05.31.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 06:59 by David Bruce Hughes
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On the battlefield of Kuruksetra, Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna to kill his unscrupulous relatives, who had unfairly taken the kingdom from Arjuna and his brothers. Arjuna did not want to do this, and justified his position by citing religious principles. Kṛṣṇa responded that such compassion was material, and did not justify Arjuna’s hesitating to do his duty as a warrior.
Arjuna then argued that his gurus were also in the opposing army, and one should not kill one’s guru under any circumstances. Kṛṣṇa’s position was that since they had joined the opposing party, such gurus were fit to be rejected, since they did not follow the principles of dharma. As far as we are concerned, as spiritual students we are not to kill anyone or even cause anyone undue anxiety. But we should reject any so-called guru who falls down from the real standard of spiritual life given in the Vedas.
The example is Prahlad Maharaja. Prahlad Maharaja was the son of Hiranyakasipu, a great demon. Kṛṣṇa appeared as Nrsimhadeva, the ferocious half-man, half-lion incarnation, just to kill Hiranyakasipu. So Prahlad Maharaja was standing nearby while Nrsimhadeva was killing his father.
In Vedic spiritual society, the father is guru. Sarva-devamayo guruh: all our superiors are guru, teacher, and must not be disrespected. Similarly, the father is also guru; at least, within the context of the family. Materially the father is guru. So how could Prahlad Maharaja allow Nrsimhadeva to kill his father?
If you saw that your father is being killed by someone, would you just stand there? Would you not protest? Isn’t that your duty? When your father is attacked, you must protest. At least, if you are unable to stop it, you must fight. You first of all lay down your life: “How is that, my father is being killed in my presence? I cannot allow this; I must fight.” That is our duty.
But Prahlad Maharaja did not protest. He could have requested—he is devotee—“My dear Sir, Prabhu, my Lord, if You please, You can excuse my father.” But Prahlad didn’t say anything. He knew that “My father is not being killed. He is a spirit soul. Only the body of my father is being killed.”
Later on he begged to save his father in a different way. First of all, when Nrsimhadeva was angry, He was killing the body, but Prahlad knew that “The body is not my father. The soul is my father. So let the Lord satisfy Himself by killing the body of my father; then I shall save him.”
Lord Nrsimhadeva, after killing Hiranyakasipu, offered Prahlad Maharaja, “Now you can take any kind of benediction you like.” Prahlad Maharaja replied, “My Lord, we are materialists. I am born of a sinful father, absolutely materialist. So because I am born of a materialist father, I am also materialist.
“You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You are offering to give me some benediction. I can take any kind of benediction from You. I know that. But what is the use of it? Why shall I ask You for any benediction? I have seen the example of my father. Materially, he was so powerful that even the demigods—Indra, Candra, Varuna—were threatened by his angry red eyes.
“And he was so powerful, he gained control over the whole universe. He had incredible riches, wealth, power, reputation, everything material complete, but You have finished it in one second. So why are You offering me such material benedictions? What shall I do with them? If I take material benediction from You, and I become puffed up and do everything wrong against You, then You can finish it within a second.
“So kindly do not offer me such benediction of material opulence. Please give me the benediction to be engaged in the service of Your servant. I want this benediction. Please benedict me, that I may be, not directly Your servant, but engaged in the service of Your servant.”
Then, after many prayers, pacifying the Lord—for He was very angry—Prahlad asked, “My dear Lord, I would ask You one benediction. My father was a very staunch enemy of You; that was the cause of his death. Now I ask You to kindly excuse him and give him liberation.”
This is Vaiṣṇava son. He did not ask anything for himself. And although he knew that his father was demonic and the greatest enemy of devotees, still, he asked the Lord, “May this poor fellow be liberated.”
So Lord Nrsimhadeva granted Prahlad’s request. He said, “My dear Prahlad, not only your father, but your father’s father, and his father, up to fourteen generations, all are liberated because you are born in this family.” So anyone who has become a Vaiṣṇava, a devotee of the Lord, is giving the greatest service to his family. Because everyone in relationship with him, his father, mother, anyone, all will be liberated.
Just like in the modern army, if a soldier dies in combat, his family is taken care of by the government. Similarly, if one becomes a pure devotee, his family has no worries about anything, because the Lord protects them. To become a devotee is the greatest qualification. He has got everything.
yatra yogesvarah krsno
yatra partho dhanur-dharah
tatra srir vijayo bhutir
dhruva nitir matir mama
“Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.” [Bhagavad-gita 18.78]
When there is Kṛṣṇa and when there is devotee, all victory, all glories are there. That is guaranteed.
So gurun ahatva. A devotee of Kṛṣṇa, if need be, if somehow or other he finds himself in relationship with an unqualified guru, can reject him. Unqualified guru means one who does not know how to guide the disciple according to the principles of the Esoteric Teaching. A guru’s duty is to guide the disciple to the highest stage of self-realization. But if the so-called guru does not know, or has not himself attained that stage, he can be rejected.
That is Jiva Gosvami’s statement: karya-karyam ajanatah. If by some mistake, you have accepted somebody as guru who does not know what to do and what not to do, he can be rejected. By rejecting him, you can accept an actual bona fide guru. So guru is not to be killed, but false guru can be rejected. That is the injunction of the sastra, the Vedic scriptures.
Bhismadeva and Dronacarya were certainly gurus, but Kṛṣṇa indirectly give the indication to Arjuna, that “Although they are in the position of guru, they have fallen down, so you can reject them.” Karya-karyam ajanatah. “They do not know factually.”
For example, Bhismadeva considered his position materially. He knew everything from the beginning, that the Pandavas were orphans, fatherless children, and he raised them from the very beginning. Not only that, he was so much affectionate to the Pandavas that when they were banished to the forest, Bhismadeva was crying, that “These five boys, they are not only pure and honest, but also Arjuna and Bhima are the most powerful warriors. And their mother Draupadi is practically directly the goddess of fortune. And they have got the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa as their friend. And they are suffering?” He cried. He was so affectionate.
Therefore Arjuna is considering, “How can I kill Bhisma?” But Kṛṣṇa is advising, “Yes, he must be killed because he has gone to the other side. He has forgotten his duty. He should have joined you. Therefore he is no more in the position of guru. You must kill him. He has wrongly joined the other party. Therefore there is no harm in killing him and similarly Dronacarya. I know they are great personalities, they have got great affection. But only on material consideration they have gone there.”
What is that material consideration? Bhisma thought that “I am maintained by the money of Duryodhana. Duryodhana is maintaining me, and now he is in danger. If I go to the other side, then I would be ungrateful. He has maintained me for so long. And if, in time of danger when there is to be fighting, I go to the other side, that will be dishonorable.” He thought like that. He did not think that “Duryodhana may be maintaining me, but he is a criminal because he usurped the property of the Pandavas.” But it is his greatness. He knew that Arjuna would be undefeatable because Kṛṣṇa was there to protect him. So he thought, “From a material point of view, I must be grateful to Duryodhana.” Dronacarya was in the same awkward position, because they both were maintained by Duryodhana’s side of the royal family.
Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said
visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile nahe krsnera smarana
“When one eats food offered by a materialistic man, one’s mind becomes contaminated, and when the mind is contaminated, one is unable to think of Kṛṣṇa properly.” [Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila 6.278]
Even such great effulgent personalities as Bhisma and Drona became darkened, contaminated because they took money from Duryodhana. If I am supported by somebody who is too materialistic, then that will affect me. I will also become materialist by the influence of his association.
So Caitanya Mahaprabhu has warned that “Do not accept anything from visayi, sense enjoyers, who are not devotees, because it will make your mind unclean.” Therefore a first-class brahmana or Vaiṣṇava, will not accept money directly, but lives in temples or ashrams from money given in charity to the Deities by the householders. They accept bhiksa, or alms.
Just like in the sloka we are studying, it is said sreyo bhoktum bhaiksyam apiha loke, “It is better to live by begging in this life.” When you ask somebody for a donation, it acts to clear the karma from their account. Still, asking bhiksa from a person who is too materialistic is prohibited. But bhiksa or begging is allowed for sannyasis, and for brahmanas.
Therefore Arjuna is arguing that “Instead of killing my gurus who are great personalities, mahanubhavan, better I should take to the profession of a brahmana and beg from door to door.” That was Arjuna’s proposal: bhaiksyam, begging. A brahmana or a sannyasi can beg alms, but not a ksatriya or a vaisya. That is not allowed; in fact, it would have been highly dishonorable because a ksatriya, a warrior-king is not supposed to beg charity from anyone.
So on the whole, Arjuna is illusioned—illusioned in the sense that he is forgetting his duty. He is a ksatriya, so his duty is to fight; never mind who the opposite party is; a ksatriya will not hesitate to kill his own son if he is inimical to religious principles. Similarly, if the father is inimical to dharma, the son should not hesitate to kill his father. This is the stringent duty of the ksatriyas, no personal consideration allowed. Arjuna wants to put his personal considerations ahead of his social duty, sentiment ahead of justice; but Kṛṣṇa does not like that. A ksatriya cannot consider like that, because his duty is to protect the social order according to the principles of dharma, without consideration of bodily relationships.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa sarcastically said, klaibyam: “You don’t be coward. Why are you becoming coward?” These topics are still part of the introduction to the real message of Bhagavad-gita. Later on, Kṛṣṇa will give him spiritual instruction, speaking as a guru. This sloka is still on the platform of ordinary talks going on between friends.
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05.28.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 09:28 by David Bruce Hughes
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The second chapter of Bhagavad-gita opens with Kṛṣṇa chastising Arjuna for hesitating to perform his duty as a warrior. Then what happens? Arjuna restates his case; he makes the same basic argument as he did in the first chapter, only more succinctly:
arjuna uvaca
katham bhismam aham sankhye
dronam ca madhusudana
isubhih pratiyotsyami
pujarhav ari-sudana
gurun ahatva hi mahanubhavan
sreyo bhoktum bhaiksyam apiha loke
hatvartha-kamams tu gurun ihaiva
bhunjiya bhogan rudhira-pradigdhan
“Arjuna said: O killer of Madhu (Kṛṣṇa), how can I counterattack with arrows in battle men like Bhisma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship? It is better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of the lives of great souls who are my teachers. Even though they are avaricious, they are nonetheless superiors. If they are killed, our spoils will be tainted with blood.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.4-5]
The first problem for Arjuna was how to kill his kinsmen, family men. He makes this argument elaborately in the first chapter based on religious principles. Now, in the beginning of the second chapter, Arjuna was chastised by Kṛṣṇa as a friend: “Why you are so weak? Don’t be weak. This material compassion is simply sentiment. Uttistha: stand up. You’d better get up and fight, or everyone will laugh at you.”
If we do not want to do something, we can offer so many excuses. So Arjuna presents the next argument based on his gurus: “All right, Kṛṣṇa, you are talking about my kinsmen. I accept that it is my weakness. But how can You advise me to kill my guru? Dronacarya is my guru, and Bhismadeva is also my guru. So do you really want me to kill my guru? Gurun hi hatva? And not just ordinary gurus: mahanubhavan. Bhisma is a great devotee, and similarly, Dronacarya is also a great personality, mahanubhavan. So katham bhismam aham sankhye dronam ca madhusudana. “They are not only my gurus, but they are great personalities, more than ordinary men. How can I kill them?”
Arjuna again addressed Kṛṣṇa as Madhusudana. The Madhu demon was Kṛṣṇa’s enemy, so Kṛṣṇa killed him. By addressing Kṛṣṇa as Madhusudana, Arjuna implies, “You are Madhusudana, You are the killer of Your enemies. But can You give me any evidence that You have killed Your guru? So why You are asking me to kill my guru?”
This is the purport. Isubhih pratiyotsyami pujarhav ari-sudana. This time Arjuna calls Kṛṣṇa Ari-sudana. Ari means enemy. So Kṛṣṇa has killed so many demons, ari, who came as enemy to fight with Him. Therefore His name is Arisudana.
So Kṛṣṇa has got enemies also, what to speak of ourselves. This material world is made so that you must have some enemies. In this material world there is always matsarata. Matsarata means enviousness, jealousy. We all know people like that. So there are jealous enemies of God also, and they are called demons. Ordinary jealousy or enemy, is natural. But demons are envious even towards God.
One evening, a man came to see my guru. He was arguing, “Why should Kṛṣṇa be accepted as God?” That was his argument. So Kṛṣṇa has enemies. Therefore not only ourselves, but even Kṛṣṇa, has enemies. In one sense, everyone who is in the material world is an enemy of Kṛṣṇa, because they want to be a competitor of Kṛṣṇa.
But How can you compete with Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa says, “I am the supreme enjoyer.”
bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati
“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.” [Bhagavad-gita 5.29]
Sarva-loka-mahesvaram: “I am the Supreme proprietor.” And the Vedas also confirm,
isavasyam idam sarvam
yat kinca jagatyam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjitha
ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam
“Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.” [Isopanisad, Mantra 1].
Sarvam khalv idam brahma “Everything is the property of the Supreme Lord.” [Chandogya Upanisad 3.14.1] These are Vedic injunctions.
yato va imani bhutani jayante
yena jatani jivanti
yat prayanty abhisam-visanti
tad vijijnasasva tad brahmeti
“Brahman is He from whom everything has come. Everything is created by Brahman, after creation everything is maintained by Brahman, and after annihilation everything is conserved in Brahman.” [Taittiriya Upanisad 3.1.1]
This was the answer given by father Varuna when questioned by his son Varuni Bhrgu about the Absolute Truth. In this mantra, the word yatah, the Absolute Truth from which the cosmic manifestation has emanated, is in the ablative case; that Brahman by which this universal creation is maintained is in the instrumental case (yena); and that Brahman into which the whole cosmic manifestation merges is in the locative case (yat or yasmin). So the Brahman described in this sloka cannot be impersonal.
It is stated in the Esoteric Teaching:
idam hi visvam bhagavan ivetaro
yato jagat-sthana-nirodha-sambhavah
“The entire universal creation is contained in the gigantic form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everything emanates from Him, everything rests in His energy, and after annihilation everything merges into His person.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.20]
The Esoteric Teaching begins with the mantra:
om namo bhagavate vasudevaya
janmady asya yato ’nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat
“O my Lord, Sri Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.1]
These are Vedic versions. But still, we, because we are enemies, we argue, “No, why shall Kṛṣṇa be the proprietor? I am the proprietor. Why only Kṛṣṇa shall be God? I have got another God. Here is another God. I am God.”
So Kṛṣṇa has enemies, and He has to kill them. Therefore He is addressed as Arisudana. Kṛṣṇa comes to this material world for two main purposes and one subsidiary purpose:
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium. [Bhagavad-gita 4.8]
The demons who challenge Kṛṣṇa, who want to compete with Kṛṣṇa, who want to appropriate the property of Kṛṣṇa for their own enjoyment, are all enemies of Kṛṣṇa, and they should be killed. They are miscreants. So Kṛṣṇa’s killing them is all right because they are demons, enemies of the Lord and of religion.
Then Arjuna’s question in Bhagavad-gita 2.4-5 is, “All right, you can kill enemies, that is admitted. But how you advise me to kill my gurus?” Gurun ahatva. “I cannot kill my gurus.” But if for Kṛṣṇa’s sake, there is a need, you have to kill your guru also. For Kṛṣṇa’s sake, if Kṛṣṇa wants, then you cannot disobey. If Kṛṣṇa wants you to kill your guru, then you have to do it. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Of course, Kṛṣṇa will not ask you to kill a bona fide guru, because guru and Kṛṣṇa are the same. Guru-Kṛṣṇa-krpaya. We get Kṛṣṇa consciousness through the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa. Real guru is never to be killed, but the phony so-called guru has to be killed or rejected. The so-called, pseudo guru, false guru, should be killed, meaning that he should be given up.
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05.26.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 09:10 by David Bruce Hughes
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In Bhagavad-gita, Kṛṣṇa is teaching Arjuna about spiritual values. Why? When Arjuna saw all his enemies on the battlefield, he could not bring himself to fight against his cousins and other relatives, even his grandfather and guru. But this was a complete dereliction of his duty. Therefore Kṛṣṇa chastised him:
klaibyam ma sma gamah partha
naitat tvayy upapadyate
ksudram hrdaya-daurbalyam
taktvottistha parantapa
“O son of Prtha, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.3]
You cannot understand this Esoteric Teaching philosophy with material intelligence. It requires time, practice and careful study. Unintelligent people, if they simply see that “Kṛṣṇa is enticing Arjuna to fight; therefore Kṛṣṇa is immoral,” that means they are trying to see Kṛṣṇa with their material vision. You cannot see Kṛṣṇa as He really is with material eyes; you have to see Kṛṣṇa with spiritual eyes. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gita,
janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so ’rjuna
One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna. [Bhagavad-gita 4.9]
Divyam. Kṛṣṇa’s activities are all transcendental, divyam. If anyone can simply understand these transcendental activities of Kṛṣṇa, then he immediately becomes liberated. Not ordinary liberation, but for going back to home, back to Godhead.
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti kaunteya
“He does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode.” [Bhagavad-gita 4.9]
This is the greatest liberation. There are different types of liberation: sayujya, sarupya, sarsti, salokya and samipya. Of these five kinds of liberation, sayujya is the lowest. Sayujya means to merge into the existence of Brahman, the impersonal aspect of God. This brahma-laya (merging into the impersonal Brahman) is a kind of liberation, but it means permanently extinguishing one’s individuality.
The Mayavadis or the jnani-sampradaya want to merge into the Brahman existence. That is called sayujya-mukti. But for a devotee, this sayujya-mukti is just like hell. Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, said, kaivalyam narakayate: “The happiness of becoming one with the Supreme Lord, which is aspired for by the Mayavadis, is considered hellish.” That oneness is not for pure devotees.
There are many pseudo-devotees who theorize that in the conditioned state we may worship the Personality of Godhead but that ultimately there is no personality; they speculate that since the Absolute Truth is impersonal, one can imagine a personal form of the impersonal Absolute Truth for the time being, but as soon as one becomes liberated the worship stops. That is the theory put forward by the Mayavada philosophy.
Actually the impersonalists do not merge into the existence of the Supreme Person, but into His personal bodily luster, which is called the brahmajyoti. Although that brahmajyoti is qualitatively no different from His personal body, that sort of oneness is not accepted by a pure devotee because the devotees experience greater pleasure from devotional service than the so-called pleasure of merging into His existence.
The greatest pleasure is to serve the Lord. The two syllables ‘krs-na’ literally mean the greatest pleasure. Devotees are always thinking about how to serve Him; they are always designing newer and more original ways and means to serve the Supreme Lord, even in the midst of the greatest obstacles of material existence. This is very glorious and beautiful.
The impersonalists think that the description of the pastimes of the Lord are mythological stories, but actually they are not stories; they are historical facts. Pure devotees accept the narrations of the pastimes of the Lord not as stories but as Absolute Truth. They derive the highest aesthetic and ontological states of pleasure, technically called rasa, from these transcendental narrations about the Lord. And this transcendental pleasure is eternal; once attained, it just keeps growing.
So for a Vaiṣṇava, kaivalyam, monistic liberation, to merge into the existence of the Supreme, is compared with hell, because for one who has accepted sayujya-mukti, there is no chance to perform devotional service and relish the ever-increasing pleasure of bhakti-rasa.
kaivalyam narakayate
tri-dasa-pur akasa-puspayate
“For a pure devotee, kaivalya, merging into the existence of Brahman, the Brahman effulgence, is no better than living in hell. Similarly, he considers promotion to heavenly planets (tridasa-pur) just another kind of phantasmagoria.” [Caitanya-candramrta 5].
The jnanis or Mayavadis are anxious to merge into the existence of the Brahman effulgence, but for the karmis, the fruitive workers, their highest aim is how to be elevated to the higher planetary systems, Svarga-loka, where Lord Indra and Brahma live. In other words, the karmi’s ambition is to go to the heaven. In all other religious literature, all other scripture except Vaiṣṇava philosophy, their aim is how to be elevated to the heavenly planets.
Heaven is described in the Vedic literature as tri-dasa-pur. Tri-dasa-pur. Tri-dasa-pur means there are 33,000,000 demigods, and they each have their own planet. Tri-dasa-pur akasa-puspayate. Akasa-puspa means “a flower in the sky,” something imaginary. A flower should be in the garden, but if somebody imagines the flower in the sky, it is something imaginary. So for a devotee, promotion to the heavenly planet is just like an imaginary flower in the sky. Very nice, but what is the use of it? It is just another temporary material pleasure.
So this describes the processes and the results of the karmi and the jnani. Then durdantendriya-kala-sarpa-patali protkhata-damstrayate. This describes the yogis. Yoga, real yoga, not the phony commercial variety available in the West, means yoga indriya-samyama, controlling the senses. That is the authentic yogic practice.
Our material bodily senses are very strong. Just like we Vaiṣṇavas first of all try to control the tongue, so the yogis try to control the senses, not only the tongue, but all the senses, by some mystic process. Why they are trying to control the senses? Because the senses are just like poisonous serpents. Wherever such snakes live and whatever they touch becomes contaminated with poison.
Just like our material sex impulse. As soon as there is illicit sex, there are so many difficulties. Of course, nowadays it has become all too easy to engage in illicit sexual affairs. Therefore everyone’s lives have become chaotic and strident.
As soon as one is touched by the poisonous serpent of sensual desire, then so many karmic difficulties and complications are there, preventing any self-realization. Therefore Vedic civilization is very strict about illicit sex, because the whole aim is how to go back to home, back to Godhead. Not sense gratification, eat, drink, be merry, enjoy; that is not the aim of human life.
Self-realization, or realizing our perfect eternal spiritual identity and body, is the aim. Everything in Vedic culture is planned according to the directions of the Esoteric Teaching with that aim, because once you become implicated in sense gratification, it is very difficult to withdraw the senses by yogic methods. The practice of real mystic yoga is almost impossible in this age; therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu said,
harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha
“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is to chant the holy name of the Lord, chant the holy name of the Lord, chant the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way [by jnana]. There is no other way [by karma]. There is no other way [by yoga].” [Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 17.21]
So for a Vaiṣṇava, a devotee who practices the Esoteric Teaching, these poisonous snakes of the senses are just like snakes with broken fangs. They automatically attain sense control without separate endeavor. That is the power of the Holy Name of the Lord.
For example, we can easily control the tongue if it is engaged only in chanting the maha-mantra or dvadasaksara-mantra, and eating only Kṛṣṇa prasadam, pure vegetarian food offered to the Lord with love and devotion. There is no need for a mystic yoga process, because the whole thing is done by the power of the Holy Name, and one who does this automatically becomes a perfect yogi. For a bhakta, there is no trouble with the senses because a bhakta knows how to engage each and every sense in the service of the Lord.
sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hrsikena hrsikesa-
sevanam bhaktir ucyate
“Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.” [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.12]
That is bhakti. Hrsika means the senses. When the senses are engaged only for the service of Kṛṣṇa, Hrsikesa, then there is no need to practice a separate yoga process to control the senses. Automatically the senses are locked up in the service of Kṛṣṇa, Hrisikesa, the master of the senses. They have no other engagement. That is the highest stage of yoga, samadhi. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says,
yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantaratmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah
“Of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion.” [Bhagavad-gita 6.47]
Therefore this chanting of the dvadasaksara-mantra, if we simply chant and hear it with great attention and devotion, we automatically become a first-class yogi. So this chanting is the yoga process for the Kali-yuga.
Just like Kṛṣṇa wants to Arjuna to understand that “Why you are indulging in this weakness of mind? You are under My protection. I am ordering you to fight. Why you are hesitating?” That was in the previous yuga, and Kṛṣṇa was the incarnation for the age.
In Kali-yuga, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the incarnation. So just like Kṛṣṇa was encouraging Arjuna to do his duty in Bhagavad-gita, similarly, Lord Caitanya is saying, “Why are you hesitating, trying so many different impractical forms of self-realization? Simply chant the Holy Name of the Lord and attain the highest liberation! This is your duty; why are you hesitating? Stand up and chant!”
This is the message of the Esoteric Teaching.
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05.23.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 07:49 by David Bruce Hughes
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In Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna was supposed to fight to reclaim the throne that was rightly his. However when he saw all his enemies on the battlefield, he could not bring himself to fight against his cousins and other relatives, even his grandfather and guru. But Kṛṣṇa was not happy with this. Here He is directly enticing Arjuna to fight:
klaibyam ma sma gamah partha
naitat tvayy upapadyate
ksudram hrdaya-daurbalyam
taktvottistha parantapa
“O son of Prtha, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.3]
Parantapa is translated as ‘chastiser of the enemies.’ In other words, Kṛṣṇa is saying, “You are a ksatriya, you are king. Your business is to chastise the criminals. That is your business. You cannot excuse the mischief of your cousins and their supporters. You must chastise them.”
Formerly the kings were so powerful and just, the king himself used to judge wrongdoers. A criminal was brought before the king, and if the king thought it wise, he would take his own sword, immediately cut his head. That was the duty of king.
My guru told me that even as recently as 150 years ago in Kashmir, as soon as a thief was caught, he would be brought before the king, and if it was proved that he was a thief, immediately the king will cut off his hands personally, with his own sword. So all other thieves would be warned, “This is your punishment.”
So there was no thievery, no stealing, no burglary in Kashmir. Even if somebody lost something on the road, it will lie there; nobody will touch it. The king’s order was, “If something is lying down on the street uncared for, you cannot touch it. The man who has left it, he will come and collect it. You cannot take it.”
According to Vedic principles, if we want society to be free from crime and other disturbances, capital punishment is required as a deterrent to wrongdoers. Nowadays even murderers are excused; they are not hanged, but get lifetime room and board from the government. Meanwhile, if someone is caught smoking a little ganja, he is thrown in jail. This is backward, foolish; we are rewarding murderers and rapists, and criminalizing even harmless things. Therefore the people have lost respect for the government, and crime is increasing in human society.
According to Manu-smrti and other Vedic scriptures, a murderer must be killed without mercy. And not only a human killer; even an animal killer should be immediately executed. Even the Bible says, “He that killeth an ox is as he that killeth a man.” That is government according to the system of ideal Vedic kingdom. The king should be so strict that there is no crime in his jurisdiction. At the same time, for petty things, intoxication and so forth, there is mercy. And religious principles are taught by qualified brahmanas, spiritual teachers, in state-sponsored schools.
Sympathy for murderers and rapists is misguided, just like Arjuna’s sympathy for his relatives. It is material sentiment, material sympathy; there is nothing moral or spiritual about it. Now the state is sympathizing with the murderer, and therefore we have practically abolished capital punishment. This mistake is similar to Arjuna’s inability to kill his relatives on the battlefield. It is hrdaya-daurbalyam, weakness of heart. That is not duty according to the Vedic principles. It will lead only to a lawless society, irreligious society.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa does not approve of Arjuna’s so-called compassion toward his avaricious relatives. One has to discharge the duty ordered by the superior authority very strictly, without any consideration. So this kind of sympathy is simply weakness of the heart, lack of clear determination and resolve. But the ordinary person in material consciousness will not understand.
Therefore to understand Kṛṣṇa, one requires special senses, spiritual senses, not ordinary senses. Special senses means you have to purify.
sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hrsikena hrsikesa-
sevanam bhaktir ucyate
“Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.” [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.12]
Tat-paratvena nirmalam means that our intelligence is dedicated to the sole purpose of serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and uncontaminated by material fruitive activity and philosophical speculation. Just like if you have got some disease of the eyes, you cannot see properly. But when you apply medicine, and the disease is clear, you can see everything clearly. Similarly, with these blunt material senses, we cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa.
atah sri-Kṛṣṇa-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah
“No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Sri Kṛṣṇa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.” [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234]
Since sri-Kṛṣṇasya namadi, Kṛṣṇa’s name, form, quality, etc., are not understandable by these blunt senses, how can we understand them? Now, sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. Jihvadau, beginning from the tongue, by controlling the tongue. You have to understand Kṛṣṇa by controlling the tongue.
This is something wonderful, amazing. Who would have thought of it? We have to control the tongue to understand Kṛṣṇa, God? But in the Vedic sastra the injunction is there: sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. Jihva means tongue.
So to see Kṛṣṇa, to understand Kṛṣṇa, the first necessity is to control your tongue. Therefore we say, don’t take meat, don’t take liquor. We must control the tongue, because the tongue is the strongest enemy among the material senses. It is the sense most easily perverted by material taste, perverted sense. And rascal so-called spiritual teachers say, “No, you can eat whatever you like. It has nothing to do with religion.” But Vedic sastra says, “You rascal, first of all control your tongue. Then you can understand God.”
This is Vedic injunction—perfect, even if counterintuitive. If you control your tongue, then you control your belly, then you control your genital. Srila Rupa Gosvami gives instruction,
vaco-vegam manaso krodha-vegam
jihvavegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam sa prthivim sa sisyat
“A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind’s demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world.” [Sri Upadesamrta, 1]
This instruction, that guru is anyone who has become competent in controlling the tongue, controlling the mind, anger, the belly and the genital. If these six kinds of control are there, he is fit for becoming a spiritual Master Teacher. Prthivim sa sisyat: he can make disciples all over the world. And if you cannot control your tongue, your anger, your mental concoction and speculation, then how you can become a spiritual master? It is not possible to realize Kṛṣṇa unless all these are controlled. One who can control the senses is called gosvami or svami, master of the senses; master of controlling these six kinds of sensory activities.
So the beginning of authentic spiritual life is controlling the jihva, the tongue. As quoted above,
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah
Seva. The tongue can be engaged in the service of the Lord. How? You chant the Holy Names of Kṛṣṇa, and always glorify His qualities, activities, and so on.
sa vai manah Kṛṣṇa-padaravindayor
vacamsi vaikuntha-gunanuvarnane
karau harer mandira-marjanadisu
srutim cakaracyuta-sat-kathodaye
mukunda-lingalaya-darsane drsau
tad-bhrtya-gatra-sparse ’nga-sangamam
ghranam ca tat-pada-saroja-saurabhe
srimat-tulasya rasanam tad-arpite
padau hareh ksetra-padanusarpane
siro hrsikesa-padabhivandane
kamam ca dasye na tu kama-kamyaya
yathottama-sloka-janasraya ratih
“King Ambarisa fixed his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, engaged his words in describing the abode of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the temple of the Lord, his ears in hearing the pastimes of the Lord, his eyes in seeing the form of the Lord, his body in touching the body of the devotee, his nostrils in smelling the flavor of the flowers offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, his tongue in tasting the tulasi leaves offered to Him, his legs in traveling to the holy place where His temple is situated, his head in offering obeisances unto the Lord, and his desires in fulfilling the desires of the Lord… and all these qualifications made him fit to become a topmost pure devotee of the Lord.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.4.18-20]
So this is the process of devotional service, engaging all the senses in the service of the Lord. And it begins with the tongue. Vacamsi means talking. Talking is the business of tongue, and tasting is the business of tongue. So you engage the tongue in the service of the Lord by glorifying.
You take a vow that “Whenever I shall speak, I shall simply speak to glorify Kṛṣṇa, nothing more.” That is control of the tongue. If you don’t allow your tongue to speak any nonsense, then your tongue is purified. We often sit together and talk so much nonsense. That should be controlled. “Now I have engaged my tongue for the service of the Lord, so we shall not talk anything of sense gratification.” This is controlling the tongue. “I cannot eat anything except pure vegetarian food which is offered to Kṛṣṇa.” This is controlling the tongue.
So these are simple, easy techniques, but they have great, great value because Kṛṣṇa will be pleased by our austerity, and He will reveal Himself. You cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by your own tiny effort. You cannot see Kṛṣṇa with your material eyes. You cannot order Kṛṣṇa, “Kṛṣṇa, please come, dancing and playing Your flute, and I shall see You.”
Kṛṣṇa is not subject to your order. You cannot make Kṛṣṇa appear so that you can see Him. Therefore our approach to understanding Kṛṣṇa, realizing Kṛṣṇa, is to act in such a way that Kṛṣṇa will want to see us.
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05.20.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 19:37 by David Bruce Hughes
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Here we continue our detailed study of the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gita. At Arjuna’s request, Kṛṣṇa has brought the chariot between the two armies. But when Arjuna sees all his relatives on the other side, ready to fight to the death over the succession of the kingdom, he loses heart and declares that he will not fight. Now Kṛṣṇa begins His reply.
klaibyam ma sma gamah partha
naitat tvayy upapadyate
ksudram hrdaya-daurbalyam
tyaktvottistha parantapa
“O son of Prtha, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.3]
Here Bhagavan, Kṛṣṇa, is encouraging Arjuna, ksudram hrdaya-daurbalyam. “Conquer this weakness of heart. For a ksatriya, a great king and warrior like you, to speak like that, ‘No no, I cannot kill my kinsmen. I am giving up my weapons,’ this is weakness, cowardice. Why are you doing all this nonsense?” Ksudram hrdaya-daurbalyam. “This kind of compassion, giving up your duty as a ksatriya, is simply weakness of the heart. It has no meaning.”
Klaibyam ma sma gamah partha naitat tvayy upapadyate. “Especially for you. You are My friend. What will people say? So give up this weakness of the heart and uttistha, stand up, take courage.” So just see how Kṛṣṇa is inducing Arjuna to fight. The Vedic ksatriya culture was such that a warrior would prefer to be killed on the battlefield rather than surrender, what to speak of giving up his weapons and running from the fight.
What Arjuna was proposing was unheard of, impossible, ridiculous; it would make him the laughingstock of the entire Vedic Empire. But people are so ignorant of the Vedic ksatriya tradition that they sometimes criticize that “Kṛṣṇa is provoking Arjuna. Arjuna is trying to be religious, nonviolent, and Kṛṣṇa is encouraging him to fight.”
This attitude is called jada-darsana. Jada-darsana means material vision. Actually jada means retarded, idiot. Only an idiot would think that Arjuna was actually afraid of fighting. Arjuna was the greatest warrior in the world. If Arjuna was hesitating to fight, there must have been some very important purpose behind it. This purpose was to get Kṛṣṇa to speak Bhagavad-gita. So who was provoking whom?
Therefore the Esoteric Teaching says,
atah sri-Kṛṣṇa-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah
“No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Sri Kṛṣṇa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.” [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234]
Sri-Kṛṣṇa-namadi. We can get in touch with Kṛṣṇa by chanting His name, Hare Kṛṣṇa or om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. That is the beginning of our connection with Kṛṣṇa. Namadi. So sastra says, atah sri-Kṛṣṇa-namadi. Adi means beginning. Spiritual life begins with controlling the tongue. Become vegetarian and chant the Holy Name of God, Kṛṣṇa, Govinda or Vasudeva.
In material consciousness we have no connection with Kṛṣṇa. But if we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra, or the dvadasaksara-mantra, om namo bhagavate vasudevaya, immediately our consciousness begins to change and our opportunity to contact Kṛṣṇa begins. This chanting process has to be practiced for some time. Not that I chant once or twice, and immediately realize Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible unless one is already very advanced from a previous lifetime.
So sri-Kṛṣṇa-namadi. Nama means name. But devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is not only chanting the Holy Name. Adi, that is the beginning, but to attain the pinnacle of self-realization, we also have to worship His transcendental form, glorify His transcendental activities. And so many other things.
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
“Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.23]
So sravanam kirtanam, glorifying or describing about Kṛṣṇa, is the beginning of devotional service. Then there is Kṛṣṇa’s beautiful transcendental form, rupa means form. Nama-rupa-lila: lila means pastimes; guna means quality; sanga means His entourage, his personal associates; all these aspects of Kṛṣṇa’s appearance are transcendental. Nothing connected with Kṛṣṇa is material.
But unless one knows the difference between material and spiritual, and can recognize the spiritual energy when we encounter it, we will not be able to appreciate Kṛṣṇa. Here’s that sloka again:
atah sri-Kṛṣṇa-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah
“No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Sri Kṛṣṇa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.” [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234]
Na bhaved grahyam indriyaih. By our ordinary material senses we cannot understand Sri Kṛṣṇa’s name, His form, His pastimes, qualities or entourage. If we rely on our bodily senses, we will mistake all these things for material objects. Therefore transcendental knowledge of the Absolute Truth is required, and that knowledge also comes from Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa speaks Bhagavad-gita to enlighten us. The first item of transcendental knowledge is the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa: Vasudeva, Govinda and so many more.
We are hearing Kṛṣṇa’s Holy Name through aural reception, but in material consciousness or without purification, we cannot really hear His Name. Of course, by continuously or regularly hearing the Holy Name over time, gradually our sense of hearing will be purified. But we have to help.
Just like if I want to ignite a fire, so I must help by drying the wood. The wood will very soon catch fire if it is kept dry. Similarly, simply chanting will always help us. It will take time. But if we chant regularly every day, then our hearing and mind will become purified very quickly.
Ordinary materialistic people cannot understand the behavior of Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. They are viewing Kṛṣṇa and His devotees through ordinary material senses, therefore they mistake Kṛṣṇa’s name, form, pastimes and so forth for material objects. They will also mistake Kṛṣṇa’s devotee, a Vaiṣṇava, for an ordinary material person. That is also stated in the Esoteric Teaching.
vaisnavera kriya mudra vijneha na bujhaya
“The activities of a pure Vaiṣṇava cannot be understood even by a learned scholar in the material world.”
Whatever a Vaiṣṇava is doing, even the most expert and intelligent man cannot understand why he is doing it unless he is also self-realized. Therefore we should not try to imitate the activities of higher authorities, but we have to follow the instructions, the spiritual injunctions, given by the higher authorities.
Kṛṣṇa is encouraging Arjuna to fight. That does not mean we can also do that, incite people to violence or fighting. No: that will be immoral. It is not up to us to determine the appropriate use of military force. That is not part of our engagement as spiritual students. Spiritual students are supposed to be nonviolent. Nonviolence is part of the qualification for a spiritual student.
But for Kṛṣṇa it is not immoral. Whatever Kṛṣṇa does is good, because He is all-good. God is perfect; therefore whatever He does or says is good for everyone concerned, and we should accept it. Even if we don’t understand because of our material conditioning, whatever He is doing is all-good.
And whatever I am doing without my spiritual authority’s order, is all bad. Kṛṣṇa does not require any order from anyone else. Isvarah paramah Kṛṣṇah [Brahma-samhita 5.1]. He is the supreme controller. He does not require anyone’s instruction. Whatever He does is perfect.
But it is not appropriate to study Kṛṣṇa in our own way, without the guidance of a self-realized master Teacher. Kṛṣṇa is not subject to your examination or your test. He is above all. He is transcendent. Therefore those who do not have transcendental vision misunderstand Kṛṣṇa as a material person, and they miss all the benefit that comes from properly approaching and serving Him.
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05.17.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 08:56 by David Bruce Hughes
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In part 2 of this series we discussed how Kṛṣṇa is universally accepted in the Vedic literature as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, svayam bhagavan. Then why are people making so much research and speculation about God, “Where is God?” Why are they uselessly making so much hard labor out of the search for God, when the answer is easily available from the Vedic literature?
Bhagavad-gita says, right in the beginning of the second chapter, “Here is God, Kṛṣṇa: sri bhagavan uvaca.” Bhagavad-gita is the most famous book of spiritual knowledge all over the world. So there is no reason not to accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gita, Kṛṣṇa personally declares:
mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva
“O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.” [Bhagavad-gita 7.7]
aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.8]
na me viduh sura-ganah
prabhavam na maharsayah
aham adir hi devanam
maharsinam ca sarvasah
“Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin or opulences, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and sages.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.2]
And in Bhagavad-gita Arjuna confirms this:
arjuna uvaca
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum
“Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.12]
Then there are so many statements in the Vedic literature, corroborating this same truth:
isvarah paramah Kṛṣṇah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
“Govinda, Kṛṣṇa, is the cause of all causes. He is the primal cause, and He is the very form of eternity, knowledge and bliss.” [Brahma-samhita 5.1]
ete camsa-kalah pumsah
Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari-vyakulam lokam
mrdayanti yuge yuge
“All the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith are either plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of the Supreme Godhead, but Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.28]
kalau janisyamananam
duhkha-soka-tamo-nudam
anugrahaya bhaktanam
supunyam vyatanod yasah
“To show causeless mercy to the devotees who would take birth in the future in this age of Kali, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, acted in such a way that simply by remembering Him one will be freed from all the lamentation and unhappiness of material existence.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.24.61]
There are hundreds of similar Sanskrit quotes. All the Vedic literatures confirm that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So there is no difficulty for anyone who is actually sincere about understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All they have to do is accept Bhagavad-gita as it is.
But those who are obstinate, sinful, the lowest of humankind, whose knowledge has been taken away by maya, and who are atheistic do not accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even though they pose themselves as great yogis, philosophers or spiritual teachers. They are covert atheists; otherwise, there is no reason for them to reject Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa therefore describes:
na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah
“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.” [Bhagavad-gita 7.15]
Unless one is duskrtina, a miscreant, always mischievous, full of sinful life, he cannot deny Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So Kṛṣṇa denounces such rascal false spiritual people as mudhas, donkeys. A donkey works very hard, unnecessarily for a cruel master, for a little bit of grass, which is easily available everywhere. They are so foolish. So similarly the atheistic mudhas are working so hard to try and find God, but they do not accept when God calls out to them in Bhagavad-gita, “Here I am. Come and worship Me.”
man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me
“Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.” [Bhagavad-gita 18.65]
So this Esoteric Teaching movement is preaching all over the world via the Internet that “You all consider yourself to be advanced in civilization, advanced in scientific knowledge, and advanced in economic development, but you are missing one thing—God, Kṛṣṇa. So here is God; here is Kṛṣṇa. You try to understand Kṛṣṇa, become Kṛṣṇa conscious and make your spiritual life successful.” That is our proposal.
But they do not want to accept this because according to Kṛṣṇa they are mudha, asses and donkeys. And more, they try to stop others from understanding by making false propaganda against the Absolute Truth of the Vedas. They try to say that the objective of the Vedic self-realization process is merging into the Absolute Truth, spiritual suicide.
So Kṛṣṇa appears in various forms just to protect His devotees:
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
“To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” [Bhagavad-gita 4.8]
He appears in His original spiritual form and speaks Bhagavad-gita, He appears as the Vedic scriptures, He appears as His Holy Name, and He appears as the Brotherhood of the Esoteric Teaching to protect His devotees.
So our business, our duty, is to accept Kṛṣṇa’s words and act accordingly. We have to engage all our activities for Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure, for Kṛṣṇa’s service. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness or self-realization.
Just like Arjuna. In the beginning of Bhagavad-gita, he declined to fight. So apparently Arjuna was a very nice gentleman, forfeiting his claim over the kingdom because he wants to be nonviolent. He’s unwilling to fight with his cousin-brothers, and he was crying because he was so compassionate. So from the materialistic point of view, he was very nice.
But immediately, as we’ll begin to discuss in forthcoming selections, Kṛṣṇa says that “Why you are thinking like anarya?” Anarya means a non-Aryan, and according to the Vedas, arya means progressive. So an Aryan is a person who is progressive in spiritual values; he does not misuse philosophy to justify inaction, but does his spiritual duty even though it may be personally inconvenient.
But Kṛṣṇa chastised Arjuna that he was anarya-justam. “This kind of thinking is not for aryas, Aryans. It is for the non-Aryans.” He did not approve of Arjuna’s inaction. So the whole Bhagavad-gita was spoken to Arjuna to make him aryan, spiritually progressive.
At the end of Bhagavad-gita, Kṛṣṇa inquired from Arjuna, “What is your decision?” Yathecchasi tatha kuru. And Arjuna replied, karisye vacanam tava. [Bhagavad-gita 18.73] “Now I shall fight.”
And Kṛṣṇa approved:
sa evayam maya te ’dya
yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto ’si me sakha ceti
rahasyam hy etad uttamam
“That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.” [Bhagavad-gita 4.3]
Now, fighting is not a very good business, because it involves killing. But Arjuna was a warrior, a fighter. His duty was to fight, so he fought for Kṛṣṇa. Thus he became a devotee by fighting to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.
So everyone, no matter what their occupation, should be engaged to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. That is our whole philosophy. Kṛṣṇa has advised:
saha-jam karma kaunteya
sa-dosam api na tyajet
sarvarambha hi dosena
dhumenagnir ivavrtah
“Every endeavor is covered by some fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work born of his nature, O son of Kunti, even if such work is full of fault.” [Bhagavad-gita 18.48]
So one can perform any kind of work for which he is fit, but the result must be given to Kṛṣṇa. That is the secret. You may work as a brahmana, as a ksatriya, as a businessman, as an engineer, as a doctor, as a warrior, whatever you may be. No type of work is condemned. Every kind of work is spiritual, provided it is offered to Kṛṣṇa. That is the secret of work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And according to the Esoteric Teaching, such work is without any karmic reaction.
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05.12.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 08:19 by David Bruce Hughes
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In the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Kṛṣṇa speaks: sri bhagavan uvaca. Kṛṣṇa is called Bhagavan. Bhagavan means one who is full with six kinds of spiritual opulence.
aisvaryasya samagrasya
viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana-vairagyayas caiva
sannam bhaga itingana
“Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is thus defined as one who is full in six opulences—who has unlimited strength, fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty, and renunciation.” [Visnu Purana 6.5.47]
Bhaga means opulence. Bhagavan is one who possesses all opulence, and Kṛṣṇa means the all-attractive. The speaker of Bhagavad-gita is Bhagavan Sri Kṛṣṇa. As stated in the Esoteric Teaching,
ete camsa-kalah pumsah
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari-vyakulam lokam
mrdayanti yuge yuge
“All of the incarnations mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of Them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.28]
There are other great personalities sometimes described in the Vedic literature as Bhagavan. Lord Siva is sometimes described as Bhagavan. Similarly, Lord Brahma, Narada and others are also sometimes described as Bhagavan. But svayam-bhagavan means Kṛṣṇa alone. Others are partially Bhagavan.
These personal qualities of the great spiritual personalities have been carefully analyzed by Srila Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, which my spiritual Master Teacher Srila Prabhupada translated into English as Nectar of Devotion. He has analyzed that Kṛṣṇa is 100% Bhagavan, Narayana is ninety-four percent Bhagavan, and Lord Siva is eighty-four percent Bhagavan. And all other living entities, such as ourselves, even in our highest state of spiritual perfection, possess only seventy-eight percent Bhagavan. That means when you come to the perfection of life, when you are actually in the spiritual stage, then you have seventy-eight percent of the qualities of Bhagavan, but in minute quantity. These have been very nicely analyzed in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu.
And the sloka quoted above confirms: Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam, “Sri Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” In the Srimad-Bhagavatam there is a list of all the major incarnations of Godhead and Their particular activities. In that list of incarnations there is the name of Lord Ramacandra, the name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Balarama is there and also Lord Buddha.
But in the conclusion it is declared: ete camsa-kalah pumsah Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. The conclusion given by Vyasadeva is that “Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all others are plenary expansions of Kṛṣṇa, or parts of plenary expansions of Kṛṣṇa.” Amsa-kalah. Amsa means direct expansion. And kalah means expansion of the expansion, or secondary expansions. So it is concluded there that ete camsa-kalah pumsah. All these incarnations, they are either amsa or kalah. But Kṛṣṇa is described, Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam: Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
Similarly, in Bhagavad-gita Vyasadeva describes: sri bhagavan uvaca. Kṛṣṇa is speaking, and He is not an ordinary person. Bhagavan is speaking. And Bhagavan means aisvarya, wealth. Nobody can be richer than Bhagavan. We have got some ideas of wealth. I may be rich, but you are richer than me. Somebody is richer than you. Somebody is richer than him, and so forth.
If you go on in this way, comparing all the richest people in existence, when you finally find the richest person, that is Bhagavan. Aisvaryasya samagrasya: He has all riches; all wealth, not partial. No human being can say that “I am the richest; I have got all wealth.” No, that is not possible.
But Bhagavan Kṛṣṇa has all the wealth, unlimited wealth. Aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya. Similarly, He has unlimited strength, bodily strength or power. Aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah. And similarly, His fame and reputation are unparalleled. Nobody can be as famous as Kṛṣṇa. Five thousand years ago Kṛṣṇa spoke Bhagavad-gita, and He’s so famous that the study of Bhagavad-gita still is going on all over the world. There are hundreds of editions of Bhagavad-gita. Kṛṣṇa is so famous, so well-reputed.
So as stated in Visnu Purana 6.5.47, aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah. Beautiful. Kṛṣṇa is the most beautiful, the most attractive person. And jnana, knowledge; there is no comparison to the book of knowledge which He has given, this Bhagavad-gita. There is no second book in the whole world which is so full of knowledge.
So jnana, and vairagya, renunciation also. In spite of all His wealth and property, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t care for this material world. He is busy in the spiritual world. Jaya radha-madhava kunja-bihari. He’s busy in Vrndavana. Kṛṣṇa is God on vacation. Kṛṣṇa is always on vacation. He never has to work. He has many servants. Every big man has got many secretaries, servants to look after their affairs. Similarly, in this material world, Kṛṣṇa’s representatives—Brahma, Visnu, and Siva or Mahesvara—are managing the affairs of this whole universe. And He’s enjoying in Vrndavana. Jaya radha-madhava kunja-bihari. He has no concerns, no cares. He has no anxiety about how universal affairs are being managed. When it is mismanaged, then sometimes Kṛṣṇa comes in His Vasudeva form. Vasudeva is not exactly the original Kṛṣṇa. The original Kṛṣṇa never leaves Vrndavana. Padam ekam na gacchati. He’s always in His abode.
cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-
laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of desire trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of laksmis or gopis.” [Brahma-samhita 5.29]
He is very much affectionate to His cows. Surabhir abhipalayantam. And He’s surrounded by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune, these gopis. He is surrounded. Laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam [Bs. 5.29]. In this world we are praying to the goddess of fortune to grant some small favor, but in the spiritual world, Kṛṣṇa is served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune. This is Kṛṣṇa’s position.
So I do not know why foolish people do not understand what is God, and who is God. Everything is there in Bhagavad-gita and the other Vedic scriptures. And He even comes personally to reveal Himself. Not only God’s name, address, activities, and everything are publicly available in the Esoteric Teaching, but He comes personally also.
Kṛṣṇa proved that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Kṛṣṇa was present, He proved all these things. As we already discussed, aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah [Visnu Purana 6.5.47]. He proved by His unparalleled activities that He is Bhagavan. In His capital city of Dvaraka He had 16,108 queens, and for each wife, He built a big palatial marble palace, bedecked with jewels and gardens with parijata flowers from the heavenly planets. These are described in the Vedic histories of the Puranas.
Nobody except God, Bhagavan can maintain sixteen thousand wives in sixteen thousand palaces. Not only that, He expanded Himself into 16,108 forms, and He was living comfortably with each wife. Each wife had ten sons, and those children also had each ten grandsons. Do the math:
16,108 wives + 161,080 sons + 161,080 daughters-in-law + 1,610,800 grandsons = Kṛṣṇa’s immediate family, the Yadu dynasty, had more than 1,949,068 members.
So even if you study from material point of view, when Kṛṣṇa was present, He proved that He’s Bhagavan. Bhagavan does not mean someone with a big beard who becomes God by meditation. Kṛṣṇa never became Bhagavan by meditation. He was not a phony manufactured God. He’s always God, eternally God.
When Kṛṣṇa was on the lap of His mother Yasoda, He was God. The Putana demon came to kill Him, but Kṛṣṇa killed her. In this way, if we read the life of Kṛṣṇa, He’s proved that he is Bhagavan. And not only He proved it Himself, but all other great authorities accepted Him as Bhagavan. There are four prominent Vaiṣṇava acaryas in this millennium and one Mayavada acarya, Sankaracarya. Sankaracarya also, although he is inclined to the impersonal feature of the Lord, accepted Kṛṣṇa: sa bhagavan svayam Kṛṣṇah. He declared: Narayanah paro’vyaktat, “Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana.” [Gita-Bhasya].
So all the Vaiṣṇava acaryas—Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnusvami, Nimbarka, and lately Lord Caitanya—accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And when Arjuna heard Bhagavad-gita from Kṛṣṇa, he also accepted Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum
ahus tvam rsayah sarve
devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah
svayam caiva bravisi me
“You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.” [Bhagavad-gita 10.12-13]
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05.08.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 08:04 by David Bruce Hughes
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The second chapter of Bhagavad-gita begins with the following sloka:
sanjaya uvaca
tam tatha krpayavistam
asru-purnakuleksanam
visidantam idam vakyam
uvaca madhusudanah
“Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion and very sorrowful, his eyes brimming with tears, Madhusudana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.1]
Kṛṣṇa is described here as Madhusudana, the killer of the demon Madhu. Why? Arjuna was attacked by a demon of forgetting his duty, being too much afflicted by bodily relationship. So by calling the Lord by His name Madhusudana, the compiler of Bhagavad-gita, Srila Vyasadeva, invokes the aspect of the Lord who kills the demons that harass His devotees.
This is also our position. In this material world, we are so much attached to bodily relationships that it is just like we are attacked by a demon or haunted by a ghost. In a beautiful Bengali poem written by the great, enigmatic Master Teacher Jagadananda Pandit, it is said:
pisaci paile yena mati-cchanna haya
maya-grasta jivera haya se bhava udaya
“When a living entity is conditioned by material nature, he is exactly like a person haunted by a ghost.” [Prema-vivarta, 1]
Maya-grasta jivera haya. Maya means illusion, hallucination. So we are, in this material world, we are all illusioned. Illusioned means accepting something as fact which is not.
Just like in dream we see sometimes that we are attacked by a tiger or chased by a demon. So many illusory things. Actually there is no tiger, no demon is chasing, but still, we are crying: “Help! Help! Ahhhhh!”
So our attachment for this material world is like that. It is an illusion. We are thinking that “Without me, everything will be spoiled. My presence is required.” And so on, and so forth. Just like our esteemed political leaders. Each and every one of them thinks that without him, the whole situation will be spoiled. So they do not retire from political life—even up to the time of death. The attachment is so strong.
But even after passing away of so many big, big leaders, the world is going on. There is a Bengali proverb that “When the king dies, it does not mean the kingdom stops.” Everyone is replaceable, and life and the kingdom go on. But the leader or the person in charge remains in illusion, thinking that “Without me, everything will be spoiled.” This is called maya, illusion.
According to Vedic system, therefore, there is forced renunciation. Nobody wants to retire from family life, but the Vedic injunction is that after one has passed fifty years, he must leave his family life. It is stated in the Vedas, pancasordhvam vanam vrajet: “After the age of fifty, one must go to the forest.”
The Vedic social system is designed to train people in renunciation of material attachment. Without this training, it is very difficult to give up the attachment to material enjoyment, even if one is convinced that it is illusory. In the beginning of life, as a celibate student, brahmacari, from the age of five he’s trained in undergoing severe austerities, penances, and taking instruction from the spiritual master about the temporary existence of this material world.
This system trains men in Vedic culture to expect renunciation as a normal condition of life. And even after this training, if he appears to be attached to this material world, he’s allowed to go home and marry. The brahmacaris who do not fall down are allowed to remain naisthika-brahmacari, without going home and accepting a wife. But one who must have sex life is allowed to accept a wife, and become a householder for twenty-five years.
Generally, the brahmacaris who fall down go home at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five years. After marriage, he may get children. So living in household life for twenty-five years, the children are grown up. Then the husband and wife take leave of the household, and this is called vanaprastha, traveling in pilgrimages to holy places like Vrndavana, Prayaga, Mayapur. That was the system. After two months on pilgrimage, they come back and remain home for another two months. Then again they go out on pilgrimage. In this way, the whole process of Vedic social life trains people how to give up attachment to family life, attachment to the world.
And when one is trained up fully, he takes sannyasa, the renounced order of life. Then there is no more contact with woman or household life. His whole energy is focused on how to attain spiritual liberation. That is our Vedic system.
The attachment to this material body and material world is very strong. That is stated in the Esoteric Teaching by Rsabhadeva:
pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam etam
tayor mitho hrdaya-granthim ahuh
ato grha-ksetra-sutapta-vittair
janasya moho ’yam aham mameti
“The attraction between male and female is the basic principle of material existence. On the basis of this misconception, which ties together the hearts of the male and female, one becomes attracted to his body, home, property, children, relatives and wealth. In this way one increases life’s illusions and thinks in terms of ‘I and mine.’ ” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.8]
This whole material world is an attachment of male and female. Pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam, sex impulse, attachment. Tayor mitho hrdaya-granthim ahuh. And when they are married, when they are united, then it becomes a hard knot in the heart. Ato grha-ksetra-sutapta-vittair janasya moho ’yam aham mameti [SB 5.5.8]. Then gradually, after being united, one becomes attached to grha, home, apartment; ksetra, the land or country of residence, and so on.
Formerly there was no industry. So everyone must have some land to produce food. Grha-ksetra, home and land; suta, then sons, children; apta, friends; vitta, then money, because without money, nothing can be maintained. Atah grha-ksetra-sutapta-vittair janasya mohah. He becomes more and more illusioned. And aham mameti: [SB 5.5.8] “Oh, this is my country. This is my family. This is my house. This is my children.” So on, so on. Mama. “Mine.” And “I am this person. I am this body.” This is illusion.
So Arjuna appeared to be illusioned that “How I shall fight with my brothers and grandfather on the other side?” He became so much illusioned… Tam tatha krpayavistam [Bhagavad-gita 2.1]. He became illusioned, but not without cause. He was very much compassionate krpayavistam, toward his family members.
And he was crying, asru-purnakuleksanam, there were tears in his eyes. Visidantam idam vakyam. And he was lamenting in this way: “How shall I fight?” So Kṛṣṇa then began to speak. Kṛṣṇa saw that “My friend, Arjuna, has become too much illusioned.” So He wanted to kill the demon of illusion. Therefore He’s mentioned herein as Madhusudana.
Kṛṣṇa comes to this planet for two purposes:
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium. [Bhagavad-gita 4.8]
Side by side, He gives protection to His devotees, sadhus, and arranges to kill the demons. Sadhu means devotee. Devotee of Kṛṣṇa are called sadhu in the Bhagavad-gita.
api cet su-duracaro
bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah
samyag vyavasito hi sah
“Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination.” [Bhagavad-gita 9.30]
One who is strictly a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he is mentioned as sadhu. Sadhur eva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah [Bg. 9.30]. He is first-class sadhu. Even if he’s a grhastha, it doesn’t matter. Generally, we understand sadhu means with saffron cloth. No. Sadhu’s qualification is that he must be a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa.
titiksavah karunikah
suhrdah sarva-dehinam
ajata-satravah santah
sadhavah sadhu-bhusanah
“The symptoms of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.21]
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05.02.07
Posted in Bhagavad-gita, Podcasts at 06:17 by David Bruce Hughes
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In the first chapter of Bhagavad-gita we are given the picture of the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, and Arjuna requests Kṛṣṇa to place the chariot in between the two soldiers. Now, after seeing the soldiers and the kings and other party, Arjuna becomes aggrieved, so much so that he did not want to fight, and he was crying. Now, Dhrtarastra asks Sanjaya: “Then what happened next?”
Dhrtarastra was very much anxious. He said: dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre samaveta yuyutsavah [Bhagavad-gita 1.1]. “Now these two parties, yuyutsavah, both of them were desirous of fighting.” Mamakah pandavas caiva [Bhagavad-gita 1.1]: “One party is mamakah, my sons, and the other party is Pandavas, the sons of my brother, Pandu.”
Now, the word is used: yuyutsavah. “They assembled for fighting.” This word is still used in Japanese for fighting, jujitsu. Then what is the use of asking: kim akurvata, “Then what did they do?” It is natural to conclude that when they assembled for fighting, so there must be fighting. But why he was asking: kim akurvata?
His suspicion was that because the parties assembled in the dharma-ksetra, the sacrificial field of Kuruksetra, they might have changed their minds. Still, in India, if two parties are fighting, they go to a temple, present their case before the Deity, and ask Him to mediate the conflict. This temple system still exists in the villages, and they do not dare to speak lies before the Deity. So the misunderstanding becomes settled by the influence of the Deity. No pious person will dare to speak a lie before the Lord, who as the witness within the heart, knows everything.
So Dhrtarastra was asking whether the two parties have settled up due to the influence of the sacred place, dharma-ksetra. He did not want that. He wanted that “These Pandavas should be killed, and my sons the Kauravas should come out victorious so that there will be no enemy.” He was very much anxious to place his sons on the throne.
Because Dhrtarastra was blind, he could not inherit the throne of Emperor of the Vedic Empire. His younger brother Pandu was given the throne. Now, after the death of his younger brother, he thought that “I missed the opportunity of sitting on the throne. Why not my sons? They have got actual right.”
That is the background of this battle of Kuruksetra. Dhrtarastra was always devising some unfair means how the sons of Pandu, his nephews, Arjuna and his four brothers, could be deposed and his own sons would sit on the throne. That was his idea. Therefore he inquired, kim akurvata.
Otherwise, there was no question of inquiring kim akurvata. They went there to fight, so as warriors and men of determination, naturally they’ll fight. But he suspected, “What if they have made some compromise?” He wanted that “There must be fighting. And they are five brothers. My sons are one hundred in number. So they should be killed, and my sons will be without any rivalry.”
This is the background of Kuruksetra. But another thing is that Kuruksetra is a dharma-ksetra, or place of religious pilgrimage for the Kuru dynasty from time immemorial. The effect of the dharma-ksetra was visible in Arjuna. Because he was a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, therefore he felt: “What is this? Why shall I kill my brothers?” Because he was devotee.
This sentiment came into the mind of Arjuna, not on the other side, Duryodhana, although both of them were at the dharma-ksetra. The effect of dharma-ksetra was manifest in Arjuna, not Duryodhana. This is the symptom of Arjuna’s purity. If one is pure, then the effects of dharma becomes manifest very quickly.
na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah
“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.” [Bhagavad-gita 7.15]
Kṛṣṇa says that those whose whole life is sinful, duskrtinah, do not surrender to Him. Krti means one who has got good intelligence. But duskrtinah means the intelligence is misapplied for sinful activities.
For pious activities good intelligence is required. But those who are applying their brain for mischievous activities, they are called duskrtinah. So duskrtinah… Na mam duskrtino mudhah. Why do they misapply their intelligence? Because they are mudhah, asses.
If one has got a good brain, he should apply it for good work. That is called jnana-khala. But a rogue also has a good brain, but he’s applying for mischievous activities, for making people unhappy. That is not the right use of intelligence, therefore Kṛṣṇa calls them mudha: literally asses, donkeys.
So the effect of the dharma-ksetra, Kuruksetra was visible in Arjuna, not in Duryodhana. That is the difference between a mudha and a devotee. Therefore Arjuna was crying: “I am put in such difficult a position that I have to fight and kill my cousin-brothers, my nephews, my grandfather.”
He was too affected to fight. Although it seems like weakness, it is not actually weakness, but compassion. Arjuna was not a coward; but out of compassion, because he was devotee, he was para-duhkha-duhkhi. The symptom of a devotee is they are unhappy by seeing others unhappy.
Generally, if a person sees somebody happy, he becomes unhappy, envious: matsarata. That is the consciousness in the world today. If I see my brother is very happy, he has improved in his material condition, then I become unhappy: “He has advanced so much, and I could not do so.”
This is material civilization: people are envious, matsarata. Everyone is envious; their sympathy is only lip sympathy. Actually, everyone is envious. Brother to brother, wife to husband, neighbor to neighbor, businessman to businessman, nation to nation. This is material consciousness: envious, matsarata.
Therefore spiritual advancement is for people who are not envious. Therefore Vyasadeva says in the introduction of Srimad-Bhagavatam:
dharmah projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam
vedyam vastavam atra vastu sivadam tapa-trayonmulanam
srimad-bhagavate maha-muni-krte kim va parair isvarah
sadyo hrdy avarudhyate ’tra krtibhih susrusubhis tat-ksanat
“Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhagavata Purana propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhagavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.2]
Vyasadeva asks, “Who are the candidates to understand this science of God, Srimad-Bhagavatam? It is not for the persons who are entangled in dharmah kaitavah, cheating religious system.” Kaitava means cheating. So according to Srimad-Bhagavatam, all types of cheating religious systems are rejected from this Esoteric Teaching. It is meant only for persons who are not envious, paramo nirmatsaranam satam: fully honest and pure in heart.
Vastavya-vastu. One who wants to learn reality, not false reality. Here in this material world, everything is false reality. Just like if we are trying to find water in the desert. There is no water in the desert. But we may see a mirage, a false vision of water. An ignorant person lost in the desert, if he sees a mirage of water, runs after it and dies.
So here in this material world, every one of us is running after the false mirage that there is happiness in this material body, in material possessions or material designations. This is the condition of the spirit soul in material existence. We are searching for happiness in a place where by nature there is no real happiness to be found, so we are tricked again and again by false happiness. This is the existential human condition, and therefore we are angry, hateful and envious.
Kṛṣṇa speaks Bhagavad-gita to help us get out of this ignorance and enviousness. The basic principle of Bhagavad-gita is to bestow spiritual liberation upon everyone. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is the gate of liberation.
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