Six steps to spiritual perfection – Bhagavad Gita 07.01

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so this basically talks about the various stages by which we can get to know Krishna so it starts from downwards tach shrun so it begins with hearing when we hear we come to know about Krishna and knowledge about Krishna is not just theoretical, it is transformational so it calls upon us to start practicing it so what happens is the next thing that happens is when we start knowing we start coming to know about Krishna as we know about Krishna the doubts start going away but they don’t go away completely they start going away and then when we come to know more about Krishna the first stage is hearing second stage is knowledge that comes by that third stage that happens is clarification of doubt in the fourth stage is when we feel inspired yes Krishna is my well wisher I should take shelter of him in the fourth stage now taking shelter of Krishna is not just some abstract conception take shelter of Krishna we will discuss what it means but then that means yoga munjan we take shelter of Krishna by practicing bhakti yoga and when we practice bhakti yoga what is the fruit that comes by that that is mayi asatmanah that our mind becomes attached to Krishna so actually this verse is at a very significant transitional point in the flow of the Gita the Gita starts with shifting Arjuna’s focus from the body to the soul in the second chapter basically it’s called sankhya yogya Prabhupada titles as contents of the Gita summarized so there in Krishna Krishna focused primarily on the soul and how to act based on atma tattva how I am not the body I am the soul and Krishna is not very prominent in the first six chapters of the Gita actually when Krishna talks about mam, I that happens only once in the second chapter in 2.61 now when verses have four lines so they are referred to by scholars as ABCD for example mayi asatmanah is 7.1A 7.1B like that so only once in 2.61 fix your mind only that is the only place in the second chapter that Krishna refers to himself directly in the second chapter he refers to him third chapter he refers to himself also only once in 3.30 mayi sarman karmani sanyasya dhyatmachetasam nirashir nirmamohutva yudhyasva vidyatajvarah mayi sarman karmani sanyasya offer all the fruits of your work to me then in the fourth chapter there is some significant reference to Krishna but that is more because of Arjuna’s question in 4.1 Krishna says I give this knowledge to sun god and then Arjuna suddenly asks how could you have given the knowledge to sun god then Krishna speaks about himself he talks about how sambhavani yuge yuge so 4.4 for Arjuna’s question and 4.5 to around 4.11 Krishna speaks about himself and he speaks about how he descends again and again and after that the only reference Krishna makes to himself is in 4.35 where he talks about 4.34 is the famous verse where he surrendered to the spiritual master and after he surrendered to the spiritual master what happens he describes in the next verse you will see all living beings as parts of me as belonging to me and after that in the fifth chapter also there is only one reference to Krishna that is in the last verse 5.29 in the sixth chapter there are three references about Krishna to himself basically Krishna talks about himself as the object of meditation for the yogi he talks about it in 6.14 but also in the same place fix the mind on me and then again he talks about himself in 6.30 one who sees me everywhere so there he talks in 2-3 verses over there about himself and the last verse of Prabhupada’s course the most is 6.47 the last verse of the sixth chapter where he says that among all yogis one who fixes his mind on me is the topmost so why am I giving this list actually I have given an entire class where all Krishna refers to himself and what is the context in which he refers to himself that is not the focus of my discussion here I am talking about how 7.1 represents a significant shift in the focus of the flow of the Gita till now Krishna has been focusing primarily on detachment primarily you will see in the first 6 chapters Krishna says that is the focus the focus has been detachment from matter and the yogis they consider Krishna as the object of the meditation but they don’t always think of Krishna as the objective of their meditation what is the difference between object of meditation and objective of meditation object means what you think of but objective means what is the goal the two are not necessarily the same the students study maybe their object but their objective may be America they are not really interested in the subject the subject is the means so that they can go to America so object and objective are not always the same the Bhagavad Gita emphasizes that Krishna so when the yogis meditate, yogis may think yes we meditate on Krishna and then eventually by meditating on Krishna we will merge in Brahma that may be their conception so the Bhagavad Gita talks about Krishna not only as the object but also as the objective and this will become clear as the Bhagavad Gita flow moves forward in fact in 15.19 is a very clear verse Krishna says that one who makes him as the objective is the most learned one who knows me without any delusion how does he know me Purushottama the supreme person no higher reality than him 15 chapter is called Purushottama Sarvaveda such a person is Sarvaveda person knows everything Krishna says Krishna starts 15.1 who knows the tree of material existence 15 chapter starts with the fanyan tree upside down tree Krishna says the person who knows that tree is Vedaveda he is not Sarvaveda because just knowing material existence doesn’t necessarily help us to know completely or properly the person who is the source of material existence so yes, by knowing the material world we can understand its glory and think of the glory of its creator but that’s only a beginning meditation that is what in philosophy is called as a cosmological argument for the existence of God so 15.1 says Vedaveda but Krishna here says 15.19 Sarvaveda one who knows it Sarvaveda, so Sarvaveda what happens if somebody knows about him Bhajati Maam worships him, how? Sarvabhavena Bharata Sarvabhavena with all the emotions of the heart wholeheartedly so that means Krishna says over here that the more our knowledge of him increases the more our devotion to him will become more wholehearted Sarvaveda and Sarvabhavena there are some people who are more rational some people who are more emotional but Krishna is the perfect object for both our emotionality and our rationality now our rational intelligence when we try to use it to understand Krishna then we can get the maximum intellectual satisfaction in philosophically understanding Krishna than in doing anything else and if you want to direct our emotions towards Krishna then when we offer our emotions to Krishna we will get far more satisfaction by loving Krishna than by loving anyone or anything else so Krishna represents the pinnacle of the quest of rationality and emotionality both, so both the head and the heart attain their perfection in Krishna so actually the Bhagavad Gita offers it’s a message of the heart but it offers the pathway through the head to the heart it’s not the sentiment to worship Krishna it’s a very exhaustive philosophical analysis by which one can understand and love Krishna that analysis is not essential if some person can love Krishna directly and one doesn’t want to do much philosophy, that is also fine but if somebody has the inclination there is profound philosophy in the Gita so till the first six chapters Krishna focuses more on detachment big detachment a big detachment but here Krishna says mayi asakta manah the perfectionist to make the mind attached to Krishna it’s interesting Krishna is using asakta manah in fact it’s in the same Bhagavad Gita, just a few verses earlier in the sixth chapter I said the mind is our greatest enemy actually it’s a very dangerous 6.66 it’s the enemy but here he is saying make the mind attached to him now how will that happen? that process he is giving in these seven stages so let’s look at these stages quickly once again we hear about Krishna what happens? the more we hear gyanas we get to know about hearing about Krishna is to be done properly actually all of us breathe we breathe to live but there is a whole science of breathing called Tranaya and to learn Tranaya one even needs a guide breathing is so simple why do you need a teacher for that? no, but something as simple as breathing also if one wants to tap its full power there is a whole branch of knowledge for that one has to tap that branch of knowledge similarly knowing about Krishna I can just take some book, read it and come to know no, that way we will not come to really know Krishna when we want to know about Krishna it is in the association of those who truly know Krishna the proof of knowing is loving the proof of knowing Krishna is loving Krishna why? because if a person claims to know Krishna but doesn’t love Krishna then that knowledge is very peripheral