at our present level, the eternal nature is what we wish to realize. And for realizing this, we need to do both.

We need to do activities according to our nature at the material level. And we need to do activities to purify and manifest our spiritual nature. So, the activities that we are doing according to our nature, they can become competitors to the activities for realizing our spiritual nature.

When they become competitors, then they have to be rejected. But they can also be cooperators. They can help us create a bit of a foundation by which we can rise to our spiritual level of consciousness.

And so, I talk of Prabhupada. For example, he talks about yoga. In some places, when yoga is itself seen as transcendence, the impersonalist or voidist conception of yoga is seen as transcendence, Prabhupada depicts that.

But, when people are seeing yoga as a means of raising their consciousness, Prabhupada encourages that and then he says, Okay, you talk about yoga, encourage that you practice yoga, but then talk about perfection, talk about dharma. So, same, I talk of preaching means to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comforted. So, the same thing for one person may be good, but for another person may be bad.

So, the expertise of the preacher is to know whom to comfort and whom to afflict. If we afflict the afflicted, we are going to be a great disservice. So, like that, if we condense Apurva to those people who are aspiring for Apurva, then those people will get alienated.

Some people are fried out by the fast-paced life of cities and they want the serenity of nature. And the serenity of nature is maya. You know, it's Monday, I should practice only bhakti.

But, Prabhupada recognizes that too much vajopuna and tamoguna is an obstacle for appreciating bhakti. So, establishing an atmosphere of sattva can help people to appreciate bhakti. And there are people who are alienated from sattva.

So, if we offer them sattva and through sattva we offer them means to bhakti, then they will come for sattva and they will get bhakti also. And if we reject sattva, then the rejection of sattva is done in shastra so that people can rise from sattva to shuddha sattva. But if you reject sattva, then people who are looking for sattva, we are rejecting them also.

And then they have no opportunity to rise towards shuddha sattva. So, we have to expertly present bhakti in a way that helps people to rise from where they are upwards and ultimately come towards shuddha. Thank you very much.

Are there any comments or questions? Yes. Hello Krishna. Guruji, you told it.

Krishna told 18.40 to 18.55 is a gradual progression. Karma to jnana, jnana to bhakti. And after 18.55 Krishna gives that the devotee does not have to follow this natural progression.

Any activity he can do as a service to Krishna. It's called a yoga ladder. Sorry, it's an elevator directly coming to bhakti region.

So, in yoga ladder, it's called nishkama karma yoga. So, what is the difference between nishkama karma yoga and this? Because in nishkama karma yoga also, one is not attached to the results of the fruits. What is the exact difference between that? So, what is the difference between nishkama karma yoga and in the stage of 18.56 in the Bhagavad Gita? See, the different yogas or different levels of yoga ladder, they can be identified in two ways.

They can be identified by the present situation of one's consciousness. And they can also be identified by one's intention. That means, sometimes a person may be at the nishkama karma yoga level.

But that person's intention is to practice bhakti, to devote oneself to Krishna, then that is not considered nishkama karma yoga. That is considered to be a bhakta who is practicing bhakti. It may not be pure bhakti.

It may be impure bhakti. But if the knowledge of Krishna is there, that Krishna is the ultimate goal, then that is considered bhakti yoga itself. So, the primary difference between the progression through the yoga ladder is that while progressing through the yoga ladder, one does not necessarily know the ultimate goal.

So, for example, most of us, some of us might have been sattva guna before we came to bhakti, some of us might have been vajra guna, some of us might have been tamo guna before we came to bhakti. Now, when you start practicing bhakti, we all refer to each other as devotees. Now, although all of us may be practicing the same principles, trying to practice the same principles, all of us may not be at the same level because where we were in the past, that also shapes where we are now.

Some people might have been sattva in the past from their upbringing, some people might have been tamo from their past upbringing. So, that does affect. But we call everyone as devotees.

Why? Because everyone is trying to attain Krishna. He knows Krishna as the goal and he is aiming for Krishna as the goal. So, just as in the present association of devotees, devotees may be at different level, but because their goal is common, we say all of them are devotees, like that.

In the yoga ladder also, Krishna is talking later on in 8.56 onwards, he is basically talking about bhakti yoga because the intention, the goal of practicing bhakti is clear. Is that clear? The question is there is a sarva karma on the episode of bhakti yoga where currently one person is doing some kind of yoga karma and his activity is not in the level of even karmic yoga which is some ugra karma and can he practice bhakti yoga? Does he have intention to practice bhakti yoga? Is it easy to reject that ugra karma? Can he doubt that ugra karma? In sarva karma on episode, if present karma is ugra karma, then does that person have to reject that ugra karma for practicing bhakti? Yes. Ultimately, for coming to the level of pure bhakti, one has to reject all kinds of ugra karma.

But whether the person is able to reject ugra karma immediately or not, that may really depend on one's situation, one's conditioning. So if somebody is in a profession, somebody is in a whole generation, for generation upon generation, they are official and if they just can't give up fishing immediately, that's been their profession, they don't know anything else. So if they give up fishing and that means poverty for them, starvation for them, then how exactly they may give up, that may vary according to time.

So in the Mahabharata, there is the Vyadha Gita. Vyadha Gita is the hunter's Gita. The hunter is actually giving special instruction to a brahmin, not the hunter, sorry, a butcher is giving instruction to a brahmin.

So how is that? Butcher, that may be the profession, but butcher has spiritual knowledge. So, wherever there is spiritual knowledge, we appreciate that. But that does not mean that that becomes the standard.

In the process of bhakti, in the process of spiritual knowledge, there can be exceptions because of various circumstances. We don't know a person's background. The Bhagavatam also talks about Ahobakiya.

It says that if the dogs are chanting the holy names, then they are actually more than the brahmins. They already run all these activities. Is the Bhagavatam saying that you don't have to do all these activities? Even if you are a dog hunter, that's okay? No, that's not what the Bhagavatam is saying.

So, actually, the Acharya explains that there is a whole trajectory. So, there is, you know, there is Adharma, there is sinful activity. There is Aparadharma and there is Paradharma.

So, the Bhagavad Gita talks about, in the sixth chapter, talks about fall down. Somebody is practicing Bhakti. So, actually, Yoga Bhrashta is not actually fall down.

In a sense, I'll explain what it means. It's not about deviation from the path of Yoga. It's talking about those who from the path of Yoga come back to Aparadharma.

Those who come back from the path of Yoga to Aparadharma. They will either become situated as they are born in a devotee's family or they will be born in a pious family. Krishna is not talking there about the possibility of somebody who falls from the path of Yoga to Adharma.

If somebody falls from Yoga to Adharma, then they may have some other consequences. So, that Adharma will also have its karmic consequences and they may be in a no-born family. It's like, now Krishna, if these two possibilities alone were exhaustive, then how do we explain Bharat Maharaj becoming a deer? At a material level, the attachment to a deer's body has consequences.

His spiritual consciousness will remain, but he's not a deer's body. So, these two possibilities are for people who give up Yoga and come back to the level of Aparadharma which they were practicing earlier. But if somebody falls from Yoga to Adharma, then Adharma will have its consequences.

And somebody may be born as a Swapacharya. So, in that Swapacharya, because they have practiced Bhakti, they are continually chanting the holy names. But, they are also Swapacharya.

So, now, when they will give up the Swapacharya, then they are eating dog, eating that kind of sinful activity. Depending on when they have their spiritual awakening, when they get spiritual association, but it doesn't happen. So, our point is that there is a standard process for growing in spiritual life and we try to practice that.

But that doesn't mean that we have to reject everyone who doesn't fit in that standard process. Because every person's individual history may be far more complicated than what we can perceive. So, for some people, giving up particular conditioning is very easy.

For others, giving up that conditioning may be like a lifelong struggle. Now, if you just condemn them because they are not able to give up that particular conditioning, that's not necessarily a right thing. Because they may be practicing Bhakti but that particular conditioning is gripping them very strongly.

So, let them practice Bhakti by having that conditioning. And when that conditioning will go away, that will be a call time. So, in principle, yes, the Ugra Karma has to be given up for the practice of Bhakti.

But in practice, one should not give up Bhakti because one is not able to give up the Ugra Karma. One keeps practicing Bhakti and whenever it works out that by the practice of Bhakti we become strong enough, we will give up the Ugra Karma. So, even if our attachments hold on to us, still we can hold on to Krishna.

So, ideal situation is when we hold on to Krishna, our attachments will lose their hold on us and we will rise towards Krishna. But depending on how strong a particular person's condition or conditioning is, sometimes some attachments may hold on for a very long time and then those people don't have to be judged and condemned just because they have no attachments. Even if their attachments are holding on to them, still encourage them to hold on to Krishna.

And by their time, they may be able to give up their practice. So, they may be able to give up their attachment. Sometimes, some people may have certain habits, certain conditionings, certain activities, they are just not able to give up.

Just let them practice Bhakti from where they are. But that is not the standard. So, the standard remains the standard.

But the standard should not be used to reject everyone who is non-standard. We encourage people who can come to the standard to come to the standard. But who can't, they are not to be condemned or rejected.

They are also to be encouraged to practice whatever they are making. Is that answer your question? Thank you. Can I answer this question? Earlier in the presentation, you made this point that how Gita and Bhagwat, you know, is spoken to a very elevated audience.

And the practice is already expecting people to rise from Sattva to Shuddha Sattva. But then Bhagwat itself, in the book, it talks about case studies like Murugali, it talks about case studies like Amogha and the Kundalini. So, the understanding that is usually presented is Bhakti being ahaituki, it doesn't need any hetu of Sattvaguna for it to come, for any practitioner to come, rise above to transcendence.

Apparently, this presentation may sound like somebody needs to go through a gradual progression to take up to Bhakti. Can I respond? Yeah. So, this Bhakti is transcendental.

Ahaituki means it does not depend on any material circumstance such as whether one is Sattvaguna or not to practice Bhakti. So, what does it mean to make it seem that one has to come to Sattva to practice Bhakti? Okay. It's a very important question.

There are two distinct things over here. One is the principle that anybody from any level can practice Bhakti. That is definitely true.

And the Bhagavat does talk about that, that anybody from any level, any species also can practice Bhakti. They can become elevated, they can become liberated. So, that is something which is argumentative.

Now, when we are talking about coming to Sattva, actually, sometimes we just we use taxonomy in a very rigid or watertight sense. Say for example, say Brahmana and Sattvaguna. Kshatriya then a combination of Sattva and Rajas.

Shudra then Namo. Well, that is broadly true. At the same time, there can also be businessmen.

The Vaishya means Rajoguna. But we could say that even in Rajoguna, there is a Sattvic Rajas, there is a Vaishya Rajas, and there is Tamasic Rajas. What that means is, there can be businessmen who are also relatively doing business in Sattva.

Their job is business. They also have their regular time. This is the time you start, this is the time you end.

And they are not working 24 hours. They are doing every 10 minutes. And there are other businessmen who are super passionate.

All just constantly thinking money, money, money, nothing else. And there are other businessmen who, they are in Rajasic Rajas. And the Tamasic Rajas means there are businessmen who are simply plotting to destroy everything.

So that they can flourish. Not in a constructive competition, but in a destructive competition. So, that means, even in doing any Dharma, even in the Shudra Dharma, that Shudra Dharma can also be done with a certain level of Sattva.

Or that can be done too much in Rajas, that can be done in Tamas. So, rather than here, in this analysis, rather than seeing a particular mode as associated with a particular Varna, we can look at that mode in terms of its constitutional function. That is, Sattva is concerned with maintenance.

So, you could say Sattva is concerned with sustainability. Isn't it? And then Rajas is concerned with creation. Tamas is concerned with closing down things, destroying things.

So, now, in any profession which you are doing, some people can do their job in such a way that they work very hard for 6 months and then they just get burnt out completely. They can't sustain it. So, they are doing it, but they are not doing it in a sustainable way.

The job itself may be Rajasic or Tamasic. That Varna may be predominated by Rajas. But that can also be done in a Sattvic way, that can also be done in Rajasic way, that can also be done in Tamasic way.

So, let's take an example that we can relate. You can say cricket as a sport. Sports itself is passionate.

Whereas a batsman is trying to hit a sixer on every ball. The batsman cannot stay for long. He will soon get out.

If there is a bad ball, you hit it. If there is a good ball, you play defensively. There has to be some amount of discretion by the batsman to stay for a long time.

So, sports itself can be, we can say, Rajoguna. But even in that, somebody has to sustain. Because that capacity to sustain requires some Sattvic intelligence.

So, in that sense, if you consider Sattva as that which enables one to sustain, then for, when it comes to Bhakti, anybody can start the practice of Bhakti. For instance, a drunkard also, they can see a Haryana party and they can start chanting a dance. But, if they have to sustain the practice of Bhakti, they need a certain level of Sattva.

Without a certain level of Sattva, it's not that Bhakti is dependent on Sattva. But, Sattva is what enables one to continue in. So, here we are not talking about Sattva in terms of a mode of material nature.

We are talking about Sattva simply in terms of the capacity to function in a particular way. So, to sustain Bhakti requires a certain level of Sattva. So, Bhakti, it can be started from any point.

But, sustaining it requires Sattva. So, in that sense, I am talking about that in the practice of Bhakti also, somebody might be doing the profession which is Rajasic or even Tamasic. But, if they are able to practice Adhana Bhakti lifelong, that means they do have a certain level of Sattva.

And for that matter, even if they are able to do that profession lifelong, that also requires a certain level of Sattva. So, Sattva in that sense is required to sustain anything, whether it is anything material or anything spiritual. Now, as far as the progression is concerned, it is not necessary that, say for example, a Vaishya has to become a Brahmana in terms of Varna in order to become a Tattva.

The Vaishya may continue to do Vaishya activity. But, the Vaishya, before practicing Bhakti, might have to do the Vaishya activity in the Rajasic or Tamasic way. That same Vaishya might do the Vaishya activity also in a more Sattvic way after becoming a Brahmana.

So, that's how we talk about the Daivi Varanasi. Daivi Varanasi means where the intention is to serve and please Krishna. And then one adjusts things according to that intention.

the Bhagavatam, in terms of its, let's say, the context of the Bhagavatam is the content of the Bhagavatam. The Bhagavad Gita in content, it covers a wide variety of topics. But in the context, it is spoken to a person who is about to, who is undecided, should I fight or should I not fight.

So, in terms of context, the Bhagavatam is spoken to somebody who is at the level of Dharma and is encouraging him to practice Paradhana. But in content, the Bhagavatam talks about various levels. So, the Bhagavatam also talks about, say, Viratmikam, which is considered a preliminary, preliminary, first step to God realization.

So, it talks about various ways of approaching God. And from various levels, even Tamasic levels also to approach God. Bhagavatam is inclusive in its content.

But in terms of its context, it can come off sometimes as exclusive, although it is not exclusive. In its context, because it is rejecting even Dharma for the sake of Paradhana, it can come off as exclusive. But if you understand the full picture, then you will see that the Bhagavatam is inclusive, helping people to rise from wherever they are towards Krishna.

In terms of Sambandha, it is open to all. The school is open to all. It doesn't put any restrictions.

But when it comes to practice, it needs to be some level of sattva to practice. Is that understanding correct? Okay. Good way of putting it.

So, in Sambandha, it is open for everyone. In Abhidheya, some amount of sattva is required. Yes, it is true.

At the same time, in Abhidheya, there is also a certain level of flexibility in that. Flexibility in the sense that for example, now, many of us when we have classes, we hear them using, maybe we hear them on multimedia, we hear them on the internet. Now, this particular way of fixing the mind of Krishna is not available for people early.

So, when we consider Abhidheya, Abhidheya is a process of practicing love. That will always be very common. Sambandha will not vary.

The provision will not vary. We have to develop a relationship with Krishna. And the goal is that we want to have love for Krishna.

But how we get that love, the process by which we develop that love, so, there are certain things which are unchanging, there are certain things which are changing, we will diagnose. So, we have to think about Krishna. But how we, we have to hear about Krishna, how we hear, whether we hear in a physical, in a class, when we assemble together, or we hear in a recorded class, or we hear in a live class, which is broadcast on the internet, all this can vary according to the circumstances.

So, we have to read scripture. But whether we read it in a hard copy or whether we read it on a mobile, that will vary. So, the Abhidheya also can vary according to cultural situation.

But then the intention, the intention of the Abhidheya is to connect with Krishna. But to whatever way we are connecting with Abhidheya, so, if I am reading scripture on my mobile, I need a certain level of support to keep reading scripture. Otherwise, I look at various Facebook notifications, I look at some other book, I look at some other website.

So, in terms of Abhidheya, the purpose if we study, then that will enable us to sustainably do life like this. Thank you very much. Om Namah Shivaya.