Skip to main content Search UPLOAD SIGN UP | LOG IN BOOKS VIDEO AUDIO SOFTWARE IMAGES Sign up for free Log in Search metadata Search text contents Search TV news captions Search radio transcripts Search archived web sites Advanced Search ABOUT BLOG PROJECTS HELP DONATE CONTACT JOBS VOLUNTEER PEOPLE Full text of "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (Original 1972 Edition) (eBook) (ePub)" See other formats | ii 1 ml ET fr | 1 fj l -r . 1 This free for download ebook is a direct reproduction of the original bona fide personally approved and blessed by Srila Prabhupada. This ebook was made by the official website for Srila Prabhupada’s original books: Krishnapath.org All the content was directly taken from the original scans, is unchanged and intact. More free downloads at: www.krishnapath.org Bhagavad-gita As It Is Bhagavad-gita As It Is COMPLETE EDITION with original Sanskrit text, Roman transliteration, English equivalents, translation and elaborate purports His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Collier Books, New York Collier Macmillan Publishers, London Copyright © 1972 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Readers interested in the subject matter of this book are invited by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to correspond with its Secretary. International Society for Krishna Consciousness 3764 Watseka Avenue Los Angeles, California 90034 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 72-79319 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher. First Collier Books Edition 1972 Third Printing 1973 Bhagavad-gita As It Is is also published in a hardcover edition by the Macmillan Company. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. Collier-Macmillan Canada Ltd. Printed in the United States of America To SRILA baladeva vidyAbhusana who presented so nicely the "Govinda-bhasya " commentary on Vedanta philosophy TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Preface Introduction CHAPTER ONE Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra CHAPTER TWO Contents of the Gita Summarized CHAPTER THREE Karma-yoga CHAPTER FOUR Transcendental Knowledge CHAPTER FIVE Karma-yoga— Action in Krsna Consciousness • • • CHAPTER SIX Sankhya-yoga CHAPTER SEVEN Knowledge of the Absolute CHAPTER EIGHT Attaining the Supreme CHAPTER NINE The Most Confidential Knowledge CHAPTER TEN The Opulence of the Absolute CHAPTER ELEVEN The Universal Form CHAPTER TWELVE Devotional Service CHAPTER THIRTEEN Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Three Modes of Material Nature CHAPTER FIFTEEN The Yoga of the Supreme Person CHAPTER SIXTEEN The Divine and Demoniac Natures CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The Divisions of Faith CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Conclusion— The Perfection of Renunciation F oreword The Bhagavad-gTta is the best known and the most frequently translated of Vedic religious texts. Why it should be so appealing to the Western mind is an interesting question. It has drama, for its setting is a scene of two great armies, banners flying, drawn up opposite one another on the field, poised for battle. It has ambiguity, and the fact that Arjuna and his charioteer Krsna are carrying on their dialogue between the two armies suggests the indecision of Arjuna about the basic question: should he enter battle against and kill those who are friends and kinsmen? It has mystery, as Krsna demonstrates to Arjuna His cosmic form. It has a properly complicated view of the ways of the religious life and treats of the paths of knowledge, works, discipline and faith and their inter-relationships, problems that have bothered adherents of other religions in other times and places. The devotion spoken of is a deliberate means of religious satisfaction, not a mere outpouring of poetic emotion. Next to the Bhagavata-purana, a long work from South India, the Gita is the text most frequently quoted in the philosophical writings of the Gaudlya Vaisnava school, the school represented by Swami Bhaktivedanta as the latest in a long succession of teachers. It can be said that this school of Vaisnavism was founded, or revived, by Sri Krsna-Caitanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1533) in Bengal, and that it is currently the strongest single religious force in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Gaudiya Vaisnava school, for whom Krsna is Himself the Supreme God, and not merely an incarnation of another deity, sees bhakti as an immediate and powerful religious force, consisting of love between man and God. Its discipline consists of devoting all one's actions to the Deity, and one listens to the stories of Krsna from the sacred texts, one chants Krsna's name, washes, bathes, and dresses the murti of Krsna, feeds Him and takes the remains of the food offered to Him, thus absorbing His grace; one does these things and many more, until one has been changed: the devotee has become transformed into one close to Krsna, and sees the Lord face to face. Swami Bhaktivedanta comments upon the Gita from this point of view, and that is legitimate. More than that, in this translation the Western reader has the unique opportunity of seeing how a Krsna devotee interprets his own texts. It is the Vedic exegetical tradition, justly famous, in action. This book is then a welcome addition from many points of view. It can serve as a valuable textbook for the college student. It allows us to listen to a skilled interpreter explicating a text which has profound religious meaning. It gives us insights into the original and highly convincing ideas of the Gaudiya Vaisnava school. In providing the Sanskrit in both Devanagari and transliteration, it offers the Sanskrit specialist the opportunity to re-interpret, or debate particular Sanskrit meanings-although I think there will be little disagreement about the quality of the Swami's Sanskrit scholarship. And finally, for the nonspecialist, there is readable English and a devotional attitude which cannot help but move the sensitive reader. And there are the paintings, which, incredibly as it may seem to those familiar with contemporary Indian religious art, were done by American devotees. The scholar, the student of Gaudiya Vaisnavism, and the increasing number of Western readers interested in classical Vedic thought have been done a service by Swami Bhaktivedanta. By bringing us a new and living interpretation of a text already known to many, he has increased our understanding manyfold; and arguments for understanding, in these days of estrangement, need not be made. Professor Edward C. Dimock, Jr. Department of South Asian Languages and Civilization University of Chicago Preface Originally I wrote Bhagavad-gTta As It Is in the form in which it is presented now. When this book was first published, the original manuscript was, unfortunately, cut short to less than 400 pages, without illustrations and without explanations for most of the original verses of the SrTmad Bhagavad- gTta. In all of my other books -SrTmad Bhagavatam, SrT Isopanisad, etc.—the system is that I give the original verse, its English transliteration, word-for- word Sanskrit-English equivalents, translations and purports. This makes the book very authentic and scholarly and makes the meaning self-evident. I was not very happy, therefore, when I had to minimize my original manuscript. But later on, when the demand for Bhagavad-gTta As It Is considerably increased, I was requested by many scholars and devotees to present the book in its original form, and Messrs. Macmillan and Co. agreed to publish the complete edition. Thus the present attempt is to offer the original manuscript of this great book of knowledge with full parampara explanation in order to establish the Krsna consciousness movement more soundly and progressively. Our Krsna consciousness movement is genuine, historically authorized, natural and transcendental due to its being based on Bhagavad-gTta As It Is. It is gradually becoming the most popular movement in the entire world, especially amongst the younger generation. It is becoming more and more interesting to the older generation also. Older gentlemen are becoming interested, so much so that the fathers and grandfathers of my disciples are encouraging us by becoming life members of our great society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In Los Angeles many fathers and mothers used to come to see me to express their feelings of gratitude for my leading the Krsna consciousness movement throughout the entire world. Some of them said that it is greatly fortunate for the Americans that I have started the Krsna consciousness movement in America. But actually the original father of this movement is Lord Krsna Himself, since it was started a very long time ago but is coming down to human society by disciplic succession. If I have any credit in this connection, it does not belong to me personally, but it is due to my eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya 108 Sri SrTmad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatl GosvamI Maharaja Prabhupada. If personally I have any credit in this matter, it is only that I have tried to present Bhagavad-gTta as it is, without adulteration. Before my presentation of Bhagavad-gTta As It Is, almost all the English editions of Bhagavad- gita were introduced to fulfill someone's personal ambition. But our attempt, in presenting Bhagavad-gTta As It Is, is to present the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. Our business is to present the will of Krsna, not that of any mundane speculator like the politician, philosopher or scientist, for they have very little knowledge of Krsna, despite all their other knowledge. When Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yajT mam namaskuru, etc., we, unlike the so-called scholars, do not say that Krsna and His inner spirit are different. Krsna is absolute, and there is no difference between Krsna's name, Krsna's form, Krsna's quality, Krsna's pastimes, etc. This absolute position of Krsna is difficult to understand for any person who is not a devotee of Krsna in the parampara (disciplic succession) system. Generally the so-called scholars, politicians, philosophers, and svamTs, without perfect knowledge of Krsna, try to banish or kill Krsna when writing commentary on Bhagavad-gTta. Such unauthorized commentary upon Bhagavad-gTta is known as MayavadT-Bhasya, and Lord Caitanya has warned us about these unauthorized men. Lord Caitanya clearly says that anyone who tries to understand Bhagavad-gTta from the MayavadI point of view will commit a great blunder. The result of such a blunder will be that the misguided student of Bhagavad-gTta will certainly be bewildered on the path of spiritual guidance and will not be able to go back home, back to Godhead. Our only purpose is to present this Bhagavad-gTta As It Is in order to guide the conditioned student to the same purpose for which Krsna descends to this planet once in a day of Brahma, or every 8,600,000,000 years. This purpose is stated in Bhagavad-gTta, and we have to accept it as it is; otherwise there is no point in trying to understand the Bhagavad-gTta and its speaker, Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna first spoke Bhagavad-gTta to the sun-god some hundreds of millions of years ago. We have to accept this fact and thus understand the historical significance of Bhagavad-gTta, without misinterpretation, on the authority of Krsna. To interpret Bhagavad-gTta without any reference to the will of Krsna is the greatest offense. In order to save oneself from this offense, one has to understand the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He was directly understood by Arjuna, Lord Krsna's first disciple. Such understanding of Bhagavad-gTta is really profitable and authorized for the welfare of human society in fulfilling the mission of life. The Krsna consciousness movement is essential in human society, for it offers the highest perfection of life. How this is so is explained fully in the Bhagavad-gTta. Unfortunately, mundane wranglers have taken advantage of Bhagavad-gTta to push forward their demonic propensities and mislead people regarding right understanding of the simple principles of life. Everyone should know how God or Krsna is great, and everyone should know the factual position of the living entities. Everyone should know that a living entity is eternally a servant and that unless one serves Krsna one has to serve illusion in different varieties of the three modes of material nature, and thus perpetually one has to wander within the cycle of birth and death; even the so- called liberated MayavadI speculator has to undergo this process. This knowledge constitutes a great science, and each and every living being has to hear it for his own interest. People in general, especially in this age of Kali, are enamored by the external energy of Krsna, and they wrongly think that by advancement of material comforts every man will be happy. They have no knowledge that the material or external nature is very strong, for everyone is strongly bound by the stringent laws of material nature. A living entity is happily the part and parcel of the Lord, and thus his natural function is to render immediate service to the Lord. By the spell of illusion one tries to be happy by serving his personal sense gratification in different forms which will never make him happy. Instead of satisfying his own personal material senses, he has to satisfy the senses of the Lord. That is the highest perfection of life. The Lord wants this, and He demands it. One has to understand this central point of Bhagavad- gTta. Our Krsna consciousness movement is teaching the whole world this central point, and because we are not polluting the theme of Bhagavad-gTta As It Is, anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gTta must take help from the Krsna consciousness movement for practical understanding of Bhagavad-gTta under the direct guidance of the Lord. We hope, therefore, that people will derive the greatest benefit by studying Bhagavad-gTta As It Is as we have presented it here, and if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord we shall consider our attempt a success. 12 May 1971 Sydney, Australia Bhagavad-gita As It Is INTRODUCTION om ajhana-timirandhasya jhanahjana-salakaya caksur unmilitam yena tasmai srT-gurave namah srT-caitanya-mano 'bhfstam sthapitam yena bhii-tale svayarh rupah kada mahyarh dadati sva-padantikam I was bom in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him. When will Srlla Rupa GosvamI Prabhupada, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet? vande 'ham srT-guroh srT-yuta-pada-kamalam srT-gurun vaisnavams ca srT-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devarh srT-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-srT-visakhanvitams ca I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and unto the feet of all Vaisnavas. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Srlla Rupa GosvamI along with his elder brother Sanatana GosvamI, as well as Raghunatha Dasa and Raghunatha Bhatta, Gopala Bhatta, and Srlla JIva GosvamI. I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Krsna Caitanya and Lord Nityananda along with Advaita Acarya, Gadadhara, Srlvasa, and other associates. I offer my respectful obeisances to Srlmatl RadharanI and Sri Krsna along with Their associates, Sri Lalita and Visakha. he krsna karuna-sindho dma-bandho jagat-pate gopesa gopika-kanta radha-kanta namo 'stu te O my dear Krsna, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the gopTs and the lover of RadharanI. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. tapta-kahcana-gaurahgi radhe vrndavanesvari vrsabhanu-sute devi pranamami hari-priye I offer my respects to RadharanI whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vrndavana. You are the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and You are very dear to Lord Krsna. vahcha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord who can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and who are full of compassion for the fallen souls. srT krsna caitanya prabhu nityananda srT advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda I offer my obeisances to Sri Krsna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara, Srlvasa and all others in the line of devotion. hare krsna, hare krsna, krsna krsna, hare hare hare rama, hare rama, rama rama, hare hare. Bhagavad-gTta is also known as GTtopanisad. It is the essence of Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upanisads in Vedic literature. Of course there are many commentaries in English on the Bhagavad-gTta, and one may question the necessity for another one. This present edition can be explained in the following way. Recently an American lady asked me to recommend an English translation of Bhagavad-gTta. Of course in America there are so many editions of Bhagavad-gTta available in English, but as far as I have seen, not only in America but also in India, none of them can be strictly said to be authoritative because in almost every one of them the commentator has expressed his own opinions without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gTta as it is. The spirit of Bhagavad-gTta is mentioned in Bhagavad-gTta itself. It is just like this: if we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the directions written on the label. We cannot take the medicine according to our own whim or the direction of a friend. It must be taken according to the directions on the label or the directions given by a physician. Similarly, Bhagavad-gTta should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker himself. The speaker of Bhagavad-gTta is Lord Sri Krsna. He is mentioned on every page of Bhagavad-gTta as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. Of course the word "bhagavan "sometimes refers to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, and certainly here Bhagavan designates Lord Sri Krsna as a great personality, but at the same time we should know that Lord Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as is confirmed by all great acaryas (spiritual masters) like Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Nimbarka SvamI, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and many other authorities of Vedic knowledge in India. The Lord Himself also establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gTta, and He is accepted as such in the Brahma- samhita and all the Puranas, especially the SrTmad- Bhagavatam, known as the Bhagavata Purana (Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam ). Therefore we should take Bhagavad-gTta as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself. In the Lourth Chapter of the GTta the Lord says: (1) imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam vivasvan manave praha manur iksvakave 'bravTt (2) evarh parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh sa kaleneha mahata yogo nastah parantapa (3) sa evayam may a te 'dya yogah proktah puratanah bhakto 'si me sakha ceti rahasyarh hy etad uttamam Here the Lord informs Arjuna that this system of yoga, the Bhagavad- gita, was first spoken to the sun-god, and the sun-god explained it to Manu, and Manu explained it to Iksvaku, and in that way, by disciplic succession, one speaker after another, this yoga system has been coming down. But in the course of time it has become lost. Consequently the Lord has to speak it again, this time to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. He tells Arjuna that He is relating this supreme secret to him because he is His devotee and His friend. The purport of this is that Bhagavad-gTta is a treatise which is especially meant for the devotee of the Lord. There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jnanT, the yogi and the bhakta, or the impersonalist, the meditator and the devotee. Here the Lord clearly tells Arjuna that He is making him the first receiver of a new parampara (disciplic succession) because the old succession was broken. It was the Lord's wish, therefore, to establish another parampara in the same line of thought that was coming down from the sun-god to others, and it was His wish that His teaching be distributed anew by Arjuna. He wanted Arjuna to become the authority in understanding the Bhagavad- gita. So we see that Bhagavad-gTta is instructed to Arjuna especially because Arjuna was a devotee of the Lord, a direct student of Krsna, and His intimate friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gTta is best understood by a person who has qualities similar to Arjuna's. That is to say he must be a devotee in a direct relationship with the Lord. As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he also has a direct relationship with the Lord. That is a very elaborate subject matter, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of five different ways: 1. One may be a devotee in a passive state; 2. One may be a devotee in an active state; 3. One may be a devotee as a friend; 4. One may be a devotee as a parent; 5. One may be a devotee as a conjugal lover. Arjuna was in a relationship with the Lord as friend. Of course there is a gulf of difference between this friendship and the friendship found in the material world. This is transcendental friendship which cannot be had by everyone. Of course everyone has a particular relationship with the Lord, and that relationship is evoked by the perfection of devotional service. But in the present status of our life, we have not only forgotten the Supreme Lord, but we have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of many, many billions and trillions of living beings, has a particular relationship with the Lord eternally. That is called svarupa. By the process of devotional service, one can revive that svarupa, and that stage is called svarupa-siddhi -perfection of one's constitutional position. So Arjuna was a devotee, and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship. How Arjuna accepted this Bhagavad-gita should be noted. His manner of acceptance is given in the Tenth Chapter. (12) arjuna uvaca pararh brahma pararh dhama pavitram paramarh bhavan purusam sasvatarh divyam adi-devam ajam vibhum (13) ahus tvam rsayah sarve devarsir naradas tatha asito devalo vyasah svayarh caiva bravisi me (14) sarvam etad rtarh manyeyan mam vadasi kesava na hi te bhagavan vyaktirh vidur deva na danavah "Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal Divine Person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all- pervading beauty. All the great sages like Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. O Krsna, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, O Lord, know Thy personality." (Bg. 10. 12-14). After hearing Bhagavad-gita from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna accepted Krsna as Pararh Brahma, the Supreme Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, but the supreme living being, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the Supreme Brahman. Pararh dhama means that He is the supreme rest or abode of everything, pavitram means that He is pure, untainted by material contamination, purusam means that He is the supreme enjoyer, divyam, transcendental, adi-devam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ajam, the unborn, and vibhum, the greatest, the all-pervading. Now one may think that because Krsna was the friend of Arjuna, Arjuna was telling Him all this by way of flattery, but Arjuna, just to drive out this kind of doubt from the minds of the readers of Bhagavad- gTta, substantiates these praises in the next verse when he says that Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself but by authorities like the sage Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasadeva and so on. These are great personalities who distribute the Vedic knowledge as it is accepted by all acaryas. Therefore Arjuna tells Krsna that he accepts whatever He says to be completely perfect. Sarvam etad rtam manye: "I accept everything You say to be true." Arjuna also says that the personality of the Lord is very difficult to understand and that He cannot be known even by the great demigods. This means that the Lord cannot even be known by personalities greater than human beings. So how can a human being understand Sri Krsna without becoming His devotee? Therefore Bhagavad-gTta should be taken up in a spirit of devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Krsna, nor should he think that Krsna is an ordinary personality or even a very great personality. Lord Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at least theoretically, according to the statements of Bhagavad-gTta or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gTta. We should therefore at least theoretically accept Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and with that submissive spirit we can understand the Bhagavad-gTta. Unless one reads the Bhagavad-gTta in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gTta because it is a great mystery. Just what is the Bhagavad-gTta? The purpose of Bhagavad- gTta is to deliver mankind from the nescience of material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in having to fight the Battle of Kuruksetra. Arjuna surrendered unto Sri Krsna, and consequently this Bhagavad-gTta was spoken. Not only Arjuna, but every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence. Our very existence is in the atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatened by nonexistence. Our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we are put into asat. Asat refers to that which does not exist. Out of so many human beings who are suffering, there are a few who are actually inquiring about their position, as to what they are, why they are put into this awkward position and so on. Unless one is awakened to this position of questioning his suffering, unless he realizes that he doesn't want suffering but rather wants to make a solution to all sufferings, then one is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiry is awakened in one's mind. In the Brahma-siitra this inquiry is called "brahma-jijhasa." Every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure unless he inquires about the nature of the Absolute. Therefore those who begin to question why they are suffering or where they came from and where they shall go after death are proper students for understanding Bhagavad-gTta. The sincere student should also have a firm respect for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a student was Arjuna. Lord Krsna descends specifically to reestablish the real purpose of life when man forgets that purpose. Even then, out of many, many human beings who awaken, there may be one who actually enters the spirit of understanding his position, and for him this Bhagavad- gTta is spoken. Actually we are all followed by the tiger of nescience, but the Lord is very merciful upon living entities, especially human beings. To this end He spoke the Bhagavad-gTta, making His friend Arjuna His student. Being an associate of Lord Krsna, Arjuna was above all ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignorance on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra just to question Lord Krsna about the problems of life so that the Lord could explain them for the benefit of future generations of human beings and chalk out the plan of life. Then man could act accordingly and perfect the mission of human life. The subject of the Bhagavad-gTta entails the comprehension of five basic truths, hirst of all, the science of God is explained and then the constitutional position of the living entities, jTvas. There is Tsvara, which means controller, and there are jTvas, the living entities which are controlled. If a living entity says that he is not controlled but that he is free, then he is insane. The living being is controlled in every respect, at least in his conditioned life. So in the Bhagavad-gTta the subject matter deals with the Tsvara, the supreme controller, and the jTvas, the controlled living entities. Prakrti (material nature) and time (the duration of existence of the whole universe or the manifestation of material nature) and karma (activity) are also discussed. The cosmic manifestation is full of different activities. All living entities are engaged in different activities. Prom Bhagavad-gTta we must learn what God is, what the living entities are, what prakrti is, what the cosmic manifestation is and how it is controlled by time, and what the activities of the living entities are. Out of these five basic subject matters in Bhagavad-gTta it is established that the Supreme Godhead, or Krsna, or Brahman, or supreme controller, or Paramatma-you may use whatever name you like—is the greatest of all. The living beings are in quality like the supreme controller. Lor instance, the Lord has control over the universal affairs, over material nature, etc., as will be explained in the later chapters of Bhagavad-gTta. Material nature is not independant. She is acting under the directions of the Supreme Lord. As Lord Krsna says, "Prakrti is working under My direction." When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind this cosmic manifestation there is a controller. Nothing could be manifested without being controlled. It is childish not to consider the controller. For instance, a child may think that an automobile is quite wonderful to be able to mn without a horse or other animal pulling it, but a sane man knows the nature of the automobile's engineering arrangement. He always knows that behind the machinery there is a man, a driver. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is a driver under whose direction everything is working. Now the jTvas, or the living entities, have been accepted by the Lord, as we will note in the later chapters, as His parts and parcels. A particle of gold is also gold, a drop of water from the ocean is also salty, and similarly, we the living entities, being part and parcel of the supreme controller, Tsvara, or Bhagavan, Lord Sri Krsna, have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity because we are minute Tsvaras, subordinate Tsvaras. We are trying to control nature, as presently we are trying to control space or planets, and this tendency to control is there because it is in Krsna. But although we have a tendency to lord it over material nature, we should know that we are not the supreme controller. This is explained in Bhagavad-gTta. What is material nature? This is also explained in Gita as inferior prakrti, inferior nature. The living entity is explained as the superior prakrti. Prakrti is always under control, whether inferior or superior. Prakrti is female, and she is controlled by the Lord just as the activities of a wife are controlled by the husband. Prakrti is always subordinate, predominated by the Lord, who is the predominator. The living entities and material nature are both predominated, controlled by the Supreme Lord. According to the Gita, the living entities, although parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are to be considered prakrti. This is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter, fifth verse of Bhagavad- gTta: "Apareyam itas tv any am." "This prakrti is My lower nature." " Prakrtim viddhi me param jTva-bhutarh maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat." And beyond this there is another prakrti: jTva-bhutam, the living entity. Prakrti itself is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. Above these modes there is eternal time, and by a combination of these modes of nature and under the control and purview of eternal time there are activities which are called karma. These activities are being carried out from time immemorial, and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. For instance, suppose I am a businessman and have worked very hard with intelligence and have amassed a great bank balance. Then I am an enjoyer. But then say I have lost all my money in business; then I am a sufferer. Similarly, in every field of life we enjoy the results of our work, or we suffer the results. This is called karma. Isvara (the Supreme Lord), jlva (the living entity), prakrd (nature), eternal time and karma (activity) are all explained in the Bhagavad- gita. Out of these five, the Lord, the living entities, material nature and time are eternal. The manifestation of prakrd may be temporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that the manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gTta or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, this is not so. The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it is accepted as real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves across the sky, or the coming of the rainy season which nourishes grains. As soon as the rainy season is over and as soon as the cloud goes away, all the crops which were nourished by the rain dry up. Similarly, this material manifestation takes place at a certain interval, stays for a while and then disappears. Such are the workings of prakrd But this cycle is working eternally. Therefore prakrd is eternal; it is not false. The Lord refers to this as "My prakrd ." This material nature is the separated energy of the Supreme Lord, and similarly the living entities are also the energy of the Supreme Lord, but they are not separated. They are eternally related. So the Lord, the living entity, material nature and time are all interrelated and are all eternal. However, the other item, karma, is not eternal. The effects of karma may be very old indeed. We are suffering or enjoying the results of our activities from time immemorial, but we can change the results of our karma, or our activity, and this change depends on the perfection of our knowledge. We are engaged in various activities. Undoubtedly we do not know what sort of activities we should adopt to gain relief from the actions and reactions of all these activities, but this is also explained in the Bhagavad-gTta. The position of Tsvara is that of supreme consciousness. The jTvas, or the living entities, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are also conscious. Both the living entity and material nature are explained as prakrd, the energy of the Supreme Lord, but one of the two, the jTva, is conscious. The other prakrd is not conscious. That is the difference. Therefore the jTva-prakrd is called superior because the jTva has consciousness which is similar to the Lord's. The Lord's is supreme consciousness, however, and one should not claim that the jTva, the living entity, is also supremely conscious. The living being cannot be supremely conscious at any stage of his perfection, and the theory that he can be so is a misleading theory. Conscious he may be, but he is not perfectly or supremely conscious. The distinction between the jfva and the Tsvara will be explained in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gTta. The Lord is ksetra-jhah, conscious, as is the living being, but the living being is conscious of his particular body, whereas the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Because He lives in the heart of every living being, He is conscious of the psychic movements of the particular jTvas. We should not forget this. It is also explained that the Paramatma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone's heart as Tsvara, as the controller, and that He is giving directions for the living entity to act as he desires. The living entity forgets what to do. First of all he makes a determination to act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the acts and reactions of his own karma. After giving up one type of body, he enters another type of body, as we put on and take off old clothes. As the soul thus migrates, he suffers the actions and reactions of his past activities. These activities can be changed when the living being is in the mode of goodness, in sanity, and understands what sort of activities he should adopt. If he does so, then all the actions and reactions of his past activities can be changed. Consequently, karma is not eternal. Therefore we stated that of the five items ( Tsvara , jTva, prakrti time and karma) four are eternal, whereas karma is not eternal. The supreme conscious Tsvara is similar to the living entity in this way: both the consciousness of the Lord and that of the living entity are transcendental. It is not that consciousness is generated by the association of matter. That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gTta. Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the covering of material circumstances, just as light reflected through colored glass may appear to be a certain color, but the consciousness of the Lord is not materially affected. Lord Krsna says, "mayadhyaksena prakrtih." When He descends into the material universe, His consciousness is not materially affected. If He were so affected, He would be unfit to speak on transcendental matters as He does in the Bhagavad-gTta. One cannot say anything about the transcendental world without being free from materially contaminated consciousness. So the Lord is not materially contaminated. Our consciousness, at the present moment, however, is materially contaminated. The Bhagavad-gTta teaches that we have to purify this materially contaminated consciousness. In pure consciousness, our actions will be dovetailed to the will of Tsvara, and that will make us happy. It is not that we have to cease all activities. Rather, our activities are to be purified, and purified activities are called bhakti. Activities in bhakti appear to be like ordinary activities, but they are not contaminated. An ignorant person may see that a devotee is acting or working like an ordinary man, but such a person with a poor fund of knowledge does not know that the activities of the devotee or of the Lord are not contaminated by impure consciousness or matter. They are transcendental to the three modes of nature. We should know, however, that at this point our consciousness is contaminated. When we are materially contaminated, we are called conditioned. False consciousness is exhibited under the impression that I am a product of material nature. This is called false ego. One who is absorbed in the thought of bodily conceptions cannot understand his situation. Bhagavad- gita was spoken to liberate one from the bodily conception of life, and Arjuna put himself in this position in order to receive this information from the Lord. One must become free from the bodily conception of life; that is the preliminary activity for the transcendentalist. One who wants to become free, who wants to become liberated, must first of all learn that he is not this material body. Mukti or liberation means freedom from material consciousness. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam also the definition of liberation is given: Mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world and situation in pure consciousness. All the instructions of Bhagavad-gTta are intended to awaken this pure consciousness, and therefore we find at the last stage of the Gita's instructions that Krsna is asking Arjuna whether he is now in purified consciousness. Purified consciousness means acting in accordance with the instructions of the Lord. This is the whole sum and substance of purified consciousness. Consciousness is already there because we are part and parcel of the Lord, but for us there is the affinity of being affected by the inferior modes. But the Lord, being the Supreme, is never affected. That is the difference between the Supreme Lord and the conditioned souls. What is this consciousness? This consciousness is "I am." Then what am I? In contaminated consciousness "I am" means "I am the lord of all I survey. I am the enjoyer." The world revolves because every living being thinks that he is the lord and creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychic divisions. One is that I am the creator, and the other is that I am the enjoyer. But actually the Supreme Lord is both the creator and the enjoyer, and the living entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, is neither the creator nor the enjoyer, but a cooperator. He is the created and the enjoyed. For instance, a part of a machine cooperates with the whole machine; a part of the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands, feet, eyes, legs and so on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the enjoyers. The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teeth chew and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principal factor that nourishes the body's organization. Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the tree by watering its root, and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach, for if the body is to be kept in a healthy state, then the parts of the body must cooperate to feed the stomach. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer and the creator, and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate to satisfy Him. This cooperation will actually help us, just as food taken by the stomach will help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand think that they should take the food themselves instead of giving it to the stomach, then they will be frustrated. The central figure of creation and of enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy. The relation is also like that of the master and the servant. If the master is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied. Similarly, the Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency to become the creator and the tendency to enjoy the material world are there also in the living entities because these tendencies are there in the Supreme Lord who has created the manifested cosmic world. We shall find, therefore, in this Bhagavad-gTta that the complete whole is comprised of the supreme controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time, and karma, or activities, and all of these are explained in this text. All of these taken completely form the complete whole, and the complete whole is called the Supreme Absolute Truth. The complete whole and the complete Absolute Truth are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. All manifestations are due to His different energies. He is the complete whole. It is also explained in the Gita that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete. Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sutra to be like the rays of the sunshine. The impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute whole, and so also is the conception of Paramatma in the Twelfth Chapter. There it shall be seen that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Purusottama, is above both impersonal Brahman and the partial realization of Paramatma. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac- cid-ananda-vigraha. The Brahma-samhita begins in this way: Tsvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda- vigrahah / anadir adir govindah sarva- karana-kdranam. "Krsna is the cause of all causes. He is the primal cause, and He is the very form of eternal His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swarni Prabhupada the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON and greatest exponent of Kr§na consciousness in the western world. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati GosvamT Maharaja the spiritual master of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and foremost scholar and devotee in the recent age. Srila Gaura Kisora Das BabajI Maharaja the spiritual master of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta SarasvatT GosvamT and intimate student of Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode &rila Thakur Bhaktivinode the pioneer of the program to benedict the entire world with Kr§pa consciousness Plale 1. Dlirtarastra inquires from Sanjaya about tlie events of the battle. Plate 2. "O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu.” Plate 3. Kr?ria and Arjuna in the midst of die two armies. Plate 4. Kr§na and Arjuna sounded their transcendental conchshells. Plate 5. When Arjuna saw all different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion. tf. Plate 8. The soul changes bodies as a person change garments. Plate 9. The body changes, but the soul remains the same. Plate JO. Kp?na and the living entity are seated on the tree of the body. Plate 11. While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them Plate 12. "Be thou happy by this sacrifice because its performance will bestow upon you all desirable things.” being, knowledge and bliss." Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of His sat (being) feature. Paramatma realization is the realization of the cit (eternal knowledge) feature. But realization of the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is realization of all the transcendental features: sat, cit and ananda (being, knowledge, bliss) in complete vigraha (form). People with less intelligence consider the Supreme Truth to be impersonal, but He is a transcendental person, and this is confirmed in all Vedic literatures. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam. As we are all individual living beings and have our individuality, the Supreme Absolute Truth is also, in the ultimate issue, a person, and realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all of the transcendental features. The complete whole is not formless. If He is formless, or if He is less than any other thing, then He cannot be the complete whole. The complete whole must have everything within our experience and beyond our experience, otherwise it cannot be complete. The complete whole, Personality of Godhead, has immense potencies. How Krsna is acting in different potencies is also explained in Bhagavad- gfta. This phenomenal world or material world in which we are placed is also complete in itself because the twenty-four elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation, according to Sankhya philosophy, are completely adjusted to produce complete resources which are necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. There is nothing extraneous; nor is there anything needed. This manifestation has its own time fixed by the energy of the supreme whole, and when its time is complete, these temporary manifestations will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the complete. There is complete facility for the small complete units, namely the living entities, to realize the complete, and all sorts of incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the complete. So Bhagavad-gTta contains the complete knowledge of Vedic wisdom. All Vedic knowledge is infallible, and Hindus accept Vedic knowledge to be complete and infallible. For example, cow dung is the stool of an animal, and according to smrti or Vedic injunction, if one touches the stool of an animal he has to take a bath to purify himself. But in the Vedic scriptures cow dung is considered to be a purifying agent. One might consider this to be contradictory, but it is accepted because it is Vedic injunction, and indeed by accepting this, one will not commit a mistake; subsequently it has been proved by modern science that cow dung contains all antiseptic properties. So Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and mistakes, and Bhagavad-gTta is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge is not a question of research. Our research work is imperfect because we are researching things with imperfect senses. We have to accept perfect knowledge which comes down, as is stated in Bhagavad-gTta, by the parampara disciplic succession. We have to receive knowledge from the proper source in disciplic succession beginning with the supreme spiritual master, the Lord Himself, and handed down to a succession of spiritual masters. Arjuna, the student who took lessons from Lord Sri Krsna, accepts everything that He says without contradicting Him. One is not allowed to accept one portion of Bhagavad-gTta and not another. No. We must accept Bhagavad-gTta without interpretation, without deletion and without our own whimsical participation in the matter. The GTta should be taken as the most perfect presentation of Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge is received from transcendental sources, and the first words were spoken by the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord are different from words spoken by a person of the mundane world who is infected with four defects. A mundaner 1) is sure to commit mistakes, 2) is invariably illusioned, 3) has the tendency to cheat others and 4) is limited by imperfect senses. With these four imperfections, one cannot deliver perfect information of all-pervading knowledge. Vedic knowledge is not imparted by such defective living entities. It was imparted unto the heart of Brahma, the first created living being, and Brahma in his turn disseminated this knowledge to his sons and disciples, as he originally received it from the Lord. The Lord is purnam, all-perfect, and there is no possibility of His becoming subjected to the laws of material nature. One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that the Lord is the only proprietor of everything in the universe and that He is the original creator, the creator of Brahma. In the Eleventh Chapter the Lord is addressed as prapitamaha because Brahma is addressed as pitamaha, the grandfather, and He is the creator of the grandfather. So no one should claim to be the proprietor of anything; one should accept only things which are set aside for him by the Lord as his quota for his maintenance. There are many examples given of how we are to utilize those things which are set aside for us by the Lord. This is also explained in Bhagavad- gTta. In the beginning, Arjuna decided that he should not fight in the Battle of Kuruksetra. This was his own decision. Arjuna told the Lord that it was not possible for him to enjoy the kingdom after killing his own kinsmen. This decision was based on the body because he was thinking that the body was himself and that his bodily relations or expansions were his brothers, nephews, brothers-in-law, grandfathers and so on. He was thinking in this way to satisfy his bodily demands. Bhagavad-gTta was spoken by the Lord just to change this view, and at the end Arjuna decides to fight under the directions of the Lord when he says, "karisye vacanarh tava." "I shall act according to Thy word." In this world man is not meant to toil like hogs. He must be intelligent to realize the importance of human life and refuse to act like an ordinary animal. A human being should realize the aim of his life, and this direction is given in all Vedic literatures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-gTta. Vedic literature is meant for human beings, not for animals. Animals can kill other living animals, and there is no question of sin on their part, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature. In the Bhagavad-gTta it is clearly explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different modes of nature: the activities of goodness, of passion and of ignorance. Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness, passion and ignorance. All of this is clearly described, and if we properly utilize the instructions of Bhagavad-gTta, then our whole life will become purified, and ultimately we will be able to reach the destination which is beyond this material sky. That destination is called the sanatana sky, the eternal spiritual sky. In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body, or a piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world there is another world of which we have information. This world consists of another nature which is sanatana, eternal. JTva is also described as sanatana, eternal, and the Lord is also described as sanatana in the Eleventh Chapter. We have an intimate relationship with the Lord, and because we are all qualitatively one— the sanatana-dhama, or sky, the sanatana Supreme Personality and the sanatana living entities—the whole purpose of Bhagavad-gTta is to revive our sanatana occupation, or sanatana- dharma, which is the eternal occupation of the living entity. We are temporarily engaged in different activities, but all of these activities can be purified when we give up all these temporary activities and take up the activities which are prescribed by the Supreme Lord. That is called our pure life. The Supreme Lord and His transcendental abode are both sanatana, as are the living entities, and the combined association of the Supreme Lord and the living entities in the sanatana abode is the perfection of human life. The Lord is very kind to the living entities because they are His sons. Lord Krsna declares in Bhagavad-gTta, "sarva-yonisu...aham bfja-pradah pita." "I am the father of all." Of course there are all types of living entities according to their various karmas, but here the Lord claims that He is the father of all of them. Therefore the Lord descends to reclaim all of these fallen, conditioned souls to call them back to the sanatoria eternal sky so that the sanatana living entities may regain their eternal sanatana positions in eternal association with the Lord. The Lord comes Himself in different incarnations, or He sends His confidential servants as sons or His associates or acaryas to reclaim the conditioned souls. Therefore, sanatana-dharma does not refer to any sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord. Sanatana-dharma refers, as stated previously, to the eternal occupation of the living entity. Ramanujacarya has explained the word sanatana as "that which has neither beginning nor end," so when we speak of sanatana-dharma, we must take it for granted on the authority of Sri Ramanujacarya that it has neither beginning nor end. The English word "religion" is a little different from sanatana- dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith, and faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change this faith and adopt another, but sanatana-dharma refers to that activity which cannot be changed. For instance, liquidity cannot be taken from water, nor can heat be taken from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity cannot be taken from the living entity. Sanatana-dharma is eternally integral with the living entity. When we speak of sanatana-dharma, therefore, we must take it for granted on the authority of Sri Ramanujacarya that it has neither beginning nor end. That which has neither end nor beginning must not be sectarian, for it cannot be limited by any boundaries. Yet those belonging to some sectarian faith will wrongly consider that sanatana-dharma is also sectarian, but if we go deeply into the matter and consider it in the light of modern science, it is possible for us to see that sanatana-dharma is the business of all the people of the world- nay, of all the living entities of the universe. Non -sanatana religious faith may have some beginning in the annals of human history, but there is no beginning to the history of sanatana-dharma because it remains eternally with the living entities. Insofar as the living entities are concerned, the authoritative sastras state that the living entity has neither birth nor death. In the Gita it is stated that the living entity is never born, and he never dies. He is eternal and indestructible, and he continues to live after the destruction of his temporary material body. In reference to the concept of sanatana-dharma, we must try to understand the concept of religion from the Sanskrit root meaning of the word. Dharma refers to that which is constantly existing with the particular object. We conclude that there is heat and light along with the fire; without heat and light, there is no meaning to the word fire. Similarly, we must discover the essential part of the living being, that part which is his constant companion. That constant companion is his eternal quality, and that eternal quality is his eternal religion. When Sanatana GosvamI asked Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about the svarupa of every living being, the Lord replied that the svarupa or constitutional position of the living being is the rendering of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we analyze this statement of Lord Caitanya, we can easily see that every living being is constantly engaged in rendering service to another living being. A living being serves other living beings in two capacities. By doing so, the living entity enjoys life. The lower animals serve human beings as servants serve their master. A serves B master, B serves C master and C serves D master and so on. Under these circumstances, we can see that one friend serves another friend, the mother serves the son, the wife serves the husband, the husband serves the wife and so on. If we go on searching in this spirit, it will be seen that there is no exception in the society of living beings to the activity of service. The politician presents his manifesto for the public to convince them of his capacity for service. The voters therefore give the politician their valuable votes, thinking that he will render valuable service to society. The shopkeeper serves the customer, and the artisan serves the capitalist. The capitalist serves the family, and the family serves the state in the terms of the eternal capacity of the eternal living being. In this way we can see that no living being is exempt from rendering service to other living beings, and therefore we can safely conclude that service is the constant companion of the living being and that the rendering of service is the eternal religion of the living being. Yet man professes to belong to a particular type of faith with reference to particular time and circumstance and thus claims to be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or any other sect. Such designations are non- sanatana- dharma. A Hindu may change his faith to become a Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faith to become a Hindu, or a Christian may change his faith and so on. But in all circumstances the change of religious faith does not effect the eternal occupation of rendering service to others. The Hindu, Muslim or Christian in all circumstances is servant of someone. Thus, to profess a particular type of sect is not to profess one's sanatana- dharma. The rendering of service is sanatana-dharma. Factually we are related to the Supreme Lord in service. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are His servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we become happy. We cannot become happy otherwise. It is not possible to be happy independantly, just as no one part of the body can be happy without cooperating with the stomach. It is not possible for the living entity to be happy without rendering transcendental loving service unto the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gTta, worship of different demigods or rendering service to them is not approved. It is stated in the Seventh Chapter, twentieth verse: kamais tais tair hrt-ajhanah prapadyante 'nya-devatah tam tam niyamam asthaya prakrtya niyatah svaya "Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures." (Bg. 7.20) Here it is plainly said that those who are directed by lust worship the demigods and not the Supreme Lord Krsna. When we mention the name Krsna, we do not refer to any sectarian name. Krsna means the highest pleasure, and it is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir or storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Anandamayo 'bhyasat. (Vs. 1.1.12) The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also become happy. The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrndavana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krsna was in Vrndavana, His activities with His cowherd boy friends, with His damsel friends, with the inhabitants of Vrndavana and with the cows were all full of happiness. The total population of Vrndavana knew nothing but Krsna. But Lord Krsna even discouraged His father Nanda Maharaja from worshiping the demigod Indra because He wanted to establish the fact that people need not worship any demigod. They need only worship the Supreme Lord because their ultimate goal is to return to His abode. The abode of Lord Sri Krsna is described in the Bhagavad-gTta, Fifteenth Chapter, sixth verse: na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama "That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. And anyone who reaches it never comes back to this material world." (Bg. 15.6) This verse gives a description of that eternal sky. Of course we have a material conception of the sky, and we think of it in relationship to the sun, moon, stars and so on, but in this verse the Lord states that in the eternal sky there is no need for the sun nor for the moon nor fire of any kind because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahmajyoti, the rays emanating from the Supreme Lord. We are trying with difficulty to reach other planets, but it is not difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. This abode is referred to as Goloka. In the Brahma-samhita it is beautifully described: Goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhiitah. The Lord resides eternally in His abode Goloka, yet He can be approached from this world, and to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real form, sac-cid- ananda-vigraha. When He manifests this form, there is no need for our imagining what He looks like. To discourage such imaginative speculation, He descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Syamasundara. Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us and plays with us as a human being. But because of this we should not consider that the Lord is one of us. It is by His potency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and displays His pastimes, which are prototypes of those pastimes found in His abode. In the effulgent rays of the spiritual sky there are innumerable planets floating. The brahmajyoti emanates from the supreme abode, Krsnaloka, and the anandamaya-cinmaya planets, which are not material, float in those rays. The Lord says, na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama. One who can approach that spiritual sky is not required to descend again to the material sky. In the material sky, even if we approach the highest planet (Brahmaloka), what to speak of the moon, we will find the same conditions of life, namely birth, death, disease and old age. No planet in the material universe is free from these four principles of material existence. Therefore the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita, abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino 'rjuna. The living entities are traveling from one planet to another, not by mechanical arrangement but by a spiritual process. This is also mentioned: yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah. No mechanical arrangement is necessary if we want interplanetary travel. The GTta instructs: yanti deva-vrata devan. The moon, the sun and higher planets are called svargaloka. There are three different statuses of planets: higher, middle and lower planetary systems. The earth belongs to the middle planetary system. Bhagavad-gTta informs us how to travel to the higher planetary systems ( devaloka ) with a very simple formula: yanti deva- vrata devan. One need only worship the particular demigod of that particular planet and in that way go to the moon, the sun or any of the higher planetary systems. Yet Bhagavad-gTta does not advise us to go to any of the planets in this material world because even if we go to Brahmaloka, the highest planet, through some sort of mechanical contrivance by maybe traveling for forty thousand years (and who would live that long?), we will still find the material inconveniences of birth, death, disease and old age. But one who wants to approach the supreme planet, Krsnaloka, or any of the other planets within the spiritual sky, will not meet with these material inconveniences. Amongst all of the planets in the spiritual sky there is one supreme planet called Goloka Vrndavana, which is the original planet in the abode of the original Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. All of this information is given in Bhagavad-gTta, and we are given through its instruction information how to leave the material world and begin a truly blissful life in the spiritual sky. In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gTta, the real picture of the material world is given. It is said there: urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham asvattham prahur avyayam chandamsi yasya parnani yas tam veda sa veda-vit "The Supreme Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas." (Bg. 15.1) Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there is substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world. The Lord suggests that we attain the spiritual world in the following manner: nirmana-moha jita-sahga-dosa adhyatma-n i tyavin ivrtta-kamah dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-sarhjhair gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat. That padam avyayam or eternal kingdom can be reached by one who is nirmana-moha. What does this mean? We are after designations. Someone wants to become a son, someone wants to become Lord, someone wants to become the president or a rich man or a king or something else. As long as we are attached to these designations, we are attached to the body because designations belong to the body. But we are not these bodies, and realizing this is the first stage in spiritual realization. We are associated with the three modes of material nature, but we must become detached through devotional service to the Lord. If we are not attached to devotional service to the Lord, then we cannot become detached from the modes of material nature. Designations and attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to lord it over the material nature. As long as we do not give up this propensity of lording it over material nature, there is no possibility of returning to the kingdom of the Supreme, the sanatana-dhama. That eternal kingdom, which is never destroyed, can be approached by one who is not bewildered by the attractions of false material enjoyments, who is situated in the service of the Supreme Lord. One so situated can easily approach that supreme abode. Elsewhere in the Gita it is stated: avyakto 'ksara ity uktas tarn dhuh paramam gatim yam prapya na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama. Avyakta means unmanifested. Not even all of the material world is manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot even see all of the stars within this material universe. In Vedic literature we can receive much information about all the planets, and we can believe it or not believe it. All of the important planets are described in Vedic literatures, especially SrTmad- Bhagavatam, and the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, is described as avyakta, unmanifested. One should desire and hanker after that supreme kingdom, for when one attains that kingdom, he does not have to return to this material world. Next, one may raise the question of how one goes about approaching that abode of the Supreme Lord. Information of this is given in the Eighth Chapter. It is said there: anta-kale ca mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati nasty atra samsayah "Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this." (Bg. 8.5) One who thinks of Krsna at the time of his death goes to Krsna. One must remember the form of Krsna; if he quits his body thinking of this form, he approaches the spiritual kingdom. Mad-bhavam refers to the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is sac-cid-ananda- vigraha —eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. Our present body is not sac-cid-ananda. It is asat, not sat. It is not eternal; it is perishable. It is not cit, full of knowledge, but it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, nor do we even have perfect knowledge of this material world where there are so many things unknown to us. The body is also nirananda; instead of being full of bliss it is full of misery. All of the miseries we experience in the material world arise from the body, but one who leaves this body thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at once attains a sac-cid-ananda body, as is promised in this fifth verse of the Eighth Chapter where Lord Krsna says, "He attains My nature." The process of quitting this body and getting another body in the material world is also organized. A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. Higher authorities, not the living entity himself, make this decision. According to our activities in this life, we either rise or sink. This life is a preparation for the next life. If we can prepare, therefore, in this life to get promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after quitting this material body, we will attain a spiritual body just like the Lord. As explained before, there are different kinds of transcendentalists, the brahmavadi paramatmavadi and the devotee, and, as mentioned, in the brahmajyoti (spiritual sky) there are innumerable spiritual planets. The number of these planets is far, far greater than all of the planets of this material world. This material world has been approximated as only one quarter of the creation. In this material segment there are millions and billions of universes with trillions of planets and suns, stars and moons. But this whole material creation is only a fragment of the total creation. Most of the creation is in the spiritual sky. One who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman is at once transferred to the brahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord and thus attains the spiritual sky. The devotee, who wants to enjoy the association of the Lord, enters into the Vaikuntha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord by His plenary expansions as Narayana with four hands and with different names like Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Govinda, etc., associates with him there. Therefore at the end of life the transcendentalists either think of the brahmajyoti, the Paramatma or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. In all cases they enter into the spiritual sky, but only the devotee, or he who is in personal touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikuntha planets. The Lord further adds that of this "there is no doubt." This must be believed firmly. We should not reject that which does not tally with our imagination; our attitude should be that of Arjuna: "I believe everything that You have said." Therefore when the Lord says that at the time of death whoever thinks of Him as Brahman or Paramatma or as the Personality of Godhead certainly enters into the spiritual sky, there is no doubt about it. There is no question of disbelieving it. The information on how to think of the Supreme Being at the time of death is also given in the Gita: yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram tarn tarn evaid kaunteya sada tad-bhava-bhavitah "In whatever condition one quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state of being without fail." (Bg. 8.6) Material nature is a display of one of the energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Visnu Purana the total energies of the Supreme Lord as Visnu-saktih para prokta, etc., are delineated. The Supreme Lord has diverse and innumerable energies which are beyond our conception; however, great learned sages or liberated souls have studied these energies and have analyzed them into three parts. All of the energies are of Visnu-sakti, that is to say they are different potencies of Lord Visnu. That energy is para, transcendental. Living entities also belong to the superior energy, as has already been explained. The other energies, or material energies, are in the mode of ignorance. At the time of death we can either remain in the inferior energy of this material world, or we can transfer to the energy of the spiritual world. In life we are accustomed to thinking either of the material or the spiritual energy. There are so many literatures which fill our thoughts with the material energy-newspapers, novels, etc. Our thinking, which is now absorbed in these literatures, must be transferred to the Vedic literatures. The great sages, therefore, have written so many Vedic literatures such as the Puranas, etc. The Puranas are not imaginative; they are historical records. In the Caitanya- caritamrita there is the following verse: maya mugdha jiver nahi svatah krsna-jnan jivera krpaya kaila krsna veda-purana (Cc. Madhya 20.122) The forgetful living entities or conditioned souls have forgotten their relationship with the Supreme Lord, and they are engrossed in thinking of material activities. Just to transfer their thinking power to the spiritual sky, Krsna has given a great number of Vedic literatures. First He divided the Vedas into four, then He explained them in the Puranas, and for less capable people He wrote the Mahabharata. In the Mahabharata there is given the Bhagavad-gTta. Then all Vedic literature is summarized in the Vedanta-sutra, and for future guidance He gave a natural commentation on the Vedanta-sutra, called Srimad-Bhagavatam. We must always engage our minds in reading these Vedic literatures. Just as materialists engage their minds in reading newspapers, magazines and so many materialistic literatures, we must transfer our reading to these literatures which are given to us by Vyasadeva; in that way it will be possible for us to remember the Supreme Lord at the time of death. That is the only way suggested by the Lord, and He guarantees the result: "There is no doubt." (Bg. 8.7) tasmat sarvesu kalesu mam anusmara yudhya ca mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mam evaisyasy asamsayah "Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me, and at the same time you should continue your prescribed duty and fight. With your mind and activities always fixed on Me, and everything engaged in Me, you will attain to Me without any doubt." He does not advise Arjuna to simply remember Him and give up his occupation. No, the Lord never suggests anything impractical. In this material world, in order to maintain the body one has to work. Human society is divided, according to work, into four divisions of social order -brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. The brahmana class or intelligent class is working in one way, the ksatriya or administrative class is working in another way, and the mercantile class and the laborers are all tending to their specific duties. In the human society, whether one is a laborer, merchant, warrior, administrator, or farmer, or even if one belongs to the highest class and is a literary man, a scientist or a theologian, he has to work in order to maintain his existence. The Lord therefore tells Arjuna that he need not give up his occupation, but while he is engaged in his occupation he should remember Krsna. If he doesn't practice remembering Krsna while he is struggling for existence, then it will not be possible for him to remember Krsna at the time of death. Lord Caitanya also advises this. He says that one should practice remembering the Lord by chanting the names of the Lord always. The names of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent. So Lord Krsna's instruction to Arjuna to "remember Me" and Lord Caitanya's injunction to always "chant the names of Lord Krsna" are the same instruction. There is no difference, because Krsna and Krsna's name are nondifferent. In the absolute status there is no difference between reference and referent. Therefore we have to practice remembering the Lord always, twenty-four hours a day, by chanting His names and molding our life's activities in such a way that we can remember Him always. How is this possible? The acaryas give the following example. If a married woman is attached to another man, or if a man has an attachment for a woman other than his wife, then the attachment is to be considered very strong. One with such an attachment is always thinking of the loved one. The wife who is thinking of her lover is always thinking of meeting him, even while she is carrying out her household chores. In fact, she carries out her household work even more carefully so her husband will not suspect her attachment. Similarly, we should always remember the supreme lover, Sri Krsna, and at the same time perform our material duties very nicely. A strong sense of love is required here. If we have a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then we can discharge our duty and at the same time remember Him. But we have to develop that sense of love. Arjuna, for instance, was always thinking of Krsna; he was the constant companion of Krsna, and at the same time he was a warrior. Krsna did not advise him to give up fighting and go to the forest to meditate. When Lord Krsna delineates the yoga system to Arjuna, Arjuna says that the practice of this system is not possible for him. arjuna uvaca yo 'yam yogas tvaya proktah samyena madhusudana etasyaham na pasyami cahcalatvat sthitirh sthiram "Arjuna said, O Madhusudana, the system of yoga which you have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady." (Bg. 6.33) But the Lord says: yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantaratmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa meyuktatamo matah "Of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga, and is the highest of all." (Bg. 6.47) So one who thinks of the Supreme Lord always is the greatest yogi, the supermost jnam, and the greatest devotee at the same time. The Lord further tells Arjuna that as a ksatriya he cannot give up his fighting, but if Arjuna fights remembering Krsna, then he will be able to remember Him at the time of death. But one must be completely surrendered in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. We work not with our body, actually, but with our mind and intelligence. So if the intelligence and the mind are always engaged in the thought of the Supreme Lord, then naturally the senses are also engaged in His service. Superficially, at least, the activities of the senses remain the same, but the consciousness is changed. The Bhagavad-gTta teaches one how to absorb the mind and intelligence in the thought of the Lord. Such absorption will enable one to transfer himself to the kingdom of the Lord. If the mind is engaged in Krsna's service, then the senses are automatically engaged in His service. This is the art, and this is also the secret of Bhagavad-gTta: total absorption in the thought of Sri Krsna. Modern man has struggled very hard to reach the moon, but he has not tried very hard to elevate himself spiritually. If one has fifty years of life ahead of him, he should engage that brief time in cultivating this practice of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This practice is the devotional process of: sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam These nine processes, of which the easiest is sravanarh, hearing Bhagavad- gita from the realized person, will turn one to the thought of the Supreme Being. This will lead to niscala, remembering the Supreme Lord, and will enable one, upon leaving the body, to attain a spiritual body which is just fit for association with the Supreme Lord. The Lord further says: abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina paramarh purusarh divyarh yati parthanucintayan "By practicing this remembering, without being deviated, thinking ever of the Supreme Godhead, one is sure to achieve the planet of the Divine, the Supreme Personality, O son of Kuntl." (Bg. 8.8) This is not a very difficult process. However, one must learn it from an experienced person, from one who is already in the practice. The mind is always flying to this and that, but one must always practice concentrating the mind on the form of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna or on the sound of His name. The mind is naturally restless, going hither and thither, but it can rest in the sound vibration of Krsna. One must thus meditate on paramarh purusarh, the Supreme Person; and thus attain Him. The ways and the means for ultimate realization, ultimate attainment, are stated in the Bhagavad-gTta, and the doors of this knowledge are open for everyone. No one is barred out. All classes of men can approach the Lord by thinking of Him, for hearing and thinking of Him is possible for everyone. The Lord further says: mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah striyo vaisyas tatha sudras te 'pi yanti param gatim kirn punar brahmanah punya bhakta rajarsayas tatha anityam asukharh lokam imam prapya bhajasva mam "O son of Prtha, anyone who will take shelter in Me, whether a woman, or a merchant, or one born in a low family, can yet approach the supreme destination. How much greater then are the brahmanas, the righteous, the devotees, and saintly kings! In this miserable world, these are fixed in devotional service to the Lord." (Bg. 9.32-33) Human beings even in the lower statuses of life (a merchant, a woman or a laborer) can attain the Supreme. One does not need highly developed intelligence. The point is that anyone who accepts the principle of bhakti- yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, as the highest target, the ultimate goal, can approach the Lord in the spiritual sky. If one adopts the principles enunciated in Bhagavad-gTta, he can make his life perfect and make a perfect solution to all the problems of life which arise out of the transient nature of material existence. This is the sum and substance of the entire Bhagavad-gTta. In conclusion, Bhagavad-gTta is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. It is capable of saving one from all fear. nehabhikrama-naso 'sti pratyavayo na vidyate svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat "In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear." (Bg. 2.40) If one reads Bhagavad-gTta sincerely and seriously, then all of the reactions of his past misdeeds will not react upon him. In the last portion of Bhagavad- gTta, Lord Sri Krsna proclaims: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekarh saranam vraja aham tv am sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah "Give up all varieties of religiousness, and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore, you have nothing to fear." (Bg. 18.66) Thus the Lord takes all responsibility for one who surrenders unto Him, and He indemnifies all the reactions of sin. One cleanses himself daily by taking a bath in water, but one who takes his bath only once in the sacred Ganges water of the Bhagavad-gTta cleanses away all the dirt of material life. Because Bhagavad-gTta is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad- gTta. In the present age, mankind is so absorbed with mundane activities that it is not possible to read all of the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary. This one book, Bhagavad-gTta, will suffice because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures and because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is said that one who drinks the water of the Ganges certainly gets salvation, but what to speak of one who drinks the waters of Bhagavad-gTta ? GTta is the very nectar of the Mahabharata spoken by Visnu Himself, for Lord Krsna is the original Visnu. It is nectar emanating from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Ganges is said to be emanating from the lotus feet of the Lord. Of course there is no difference between the mouth and the feet of the Supreme Lord, but in our position we can appreciate that the Bhagavad-gTta is even more important than the Ganges. The Bhagavad-gTta is just like a cow, and Lord Krsna, who is a cowherd boy, is milking this cow. The milk is the essence of the Vedas, and Arjuna is just like a calf. The wise men, the great sages and pure devotees, are to drink the nectarean milk of Bhagavad-gTta. In this present day, man is very eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. So let there be one common scripture for the whole world— Bhagavad-gTta. And let there be one God only for the whole world—Sri Krsna. And one mantra only—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And let there be one work only—the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. THE DISCIPLIC SUCCESSION Evarh parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh. ( Bhagavad-gita , 4.2) This Bhagavad-gTta As It Is is received through this disciplic succession: 1) Krsna, 2) Brahma, 3) Narada, 4) Vyasa, 5) Madhva, 6) Padmanabha, 7) Nrhari, 8) Madhava, 9) Aksobhya, 10) Jaya Tirtha, 11) Jnanasindhu, 12) Dayanidhi, 13) Vidyanidhi, 14) Rajendra, 15) Jayadharma, 16) Purusottama, 17) Brahmanya Tirtha, 18) Vyasa Tirtha, 19) Laksmlpati, 20) Madhavendra Purl, 21) Isvara Purl, (Nityananda, Advaita), 22) Lord Caitanya, 23) Rupa, (Svarupa, Sanatana), 24) Raghunatha, JIva, 25) Krsnadasa, 26) Narottama, 27) Visvanatha, 28) (Baladeva) Jagannatha, 29) Bhaktivinoda, 30) Gaurakisora, 31) Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatl, 32) Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. CHAPTER ONE Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra TEXT 1 ddM I dd^dl MrHd : I d IH+I: mu^dl^d Rhd$dd II? II dhrtarastra uvaca dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre samaveta yuyutsavah mamakah pandavas caiva kim akurvata sanjaya dhrtarastrah —King Dhrtarastra; uvaca —said; dharma-ksetre —in the place of pilgrimage; kuru-ksetre —in the place named Kuruksetra; samavetah — assembled; yuyutsavah —desiring to fight; mamakah —my party (sons); pandavah —the sons of Pandu; ca —and; eva-certainly; kim —what; akurvata — did they do; sanjaya —O Sanjaya. TRANSLATION Dhrtarastra said: O Sanjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kuruksetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, being desirous to fight? PURPORT Bhagavad-gTta is the widely read theistic science summarized in the GTta- mahatmya (Glorification of the Gita). There it says that one should read Bhagavad-gTta very scrutinizingly with the help of a person who is a devotee of Sri Krsna and try to understand it without personally motivated interpretations. The example of clear understanding is there in the Bhagavad- gTta itself, in the way the teaching is understood by Arjuna, who heard the GTta directly from the Lord. If someone is fortunate enough to understand Bhagavad-gTta in that line of disciplic succession, without motivated interpretation, then he surpasses all studies of Vedic wisdom, and all scriptures of the world. One will find in the Bhagavad-gTta all that is contained in other scriptures, but the reader will also find things which are not to be found elsewhere. That is the specific standard of the GTta. It is the perfect theistic science because it is directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna. The topics discussed by Dhrtarastra and Sanjaya, as described in the Mahabharata, form the basic principle for this great philosophy. It is understood that this philosophy evolved on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, which is a sacred place of pilgrimage from the immemorial time of the Vedic age. It was spoken by the Lord when He was present personally on this planet for the guidance of mankind. The word dharma-ksetra (a place where religious rituals are performed) is significant because, on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was present on the side of Arjuna. Dhrtarastra, the father of the Kurus, was highly doubtful about the possibility of his sons' ultimate victory. In his doubt, he inquired from his secretary Sanjaya, "What did my sons and the sons of Pandu do?" He was confident that both his sons and the sons of his younger brother Pandu were assembled in that Field of Kuruksetra for a determined engagement of the war. Still, his inquiry is significant. He did not want a compromise between the cousins and brothers, and he wanted to be sure of the fate of his sons on the battlefield. Because the battle was arranged to be fought at Kuruksetra, which is mentioned elsewhere in the Vedas as a place of worship—even for the denizens of heaven—Dhrtarastra became very fearful about the influence of the holy place on the outcome of the battle. He knew very well that this would influence Arjuna and the sons of Pandu favorably, because by nature they were all virtuous. Sanjaya was a student of Vyasa, and therefore, by the mercy of Vyasa, Sanjaya was able to envision the Battlefield of Kuruksetra even while he was in the room of Dhrtarastra. And so, Dhrtarastra asked him about the situation on the battlefield. Both the Pandavas and the sons of Dhrtarastra belong to the same family, but Dhrtarastra's mind is disclosed herein. He deliberately claimed only his sons as Kurus, and he separated the sons of Pandu from the family heritage. One can thus understand the specific position of Dhrtarastra in his relationship with his nephews, the sons of Pandu. As in the paddy field the unnecessary plants are taken out, so it is expected from the very beginning of these topics that in the religious field of Kuruksetra where the father of religion, Sri Krsna, was present, the unwanted plants like Dhrtarastra's son Duryodhana and others would be wiped out and the thoroughly religious persons, headed by Yudhisthira, would be established by the Lord. This is the significance of the words dharma-ksetre and kuru- ksetre, apart from their historical and Vedic importance. TEXT 2 dc|M I TMT IR H sanjaya uvaca drstva tu pandavamkarh vyudham duryodhanas tada acaryam upasangamya raja vacanam abravit sanjayah —Sanjaya; uvaca —said; drstva —after seeing; tu —but; pandava- arukam —the soldiers of the Pandavas; vyudham —arranged in military phalanx; duryodhanah —King Duryodhana; tada —at that time; acaryam — the teacher; upasangamya —approaching nearby; raja —the king; vacanam — words; abravit —spoke. TRANSLATION Sanjaya said: O King, after looking over the army gathered by the sons of Pandu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and began to speak the following words: PURPORT Dhrtarastra was blind from birth. Unfortunately, he was also bereft of spiritual vision. He knew very well that his sons were equally blind in the matter of religion, and he was sure that they could never reach an understanding with the Pandavas, who were all pious since birth. Still he was doubtful about the influence of the place of pilgrimage, and Sanjaya could understand his motive in asking about the situation on the battlefield. He wanted, therefore, to encourage the despondent King, and thus he warned him that his sons were not going to make any sort of compromise under the influence of the holy place. Sanjaya therefore informed the King that his son, Duryodhana, after seeing the military force of the Pandavas, at once went to the commander-in-chief, Dronacarya, to inform him of the real position. Although Duryodhana is mentioned as the king, he still had to go to the commander on account of the seriousness of the situation. He was therefore quite fit to be a politician. But Duryodhana's diplomatic veneer could not disguise the fear he felt when he saw the military arrangement of the Pandavas. TEXT 3 M^di M|U|M<|U|HMl4 I ^rp^u, 4 twr 113 ii pasyaitam pandu-putranam acarya mahatfm camum vyudham drupada-putrena tava sisyena dhimata pasya —behold; etam —this; pandu-putranam —of the sons of Pandu; acarya —0 teacher; mahatim —great; camum —military force; vyudham —arranged; drupada-putrena —by the son of Drupada; tava —your; sisyena — disciple; dhimata —very intelligent. TRANSLATION O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada. PURPORT Duryodhana, a great diplomat, wanted to point out the defects of Dronacarya, the great brahmana commander-in-chief. Dronacarya had some political quarrel with King Drupada, the father of Draupadi, who was Arjuna's wife. As a result of this quarrel, Drupada performed a great sacrifice, by which he received the benediction of having a son who would be able to kill Dronacarya. Dronacarya knew this perfectly well, and yet, as a liberal brahmana, he did not hesitate to impart all his military secrets when the son of Drupada, Dhrstadyumna, was entrusted to him for military education. Now, on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, Dhrstadyumna took the side of the Pandavas, and it was he who arranged for their military phalanx, after having learned the art from Dronacarya. Duryodhana pointed out this mistake of Dronacarya's so that he might be alert and uncompromising in the fighting. By this he wanted to point out also that he should not be similarly lenient in battle against the Pandavas, who were also Dronacarya's affectionate students. Arjuna, especially, was his most affectionate and brilliant student. Duryodhana also warned that such leniency in the fight would lead to defeat. TEXT 4 atra sura mahesvasa bhimarjuna-sama yudhi yuyudhd.no viratas ca drupadas ca maha-rathah atra —here; surah —heroes; mahesvasah —mighty bowmen; bhfma-arjuna — Bhlma and Arjuna; samah —equal; yudhi —in the fight; yuyudhanah — Yuyudhana; viratah —Virata; ca —also; drupadah —Drupada; ca —also; maharathah —great fighter. TRANSLATION Here in this army there are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhlma and Arjuna; there are also great fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada. PURPORT Even though Dhrstadyumna was not a very important obstacle in the face of Dronacarya's very great power in the military art, there were many others who were the cause of fear. They are mentioned by Duryodhana as great stumbling blocks on the path of victory because each and every one of them was as formidable as Bhlma and Arjuna. He knew the strength of Bhlma and Arjuna, and thus he compared the others with them. TEXT 5 *K^M: II* II dhrstaketus cekitanah kasirajas ca viryavan purujit kuntibhojas ca saibyas ca nara-pungavah dhrstaketuh —Dhrstaketu; cekitanah —Cekitana; kasirajah —Kasiraja; ca — also; viryavan —very powerful; purujit —Purujit; kuntibhojah —Kuntibhoja; ca —and; saibyah —Saibya; ca —and; nara-pungavah —heroes in human society. TRANSLATION There are also great, heroic, powerful fighters like Dhrstaketu, Cekitana, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya. TEXT 6 RHRIti SrFftaRR Hlc^R»^^IIH|Sh JHHWi HI T 11 wf% ftdO ihi ^rfWWf^rr: inq n sahkaro narakayaiva kula-ghnanam kulasya ca patanti pitaro hy esam lupta-pindodaka-kriyah sahkarah —such unwanted children; narakaya —for hellish life; eva — certainly; kula-ghnanam —of those who are killers of the family; kulasya — of the family; ca —also; patanti —fall down; pitarah —forefathers; hi — certainly; esam —of them; lupta —stopped; pinda —offerings; udaka —water; kriyah — performance. TRANSLATION When there is increase of unwanted population, a hellish situation is created both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. In such corrupt families, there is no offering of oblations of food and water to the ancestors. PURPORT According to the rules and regulations of fruitive activities, there is a need to offer periodical food and water to the forefathers of the family. This offering is performed by worship of Visnu, because eating the remnants of food offered to Visnu can deliver one from all kinds of sinful actions. Sometimes the forefathers may be suffering from various types of sinful reactions, and sometimes some of them cannot even acquire a gross material body and are forced to remain in subtle bodies as ghosts. Thus, when remnants of prasadam food are offered to forefathers by descendants, the forefathers are released from ghostly or other kinds of miserable life. Such help rendered to forefathers is a family tradition, and those who are not in devotional life are required to perform such rituals. One who is engaged in the devotional life is not required to perform such actions. Simply by performing devotional service, one can deliver hundreds and thousands of forefathers from all kinds of misery. It is stated in the Bhagavatam: devarsi-bhutapta-nmam pitfnam na kinkaro nayamrm ca rajan sarvatmana yah saranam saranyam gato mukundarh parihrtya kartam "Anyone who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, the giver of liberation, giving up all kinds of obligation, and has taken to the path in all seriousness, owes neither duties nor obligations to the demigods, sages, general living entities, family members, humankind or forefathers." ( Bhag . 11.5.41) Such obligations are automatically fulfilled by performance of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. TEXT 42 Hi 4<4*1 : II dcHI4 H-TTcH : IR* II acchedyo 'yam adahyo 'yam akledyo 'sosya eva ca nityah sarva-gatah sthanur acalo 'yam sanatanah acchedyah —unbreakable; ayam —this soul; adahyah —cannot be burned; ay am —this soul; akledyah —insoluble; asosyah —cannot be dried; eva —certainly; ca —and; nityah —everlasting; sarva-gatah —all-pervading; sthanuh — unchangeable; acalah —immovable; ayam —this soul; sanatanah —eternally the same. TRANSLATION This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same. PURPORT All these qualifications of the atomic soul definitely prove that the individual soul is eternally the atomic particle of the spirit whole, and he remains the same atom eternally, without change. The theory of monism is very difficult to apply in this case, because the individual soul is never expected to become one homogeneously. After liberation from material contamination, the atomic soul may prefer to remain as a spiritual spark in the effulgent rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the intelligent souls enter into the spiritual planets to associate with the Personality of Godhead. The word sarva-gatah (all-pervading) is significant because there is no doubt that living entities are all over God’s creation. They live on the land, in the water, in the air, within the earth and even within fire. The belief that they are sterilized in fire is not acceptable, because it is clearly stated here that the soul cannot be burned by fire. Therefore, there is no doubt that there are living entities also in the sun planet with suitable bodies to live there. If the sun globe is uninhabited, then the word sarva-gatah- living everywhere-becomes meaningless. TEXT 25 IRK II avyakto 'yam acintyo 'yam avikaryo 'yam ucyate tasmad evarh viditvainam nanusocitum arhasi avyaktah —invisible; ayam —this soul; acintyah —inconceivable; ayam — this soul; avikaryah —unchangeable; ayam —this soul; ucyate —is said; tasmat —therefore; evam —like this; viditva —knowing it well; enam —this soul; na — do not; anusocitum —may lament over; arhasi —you deserve. TRANSLATION It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body. PURPORT As described previously, the magnitude of the soul is so small for our material calculation that he cannot be seen even by the most powerful microscope; therefore, he is invisible. As far as the soul's existence is concerned, no one can establish his existence experimentally beyond the proof of sruti or Vedic wisdom. We have to accept this truth, because there is no other source of understanding the existence of the soul, although it is a fact by perception. There are many things we have to accept solely on grounds of superior authority. No one can deny the existence of his father, based upon the authority of his mother. There is no other source of understanding the identity of the father except by the authority of the mother. Similarly, there is no other source of understanding the soul except by studying the Vedas. In other words, the soul is inconceivable by human experimental knowledge. The soul is consciousness and conscious-that also is the statement of the Vedas, and we have to accept that. Unlike the bodily changes, there is no change in the soul. As eternally unchangeable, the soul remains atomic in comparison to the infinite Supreme Soul. The Supreme Soul is infinite, and the atomic soul is infinitesimal. Therefore, the infinitesimal soul, being unchangeable, can never become equal to the infinite soul, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This concept is repeated in the Vedas in different ways just to confirm the stability of the conception of the soul. Repetition of something is necessary in order that we understand the matter thoroughly without error. TEXT 26 SRPt^Plc^Mld fdcd I IR$ II atha cainam nitya-jatam nityarh va manyase mrtam tathapi tvam maha-baho nainarh socitum arhasi atha —if, however; ca —also; enam —this soul; nitya-jatam —always born; nityam —forever; va —either; manyase —so think; mrtam —dead; tathapi —still; tvam —you; maha-baho —O mighty-armed one; na —never; enam —about the soul; socitum —to lament; arhasi —deserve. TRANSLATION If, however, you think that the soul is perpetually born and always dies, still you have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed. PURPORT There is always a class of philosophers, almost akin to the Buddhists, who do not believe in the separate existence of the soul beyond the body. When Lord Krsna spoke the Bhagavad-gTta, it appears that such philosophers existed, and they were known as the Lokayatikas and Vaibhasikas. These philosophers maintained that life symptoms, or soul, takes place at a certain mature condition of material combination. The modern material scientist and materialist philosophers also think similarly. According to them, the body is a combination of physical elements, and at a certain stage the life symptoms develop by interaction of the physical and chemical elements. The science of anthropology is based on this philosophy. Currently, many pseudo-religions- now becoming fashionable in America-are also adhering to this philosophy, as well as to the nihilistic nondevotional Buddhist sects. Even if Arjuna did not believe in the existence of the soul—as in the Vaibhasika philosophy—there would still have been no cause for lamentation. No one laments the loss of a certain bulk of chemicals and stops discharging his prescribed duty. On the other hand, in modern science and scientific warfare, so many tons of chemicals are wasted for achieving victory over the enemy. According to the Vaibhasika philosophy, the so-called soul or atma vanishes along with the deterioration of the body. So, in any case, whether Arjuna accepted the Vedic conclusion that there is an atomic soul, or whether he did not believe in the existence of the soul, he had no reason to lament. According to this theory, since there are so many living entities generating out of matter every moment, and so many of them are being vanquished every moment, there is no need to grieve for such an incidence. However, since he was not risking rebirth of the soul, Arjuna had no reason to be afraid of being affected with sinful reactions due to his killing his grandfather and teacher. But at the same time, Krsna sarcastically addressed Arjuna as maha-bahu, mighty-armed, because He, at least, did not accept the theory of the Vaibhasikas, which leaves aside the Vedic wisdom. As a ksatriya, Arjuna belonged to the Vedic culture, and it behooved him to continue to follow its principles. TEXT 27 WTrTFJ vil-H Jid^l T I jatasya hi dhruvo mrtyur dhruvarh janma mrtasya ca tasmad apariharye 'rthe na tvarh socitum arhasi jatasya —one who has taken his birth; hi —certainly; dhruvah —a fact; mrtyuh —death; dhruvam —it is also a fact; janma —birth; mrtasya —of the dead; ca —also; tasmat —therefore; apariharye —for that which is unavoidable; arthe —in the matter of; na —do not; tvam —you; socitum —to lament; arhasi —deserve. TRANSLATION For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament. PURPORT One has to take birth according to one's activities of life. And, after finishing one term of activities, one has to die to take birth for the next. In this way the cycle of birth and death is revolving, one after the other without liberation. This cycle of birth and death does not, however, support unnecessary murder, slaughter and war. But at the same time, violence and war are inevitable factors in human society for keeping law and order. The Battle of Kuruksetra, being the will of the Supreme, was an inevitable event, and to fight for the right cause is the duty of a ksatriya. Why should he be afraid of or aggrieved at the death of his relatives since he was discharging his proper duty? He did not deserve to break the law, thereby becoming subjected to the reactions of sinful acts, of which he was so afraid. By avoiding the discharge of his proper duty, he would not be able to stop the death of his relatives, and he would be degraded due to his selection of the wrong path of action. TEXT 28 \diPi *TRTT I cRJT^TTlT^n IRq II avyaktadmi bhiitdni vyakta-madhyani bharata avyakta-nidhanany eva tatra ka paridevana avyaktadmi —in the beginning unmanifested; bhiitani —all that are created; vyakta —manifested; madhyani —in the middle; bharata —0 descendant of Bharata; avyakta —nonmanifested; nidhanani —all that are vanquished; eva — it is all like that; tatra —therefore; ka-what; paridevana —lamentation. TRANSLATION All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation? PURPORT Accepting that there are two classes of philosophers, one believing in the existence of soul and the other not believing in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation in either case. Nonbelievers in the existence of the soul are called atheists by followers of Vedic wisdom. Yet even if, for argument's sake, we accept the atheistic theory, there is still no cause for lamentation. Apart from the separate existence of the soul, the material elements remain unmanifested before creation. From this subtle state of unmanifestation comes manifestation, just as from ether, air is generated; from air, fire is generated; from fire, water is generated; and from water, earth becomes manifested. From the earth, many varieties of manifestations take place. Take, for example, a big skyscraper manifested from the earth. When it is dismantled, the manifestation becomes again unmanifested and remains as atoms in the ultimate stage. The law of conservation of energy remains, but in course of time things are manifested and unmanifested-that is the difference. Then what cause is there for lamentation either in the stage of manifestation or unmanifestation? Somehow or other, even in the unmanifested stage, things are not lost. Both at the beginning and at the end, all elements remain unmanifested, and only in the middle are they manifested, and this does not make any real material difference. And if we accept the Vedic conclusion as stated in the Bhagavad- gita (antavanta ime dehah) that these material bodies are perishable in due course of time (nityasyoktah saririnah) but that soul is eternal, then we must remember always that the body is like a dress; therefore why lament the changing of a dress? The material body has no factual existence in relation to the eternal soul. It is something like a dream. In a dream we may think of flying in the sky, or sitting on a chariot as a king, but when we wake up we can see that we are neither in the sky nor seated on the chariot. The Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization on the basis of the nonexistence of the material body. Therefore, in either case, whether one believes in the existence of the soul, or one does not believe in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation for loss of the body. TEXT 29 : HltilFd IR\ II ascaryavat pasyati kascid enam ascaryavad vadad tathaiva canyah ascaryavac cainam anyah srnoti srutvapy enam veda na caiva kascit ascaryavat —amazing; pasyati —see; kascit —some; enam —this soul; ascaryavat —amazing; vadad —speak; tatha —there; eva —certainly; ca —also; anyah —others; ascaryavat —similarly amazing; ca —also; enam —this soul; anyah — others; srnoti —hear; srutva —having heard; api —even; enam —this soul; veda —do know; na —never; ca —and; eva —certainly; kascit —anyone. TRANSLATION Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all. PURPORT Since GTtopanisad is largely based on the principles of the Upanisads, it is not surprising to also find this passage in the Katha Upanisad. sravanayapi bahubhiryo na labhyah srnvanto 'pi bahavo yah na vidyuh ascaryo vakta kusalo 'sya labdha ascaryo jhata kusalanusistah. The fact that the atomic soul is within the body of a gigantic animal, in the body of a gigantic banyan tree, and also in the microbic germs, millions and billions of which occupy only an inch of space, is certainly very amazing. Men with a poor fund of knowledge and men who are not austere cannot understand the wonders of the individual atomic spark of spirit, even though it is explained by the greatest authority of knowledge, who imparted lessons even to Brahma, the first living being in the universe. Owing to a gross material conception of things, most men in this age cannot imagine how such a small particle can become both so great and so small. So men look at the soul proper as wonderful either by constitution or by description. Illusioned by the material energy, people are so engrossed in subject matter for sense gratification that they have very little time to understand the question of self¬ understanding, even though it is a fact that without this self-understanding all activities result in ultimate defeat in the struggle for existence. Perhaps one has no idea that one must think of the soul, and also make a solution of the material miseries. Some people who are inclined to hear about the soul may be attending lectures, in good association, but sometimes, owing to ignorance, they are misguided by acceptance of the Supersoul and the atomic soul as one without distinction of magnitude. It is very difficult to find a man who perfectly understands the position of the soul, the Supersoul, the atomic soul, their respective functions, relationships and all other major and minor details. And it is still more difficult to find a man who has actually derived full benefit from knowledge of the soul, and who is able to describe the position of the soul in different aspects. But if, somehow or other, one is able to understand the subject matter of the soul, then one's life is successful. The easiest process for understanding the subject matter of self, however, is to accept the statements of the Bhagavad-gTta spoken by the greatest authority, Lord Krsna, without being deviated by other theories. But it also requires a great deal of penance and sacrifice, either in this life or in the previous ones, before one is able to accept Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krsna can, however, be known as such by the causeless mercy of the pure devotee and by no other way. TEXT 30 ^dlfH 113° II dehi nityam avadhyo 'yam dehe sarvasya bharata tasmat sarvani bhutani na tvarh socitum arhasi dehi —the owner of the material body; nityam —eternally; avadhyah — cannot be killed; ayam —this soul; dehe —in the body; sarvasya —of everyone; bharata —O descendant of Bharata; tasmat —therefore; sarvani —all; bhutani —living entities (that are born); na —never; tvam —yourself; socitum —to lament; arhasi- deserve. TRANSLATION O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body is eternal and can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature. PURPORT The Lord now concludes the chapter of instruction on the immutable spirit soul. In describing the immortal soul in various ways, Lord Krsna establishes that the soul is immortal and the body is temporary. Therefore Arjuna as a ksatriya should not abandon his duty out of fear that his grandfather and teacher-Bhlsma and Drona-will die in the battle. On the authority of Sri Krsna, one has to believe that there is a soul different from the material body, not that there is no such thing as soul, or that living symptoms develop at a certain stage of material maturity resulting from the interaction of chemicals. Though the soul is immortal, violence is not encouraged, but at the time of war it is not discouraged when there is actual need for it. That need must be justified in terms of the sanction of the Lord, and not capriciously. TEXT 31 y J-t| \ «JV $4 }^ ^cflldbM W ^T \\^ II svadharmam api caveksya na vikampitum arhasi dharmyaddhi yuddhac chreyo 'nyat ksatriyasya na vidyate svadharmam —one's own religious principles; api —also; ca —indeed; aveksya —considering; na —never; vikampitum —to hesitate; arhasi —you deserve; dharmyat —from religious principles; hi —indeed; yuddhat —of fighting; sreyah —better engagements; any at —anything else; ksatriyasya —of the ksatriya; na —does not; vidyate —exist. TRANSLATION Considering your specific duty as a ksatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation. PURPORT Out of the four orders of social administration, the second order, for the matter of good administration, is called ksatriya. Ksat means hurt. One who gives protection from harm is called ksatriya (trayate- to give protection). The ksatriyas are trained for killing in the forest. A ksatriya would go into the forest and challenge a tiger face to face and fight with the tiger with his sword. When the tiger was killed, it would be offered the royal order of cremation. This system is being followed even up to the present day by the ksatriya kings of Jaipur state. The ksatriyas are specially trained for challenging and killing because religious violence is sometimes a necessary factor. Therefore, ksatriyas are never meant for accepting directly the order of sannyasa or renunciation. Nonviolence in politics may be a diplomacy, but it is never a factor or principle. In the religious law books it is stated: ahavesu mitho 'nyonyam jighamsanto mahfksitah yuddhamanah pararh saktya svargam yanty aparahmukhah yajhesu pasavo brahman hanyante satatarh dvijaih samskrtah kila mantrais ca te 'pi svargam avapnuvan. "In the battlefield, a king or ksatriya, while fighting another king envious of him, is eligible for achieving heavenly planets after death, as the brahmanas also attain the heavenly planets by sacrificing animals in the sacrificial fire." Therefore, killing on the battle on the religious principle and the killing of animals in the sacrificial fire are not at all considered to be acts of violence, because everyone is benefitted by the religious principles involved. The animal sacrificed gets a human life immediately without undergoing the gradual evolutionary process from one form to another, and the ksatriyas killed in the battlefield also attain the heavenly planets as do the brahmanas who attain them by offering sacrifice. There are two kinds of svadharmas, specific duties. As long as one is not liberated, one has to perform the duties of that particular body in accordance with religious principles in order to achieve liberation. When one is liberated, one's svadharma- specific duty-becomes spiritual and is not in the material bodily concept. In the bodily conception of life thereare specific duties for the brahmanas and ksatriyas respectively, and such duties are unavoidable. Svadharma is ordained by the Lord, and this will be clarified in the Fourth Chapter. On the bodily plane svadharma is called varnasrama-dharma, or man's steppingstone for spiritual understanding. Human civilization begins from the stage of varnasrama-dharma, or specific duties in terms of the specific modes of nature of the body obtained. Discharging one's specific duty in any field of action in accordance with varnasrama- dharma serves to elevate one to a higher status of life. TEXT 32 ^FT: atrf^W: TT^^^^fr^TH: ||^ || yadrcchaya copapannarh svarga-dvaram apavrtam sukhinah ksatriyah partha labhante yuddham Tdrsam yadrcchaya —by its own accord; ca —also; upapannam —arrived at; svarga —heavenly planet; dvaram —door; apavrtam —wide open; sukhinah —very happy; ksatriyah —the members of the royal order; partha —O son of Prtha; labhante —do achieve; yuddham —war; Tdrsam —like this. TRANSLATION O Partha, happy are the ksatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets. PURPORT As supreme teacher of the world, Lord Krsna condemns the attitude of Arjuna who said, "I do not find any good in this fighting. It will cause perpetual habitation in hell." Such statements by Arjuna were due to ignorance only. He wanted to become nonviolent in the discharge of his specific duty. For a ksatriya to be in the battlefield and to become nonviolent is the philosophy of fools. In the Parasara-smrti or religious codes made by Parasara, the great sage and father of Vyasadeva, it is stated: ksatriyo hi praja raksan sastra-panih pradandayan nirjitya parasainyadi ksitim dharmena palayet. "The ksatriya's duty is to protect the citizens from all kinds of difficulties, and for that reason he has to apply violence in suitable cases for law and order. Therefore he has to conquer the soldiers of inimical kings, and thus, with religious principles, he should rule over the world." Considering all aspects, Arjuna had no reason to refrain from fighting. If he should conquer his enemies, he would enjoy the kingdom; and if he should die in the battle, he would be elevated to the heavenly planets whose doors were wide open to him. Fighting would be for his benefit in either case. TEXT 33 1133 II atha cet tvam imam dharmyam sangramam na karisyasi tatah svadharmam kfrtirh ca hitva papam avapsyasi atha —therefore; cet —if; tvam —you; imam —this; dharmyam —religious duty; sangramam —fighting; na —do not; karisyasi —perform; tatah —then; svadharmam —your religious duty; kfrtim —reputation; ca —also; hitva — losing; papam —sinful reaction; avapsyasi —do gain. TRANSLATION If, however, you do not fight this religious war, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter. PURPORT Arjuna was a famous fighter, and he attained fame by fighting many great demigods, including even Lord Siva. After fighting and defeating Lord Siva in the dress of a hunter, Arjuna pleased the Lord and received as a reward a weapon called pasupata- astra. Everyone knew that he was a great warrior. Even Dronacarya gave him benediction and awarded him the special weapon by which he could kill even his teacher. So he was credited with so many military certificates from many authorities, including his adopted father Indra, the heavenly king. But if he abandoned the battle, he would not only neglect his specific duty as a ksatriya, but he would lose all his fame and good name and thus prepare his royal road to hell. In other words, he would go to hell, not by fighting, but by withdrawing from battle. TEXT 34 '41 (h I akfrtim capi bhutani kathayisyanti te 'vyayam sambhavitasya cakTrtir maranad atiricyate akirtim —infamy; ca —also; api —over and above; bhutani —all people; kathayisyanti —will speak; te-of you; avyayam —forever; sambhavitasya —for a respectable man; ca —also; akfrtih —ill fame; maranat —than death; atiricyate —becomes more than. TRANSLATION People will always speak of your infamy, and for one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death. PURPORT Both as friend and philosopher to Arjuna, Lord Krsna now gives His final judgement regarding Arjuna's refusal to fight. The Lord says, "Arjuna, if you leave the battlefield, people will call you a coward even before your actual flight. And if you think that people may call you bad names but that you will save your life by fleeing the battlefield, then My advice is that you'd do better to die in the battle. For a respectable man like you, ill fame is worse than death. So, you should not flee for fear of your life; better to die in the battle. That will save you from the ill fame of misusing My friendship and from losing your prestige in society." So, the final judgement of the Lord was for Arjuna to die in the battle and not withdraw. TEXT 35 ^1*1 a) *Jc3 T'MI^Ri 113* II bhayad ranad uparatam mamsyante tvam maha-rathah yesam ca tvam bahu-mato bhutva yasyasi laghavam bhayat —out of fear; ranat —from the battlefield; uparatam —ceased; mamsyante —will consider; tvam —unto you; maha-rathah —the great generals; yesam —of those who; ca —also; tvam —you; bahu-matah —in great estimation; bhutva —will become; yasyasi —will go; laghavam —decreased in value. TRANSLATION The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you a coward. PURPORT Lord Krsna continued to give His verdict to Arjuna: "Do not think that the great generals like Duryodhana, Kama, and other contemporaries will think that you have left the battlefield out of compassion for your brothers and grandfather. They will think that you have left out of fear for your life. And thus their high estimation of your personality will go to hell." TEXT 36 aHi’BtHKiJH cHlRidl : I 11^ II avacya-vadams ca bahun vadisyanti tavahitah nindantas tava samarthyam tato duhkhataram nu kim avacya —unkind; vadan —fabricated words; ca —also; bahun —many; vadisyanti —will say; tava —your; ahitah —enemies; nindantah —while vilifying; tava —your; samarthyam —ability; tatah —thereafter; duhkhataram —more painful; nu —of course; kim —what is there. TRANSLATION Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and scorn your ability. What could be more painful for you? PURPORT Lord Krsna was astonished in the beginning at Arjuna's uncalled-for plea for compassion, and He described his compassion as befitting the non- Aryans. Now in so many words, He has proved His statements against Arjuna's so-called compassion. TEXT 37 Fnf facdl I d^HI^M^ : ll^vs II hato va prapsyasi svargam jitva va bhoksyase mahfm tasmad utdstha kaunteya yuddhaya krta-niscayah hatah —being killed; va —either; prapsyasi —you gain; svargam —the heavenly kingdom; jitva —by conquering; va —or; bhoksyase —you enjoy; mahim —the world; tasmat —therefore; utdstha —get up; kaunteya —O son of KuntI; yuddhaya —to fight; krta —determination; niscayah —uncertainty. TRANSLATION O son of KuntI, either you will be killed on the battlefield and attain the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom. Therefore get up and fight with determination. PURPORT Even though there was no certainty of victory for Arjuna's side, he still had to fight; for, even being killed there, he could be elevated into the heavenly planets. TEXT 38 5 ratHIMH^I'-KlRl ll^c; 11 sukha-duhkhe same krtva labhalabhau jayajayau tato yuddhaya yujyasva naivam papam avapsyasi sukha —happiness; duhkhe —in distress; same —in equanimity; krtva — doing so; labhalabhau —both in loss and profit; jayajayau —both in defeat and victory; tatah —thereafter; yuddhaya —for the sake of fighting; yujyasva —do fight; na —never; evam —in this way; papam —sinful reaction; avapsyasi —you will gain. TRANSLATION Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat—and, by so doing, you shall never incur sin. PURPORT Lord Krsna now directly says that Arjuna should fight for the sake of fighting because He desires the battle. There is no consideration of happiness or distress, profit or gain, victory or defeat in the activities of Krsna consciousness. That everything should be performed for the sake of Krsna is transcendental consciousness; so there is no reaction to material activities. He who acts for his own sense gratification, either in goodness or in passion, is subject to the reaction, good or bad. But he who has completely surrendered himself in the activities of Krsna consciousness is no longer obliged to anyone, nor is he a debtor to anyone, as one is in the ordinary course of activities. It is said: devarsi-bhutapta-nmam pitrnam na kihkaro nayamrni ca rajan sarvatmana yah saranam saranyam gato mukundam parihrtya kartam (Bhag. 11.5.41) "Anyone who has completely surrendered unto Krsna, Mukunda, giving up all other duties, is no longer a debtor, nor is he obliged to anyone-not the demigods, nor the sages, nor the people in general, nor kinsmen, nor humanity, nor forefathers." That is the indirect hint given by Krsna to Arjuna in this verse, and the matter will be more clearly explained in the following verses. TEXT 39 led-Hi I esa te 'bhihita sahkhye buddhir yoge tv imam srnu buddhya yukto yayd partha karma-bandham prahasyasi esa —all these; te —unto you; abhihita —described; sahkhye —by analytical study; buddhih —intelligence; yoge —work without fruitive result; tu —but; imam-this; srnu —just hear; buddhya —by intelligence; yuktah —dovetailed; yaya —by which; partha —O son of Prtha; karma-bandham —bondage of reaction; prahasyasi —you can be released from. TRANSLATION Thus far I have declared to you the analytical knowledge of sankhya philosophy. Now listen to the knowledge of yoga whereby one works without fruitive result. O son of Prtha, when you act by such intelligence, you can free yourself from the bondage of works. PURPORT According to the Nirukti, or the Vedic dictionary, sankhya means that which describes phenomena in detail, and sankhya refers to that philosophy which describes the real nature of the soul. And yoga involves controlling the senses. Arjuna's proposal not to fight was based on sense gratification. Forgetting his prime duty, he wanted to cease fighting because he thought that by not killing his relatives and kinsmen he would be happier than by enjoying the kingdom by conquering his cousins and brothers, the sons of Dhrtarastra. In both ways, the basic principles were for sense gratification. Happiness derived from conquering them and happiness derived by seeing kinsmen alive are both on the basis of personal sense gratification, for there is a sacrifice of wisdom and duty. Krsna, therefore, wanted to explain to Arjuna that by killing the body of his grandfather he would not be killing the soul proper, and He explained that all individual persons, including the Lord Himself, are eternal individuals; they were individuals in the past, they are individuals in the present, and they will continue to remain individuals in the future, because all of us are individual souls eternally, and we simply change our bodily dress in different manners. But, actually, we keep our individuality even after liberation from the bondage of material dress. An analytical study of the soul and the body has been very graphically explained by Lord Krsna. And this descriptive knowledge of the soul and the body from different angles of vision has been described here as sankhya, in terms of the Nirukti dictionary. This sankhya has nothing to do with the sankhya philosophy of the atheist Kapila. Long before the imposter Kapila's sankhya, the sankhya philosophy was expounded in the Srimad-Bhagavatam by the true Lord Kapila, the incarnation of Lord Krsna, who explained it to His mother, Devahuti. It is clearly explained by Him that the Purusa, or the Supreme Lord, is active and that He creates by looking over the prakrti. This is accepted in the Vedas and in the Gita. The description in the Vedas indicates that the Lord glanced over the prakrti, or nature, and impregnated it with atomic individuals souls. All these individuals are working in the material world for sense gratification, and under the spell of material energy they are thinking of being enjoyers. This mentality is dragged to the last point of liberation when the living entity wants to become one with the Lord. This is the last snare of maya or sense gratificatory illusion, and it is only after many, many births of such sense gratificatory activities that a great soul surrenders unto Vasudeva, Lord Krsna, thereby fulfilling the search after the ultimate truth. Arjuna has already accepted Krsna as his spiritual master by surrendering himself unto Him: sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam tvam praparmam. Consequently, Krsna will now tell him about the working process in buddhi-yoga, or karma- yoga, or in other words, the practice of devotional service only for the sense gratification of the Lord. This buddhi-yoga is clearly explained in Chapter Ten, verse ten, as being direct communion with the Lord, who is sitting as Paramatma in everyone's heart. But such communion does not take place without devotional service. One who is therefore situated in devotional or transcendental loving service to the Lord, or, in other words, in Krsna consciousness, attains to this stage of buddhi-yoga by the special grace of the Lord. The Lord says, therefore, that only to those who are always engaged in devotional service out of transcendental love does He award the pure knowledge of devotion in love. In that way the devotee can reach Him easily in the ever-blissful kingdom of God. Thus the buddhi-yoga mentioned in this verse is the devotional service of the Lord, and the word sahkhya mentioned herein has nothing to do with the atheistic sahkhya-yoga enunciated by the impostor Kapila. One should not, therefore, misunderstand that the sahkhya-yoga mentioned herein has any connection with the atheistic sahkhya. Nor did that philosophy have any influence during that time; nor would Lord Krsna care to mention such godless philosophical speculations. Real sahkhya philosophy is described by Lord Kapila in the SrTmad-Bhagavatam, but even that sahkhya has nothing to do with the current topics. Here, sahkhya means analytical description of the body and the soul. Lord Krsna made an analytical description of the soul just to bring Arjuna to the point of buddhi-yoga, or bhakti-yoga. Therefore, Lord Krsna's sahkhya and Lord Kapila's sahkhya, as described in the Bhagavatam; are one and the same. They are all bhakti-yoga. He said, therefore, that only the less intelligent class of men make a distinction between sahkhya-yoga and bhakti-yoga. Of course, atheistic sahkhya-yoga has nothing to do with bhakti-yoga, yet the unintelligent claim that the atheistic sahkhya-yoga is referred to in the Bhagavad-gita. One should therefore understand that buddhi-yoga means to work in Krsna consciousness, in the full bliss and knowledge of devotional service. One who works for the satisfaction of the Lord only, however difficult such work may be, is working under the principles of buddhi-yoga and finds himself always in transcendental bliss. By such transcendental engagement, one achieves all transcendental qualities automatically, by the grace of the Lord, and thus his liberation is complete in itself, without his making extraneous endeavors to acquire knowledge. There is much difference between work in Krsna consciousness and work for fruitive results, especially in the matter of sense gratification for achieving results in terms of family or material happiness. Buddhi-yoga is therefore the transcendental quality of the work that we perform. TEXT 40 W?T ll*o II nehabhikrama-naso 'sti pratyavayo na vidyate svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat na —there is not; iha —in this world; abhikrama —endeavoring; nasah — loss; asti —there is; pratyavayah —diminution; na —never; vidyate —there is; svalpam —little; api —although; asya —of this; dharmasya —of this occupation; trayate —releases; mahatah —of very great; bhayat —from danger. TRANSLATION In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear. PURPORT Activity in Krsna consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Krsna without expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work begun on the material plane has to be completed, otherwise the whole attempt becomes a failure. But any work begun in Krsna consciousness has a permanent effect, even though not finished. The performer of such work is therefore not at a loss even if his work in Krsna consciousness is incomplete. One percent done in Krsna consciousness bears permanent results, so that the next beginning is from the point of two percent; whereas, in material activity, without a hundred percent success, there is no profit. Ajamila performed his duty in some percentage of Krsna consciousness, but the result he enjoyed at the end was a hundred percent, by the grace of the Lord. There is a nice verse in this connection in SrTmad- Bhagavatam: tyaktva sva-dharmarh caranambujarh barer bhajan na pakko 'tha patet tato yadi yatra kva vabhadram abhud amusya kirn ko vartha apto 'bhajatarh sva-dharmatah "If someone gives up self-gratificatory pursuits and works in Krsna consciousness and then falls down on account of not completing his work, what loss is there on his part? And, what can one gain if one performs his material activities perfectly?" (Bhag. 1.5.17) Or, as the Christians say, "What profiteth a man if he gain the whole world yet suffers the loss of his eternal soul?" Material activities and their results end with the body. But work in Krsna consciousness carries the person again to Krsna consciousness, even after the loss of the body. At least one is sure to have a chance in the next life of being born again as a human being, either in the family of a great cultured brahmana or in a rich aristocratic family that will give one a further chance for elevation. That is the unique quality of work done in Krsna consciousness. TEXT 41 ^\\< 4 \ ^^I^NFIiRmH ||Y$ || vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana bahu-sakha by anantas ca buddhayo 'vyavasayinam vyavasayatmika —resolute Krsna consciousness; buddhih —intelligence; eka —only one; iha —in this world; kuru-nandana —O beloved child of the Kurus; bahu-sakhah —various branches; hi —indeed; anantah —unlimited; ca —also; buddhayah —intelligence; avyavasayinam —of those who are not in Krsna consciousness. TRANSLATION Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched. PURPORT A strong faith in Krsna consciousness that one should be elevated to the highest perfection of life is called vyavasayatmika intelligence. The Caitanya- caritamrta states: 'sraddha'-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya. Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime. When one is engaged in the duties of Krsna consciousness, he need not act in relationship to the material world with obligations to family traditions, humanity, or nationality. Fruitive activities are the engagements of one's reactions from past good or bad deeds. When one is awake in Krsna consciousness, he need no longer endeavor for good results in his activities. When one is situated in Krsna consciousness, all activities are on the absolute plane, for they are no longer subject to dualities like good and bad. The highest perfection of Krsna consciousness is renunciation of the material conception of life. This state is automatically achieved by progressive Krsna consciousness. The resolute purpose of a person in Krsna consciousness is based on knowledge ("Vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah") by which one comes to know perfectly that Vasudeva, or Krsna, is the root of all manifested causes. As water on the root of a tree is automatically distributed to the leaves and branches, in Krsna consciousness, one can render the highest service to everyone-namely self, family, society, country, humanity, etc. If Krsna is satisfied by one's actions, then everyone will be satisfied. Service in Krsna consciousness is, however, best practiced under the able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Krsna, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in Krsna consciousness. As such, to be well-versed in Krsna consciousness one has to act firmly and obey the representative of Krsna, and one should accept the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master as one's mission in life. Srlla Visvanatha CakravartI Thakur instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows: yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado yasyaprasadanna gadh kuto 'pi dhyayam stuvams tasya yasas tri-sandhyam vande guroh srT-caranaravindam. "By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Krsna consciousness. I should, therefore, meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day, and offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master." The whole process, however, depends on perfect knowledge of the soul beyond the conception of the body-not theoretically but practically, when there is no longer chance for sense gratification manifested in fruitive activities. One who is not firmly fixed in mind is diverted by various types of fruitive acts. TEXTS 42-43 jnfHHi 'jNdNN HW^PdMnHd: I ^d +4 I $H+4fd +c|4U^«d<4)R?dl: I +4 ^Ml 4t8^4^HI4«i^ *\§*u «r>441 Trfrr: n$v9 n karmano hy api boddhavyam boddhavyam ca vikarmanah akarmanas ca boddhavyam gahana karmano gatih karmanah —working order; hi —certainly; api —also; boddhavyam —should be understood; boddhavyam —to be understood; ca —also; vikarmanah — forbidden work; akarmanah —inaction; ca —also; boddhavyam —should be understood; gahana —very difficult; karmanah —working order; gatih —to enter into. TRANSLATION The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is. PURPORT If one is serious about liberation from material bondage, one has to understand the distinctions between action, inaction and unauthorized actions. One has to apply oneself to such an analysis of action, reaction and perverted actions because it is a very difficult subject matter. To understand Krsna consciousness and action according to the modes, one has to learn one's relationship with the Supreme; i.e., one who has learned perfectly knows that every living entity is the eternal servitor of the Lord and that consequently one has to act in Krsna consciousness. The entire Bhagavad-gTta is directed toward this conclusion. Any other conclusions, against this consciousness and its attendant reactions, are vikarmas, or prohibitive actions. To understand all this one has to associate with authorities in Krsna consciousness and learn the secret from them; this is as good as learning from the Lord directly. Otherwise, even the most intelligent person will be bewildered. TEXT 18 +4uq+4 *r: ^<*+4^1 I $cM+4$< 11^ II karmany akarma yah pasyed akarmani ca karma yah sa buddhiman manusyesu sa yuktah krtsna-karma-krt karmani —in action; akarma —inaction; yah —one who; pasyet —observes; akarmani —in inaction; ca —also; karma —fruitive action; yah —one who; sah —he; buddhiman —is intelligent; manusyesu —in human society; sah —he; yuktah —is in the transcendental position; krtsna-karma-krt —although engaged in all activities. TRANSLATION One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the tranecendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities. PURPORT A person acting in Krsna consciousness is naturally free from the bonds of karma. His activities are all performed for Krsna; therefore he does not enjoy or suffer any of the effects of work. Consequently he is intelligent in human society, even though he is engaged in all sorts of activities for Krsna. Akarma means without reaction to work. The impersonalist ceases fruitive activities out of fear, so that the resultant action may not be a stumbling block on the path of self-realization, but the personalist knows rightly his position as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore he engages himself in the activities of Krsna consciousness. Because everything is done for Krsna, he enjoys only transcendental happiness in the discharge of this service. Those who are engaged in this process are known to be without desire for personal sense gratification. The sense of eternal servitorship to Krsna makes one immune to all sorts of reactionary elements of work. TEXT 19 'UHK J -*rT: : I d+Ilg: f*=TT: \\\\ II yasya sarve samarambhah kama-sahkalpa-varj itah jnanagni-dagdha-karmanam tam ahuh panditam budhah yasya —one whose; sarve —all sorts of; samarambhah —in all attempts; kama —desire for sense gratification; sahkalpa —determination; varjitah —are devoid of; jhana —of perfect knowledge; agni —fire; dagdha —being burnt by; karmanam —the performer; tarn —him; ahuh —declare; panditam —learned; budhah —those who know. TRANSLATION One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every act is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages to be a worker whose fruitive action is burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge. PURPORT Only a person in full knowledge can understand the activities of a person in Krsna consciousness. Because the person in Krsna consciousness is devoid of all kinds of sense-gratificatory propensities, it is to be understood that he has burned up the reactions of his work by perfect knowledge of his constitutional position as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is actually learned who has attained to such perfection of knowledge. Development of this knowledge of the eternal servitorship of the Lord is compared to fire. Such a fire, once kindled, can burn up all kinds of reactions to work. TEXT 20 SIT forward ir°ii tyaktva karma-phalasahgarh nitya-trpto nirasrayah karmany abhipravrtto 'pi naiva kincit karoti sah tyaktva —having given up; karma-phala-asahgam —attachment for fruitive results; nitya —always; trptah —being satisfied; nirasrayah —without any center; karmani —in activity; abhipravrttah —being fully engaged; api —in spite of; na —does not; eva —certainly; kincit —anything; karoti —do; sah —he. TRANSLATION Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independant, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings. PURPORT This freedom from the bondage of actions is possible only in Krsna consciousness when one is doing everything for Krsna. A Krsna conscious person acts out of pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he has no attraction for the results of the action. He is not even attached to his personal maintenance, for everything is left to Krsna. Nor is he anxious to secure things, nor to protect things already in his possession. He does his duty to his best ability and leaves everything to Krsna. Such an unattached person is always free from the resultant reactions of good and bad; it is as though he were not doing anything. This is the sign of akarma, or actions without fruitive reactions. Any other action, therefore, devoid of Krsna consciousness, is binding upon the worker, and that is the real aspect of vikarma, as explained hereinbefore. TEXT 21 pKl4H4dRlTllc±ll I $4hIH lfd IRS II nirasir yata-cittatma tyakta-sarva-parigrahah sarTram kevalam karma kurvan napnoti kilbisam nirasTh —without desire for the results; yata —controlled; citta-atma —mind and intelligence; tyakta —giving up; sarva —all; parigrahah —sense of proprietorship over all possessions; sarTram —in keeping body and soul together; kevalam —only; karma —work; kurvan —doing so; na —never; apnoti does not acquire; kilbisam —sinful reactions. TRANSLATION Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions. PURPORT A Krsna conscious person does not expect good or bad results in his activities. His mind and intelligence are fully controlled. He knows that he is part and parcel of the Supreme, and therefore the part played by him, as a part and parcel of the whole, is not his by choice but is chosen for him by the Supreme and is done only through His agency. When the hand moves, it does not move out of its own accord, but by the endeavor of the whole body. A Krsna conscious person is always dovetailed with the supreme desire, for he has no desire for personal sense gratification. He moves exactly like a part of a machine. As a machine part requires oiling and cleaning for maintenance, similarly, a Krsna conscious man maintains himself by his work just to remain fit for action in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. He is therefore immune to all the reactions of his endeavors. Like an animal, he has no proprietorship even over his own body. A cruel proprietor of an animal sometimes kills the animal in his possession, yet the animal does not protest. Nor does it have any real independence. A Krsna conscious person, fully engaged in self- realization, has very little time to falsely possess any material object. For maintaining body and soul, he does not require unfair means of accumulating money. He does not, therefore, become contaminated by such material sins. He is free from all reactions to his actions. TEXT 22 MJdjd) RWcH<: I WT: «rf*Mwicl IR^ II yadrccha-labha-santusto dvandvatito vimatsarah samah siddhav asiddhau ca krtvapi na nibadhyate yadrccha —out of its own accord; labha —gain; santustah —satisfied; dvandva —duality; atitah —surpassed; vimatsarah —free from envy; samah — steady; siddhau —in success; asiddhau —failure; ca —also; krtva —doing; api — although; na —never; nibadhyate —is affected. TRANSLATION He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady both in success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions. PURPORT A Krsna conscious person does not make much endeavor even to maintain his body. He is satisfied with gains which are obtained of their own accord. He neither begs nor borrows, but he labors honestly as far as is in his power, and is satisfied with whatever is obtained by his own honest labor. He is therefore independent in his livelihood. He does not allow anyone's service to hamper his own service in Krsna consciousness. However, for the service of the Lord he can participate in any kind of action without being disturbed by the duality of the material world. The duality of the material world is felt in terms of heat and cold, or misery and happiness. A Krsna conscious person is above duality because he does not hesitate to act in any way for the satisfaction of Krsna. Therefore he is steady both in success and in failure. These signs are visible when one is fully in transcendental knowledge. TEXT 23 hdd^l*^ JpFTFl $IHM[H4d^d'H : I ^§IMM> ^Mp^ dl: ^TT^f^r: ll^q II vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini suni caiva svapake ca panditah sama-darsinah vidya —education; vinaya —gentleness; sampanne —fully equipped; brahmane —in the brahmana; gavi —in the cow; hastini —in the elephant; suni —in the dog; ca —and; eva —certainly; svapake —in the dog-eater (the outcaste); ca —respectively; panditah-those who are so wise; sama-darsinah —do see with equal vision. TRANSLATION The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste] . PURPORT A Krsna conscious person does not make any distinction between species or castes. The brahmana and the outcaste may be different from the social point of view, or a dog, a cow, or an elephant may be different from the point of view of species, but these differences of body are meaningless from the viewpoint of a learned transcendentalist. This is due to their relationship to the Supreme, for the Supreme Lord, by His plenary portion as Paramatma, is present in everyone's heart. Such an understanding of the Supreme is real knowledge. As far as the bodies are concerned in different castes or different species of life, the Lord is equally kind to everyone because He treats every living being as a friend yet maintains Himself as Paramatma regardless of the circumstances of the living entities. The Lord as Paramatma is present both in the outcaste and in the brahmana, although the body of a brahmana and that of an outcaste are not the same. The bodies are material productions of different modes of material nature, but the soul and the Supersoul within the body are of the same spiritual quality. The similarity in the quality of the soul and the Super soul, however, does not make them equal in quantity, for the individual soul is present only in that particular body, whereas the Paramatma is present in each and every body. A Krsna conscious person has full knowledge of this, and therefore he is truly learned and has equal vision. The similar characteristics of the soul and Supersoul are that they are both conscious, eternal and blissful. But the difference is that the individual soul is conscious within the limited jurisdiction of the body, whereas the Supersoul is conscious of all bodies. The Supersoul is present in all bodies without distinction. TEXT 19 I ^ ^fF£Rrr: \\\\ ihaiva tair jitah sargo yesarh samye sthitam manah nirdosam hi samam brahma tasmad brahmani te sthitah iha —in this life; eva —certainly; taih —by them; jitah —conquered; sargah — birth and death; yesam —of those; samye —in equanimity; sthitam —so situated; manah —mind; nirdosam —flawless; hi —certainly; samam —in equanimity; brahma —the Supreme; tasmat —therefore; brahmani —in the Supreme; te —they; sthitah —are situated. TRANSLATION Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already conquered the conditions of birth and death. They are flawless like Brahman, and thus they are already situated in Brahman. PURPORT Equanimity of mind, as mentioned above, is the sign of self-realization. Those who have actually attained to such a stage should be considered to have conquered material conditions, specifically birth and death. As long as one identifies with this body, he is considered a conditioned soul, but as soon as he is elevated to the stage of equanimity through realization of self, he is liberated from conditional life. In other words, he is no longer subject to take birth in the material world but can enter into the spiritual sky after his death. The Lord is flawless because He is without attraction or hatred. Similarly, when a living entity is without attraction or hatred, he also becomes flawless and eligible to enter into the spiritual sky. Such persons are to be considered already liberated, and their symptoms are described below. TEXT 20 iPtH-Ht I : IRo|| 5T ^ H | U4I XT^-^T: IRq II sparsan krtva bahir bahy arris caksus caivantare bhruvoh pranapanau samau krtva nasabhyantara-carinau yatendriya-mano-buddhir munir moksa-parayanah vigateccha-bhaya-krodho yah sada mukta eva sah sparsan —external sense objects, such as sound, etc.; krtva —doing so; bahih —external; bahyan —unnecessary; caksuh —eyes; ca —also; eva —certainly; antare —within; bhruvoh —of the eyebrows; prana-apanau —up-and down- moving air; samau —in suspension; krtva —doing so; nasa-abhyantara —within the nostrils; carinau —blowing; yata —controlled; indriya —senses; manah —mind; buddhih —intelligence; munih —the transcendentalist; moksa — liberation; parayanah —being so destined; vigata —discarded; iccha —wishes; bhaya —fear; krodhah —anger; yah —one who; sada —always; muktah —liberated; eva —certainly; sah —he is. TRANSLATION Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils-thus controlling the mind, senses and intelligence, the tranecendentalist becomes free from desire, fear and anger. One who is always in this state is certainly liberated. PURPORT Being engaged in Krsna consciousness, one can immediately understand one's spiritual identity, and then one can understand the Supreme Lord by means of devotional service. When he is well situated in devotional service, one comes to the transcendental position, qualified to feel the presence of the Lord in the sphere of one's activity. This particular position is called liberation in the Supreme. After explaining the above principles of liberation in the Supreme, the Lord gives instruction to Arjuna as to how one can come to that position by the practice of mysticism or yoga, known as astahga-yoga, which is divisible into an eightfold procedure called yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. In the Sixth Chapter the subject of yoga is explicitly detailed, and at the end of the Fifth it is only preliminarily explained. One has to drive out the sense objects such as sound, touch, form, taste and smell by the pratyahara (breathing) process in yoga, and then keep the vision of the eyes between the two eyebrows and concentrate on the tip of the nose with half closed lids. There is no benefit in closing the eyes altogether, because then there is every chance of falling asleep. Nor is there benefit in opening the eyes completely, because then there is the hazard of being attracted by sense objects. The breathing movement is restrained within the nostrils by neutralizing the up- and down-moving air within the body. By practice of such yoga one is able to gain control over the senses, refrain from outward sense objects, and thus prepare oneself for liberation in the Supreme. This yoga process helps one become free from all kinds of fear and anger and thus feel the presence of the Supersoul in the transcendental situation. In other words, Krsna consciousness is the easiest process of executing yoga principles. This will be thoroughly explained in the next chapter. A Krsna conscious person, however, being always engaged in devotional service, does not risk losing his senses to some other engagement. This is a better way of controlling the senses than by the astahga-yoga. TEXT 29 ^£<4 u4*idHi $IMI JTt^TTf^nf^fd IR\ II bhoktararh yajha-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram suhrdam sarva-bhutanam jnatva mam santim rcchati bhoktaram —beneficiary; yajha —sacrifices; tapasam —of penances and austerities; sarva-loka —all planets and the demigods thereof; mahesvaram — the Supreme Lord; suhrdam —benefactor; sarva —all; bhutanam —of the living entities; jnatva —thus knowing; mam —Me (Lord Krsna); santim — relief from material pangs; rcchati —achieves. TRANSLATION The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries. PURPORT The conditioned souls within the clutches of illusory energy are all anxious to attain peace in the material world. But they do not know the formula for peace, which is explained in this part of the Bhagavad-gTta. The greatest peace formula is simply this: Lord Krsna is the beneficiary in all human activities. Men should offer everything to the transcendental service of the Lord because He is the proprietor of all planets and the demigods thereon. No one is greater than He. He is greater than the greatest of the demigods, Lord Siva and Lord Brahma. In the Vedas the Supreme Lord is described as tam Tsvaranarh paramam mahesvaram. Under the spell of illusion, living entities are trying to be lords of all they survey, but actually they are dominated by the material energy of the Lord. The Lord is the master of material nature, and the conditioned souls are under the stringent rules of material nature. Unless one understands these bare facts, it is not possible to achieve peace in the world either individually or collectively. This is the sense of Krsna consciousness: Lord Krsna is the supreme predominator, and all living entities, including the great demigods, are His subordinates. One can attain perfect peace only in complete Krsna consciousness. This Fifth Chapter is a practical explanation of Krsna consciousness, generally known as karma-yoga. The question of mental speculation as to how karma-yoga can give liberation is answered herewith. To work in Krsna consciousness is to work with the complete knowledge of the Lord as the predominator. Such work is not different from transcendental knowledge. Direct Krsna consciousness is bhakti-yoga, and jnana-yoga is a path leading to bhakti-yoga. Krsna consciousness means to work in full knowledge of one's relationship with the Supreme Absolute, and the perfection of this consciousness is full knowledge of Krsna, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A pure soul is the eternal servant of God as His fragmental part and parcel. He comes into contact with maya (illusion) due to the desire to lord it over maya, and that is the cause of his many sufferings. As long as he is in contact with matter, he has to execute work in terms of material necessities. Krsna consciousness, however, brings one into spiritual life even while one is within the jurisdiction of matter, for it is an arousing of spiritual existence by practice in the material world. The more one is advanced, the more he is freed from the clutches of matter. The Lord is not partial toward anyone. Everything depends on one's practical performance of duties in an effort to control the senses and conquer the influence of desire and anger. And, attaining Krsna consciousness by controlling the above-mentioned passions, one remains factually in the transcendental stage, or brahman-nirvana. The eightfold yoga mysticism is automatically practiced in Krsna consciousness because the ultimate purpose is served. There is gradual process of elevation in the practice of yama, niyama, asana, pratyahara, dhyana, dharana, pranayama, and samadhi. But these only preface perfection by devotional service, which alone can award peace to the human being. It is the highest perfection of life. Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Fifth Chapter of the Srimad- Bhagavad-glta in the matter of Karma-yoga, or Action in Krsna Consciousness. CHAPTER SIX Sankhya-yoga TEXT 1 3HlpH<^ II? srT-bhagavan uvaca anasritah karma-phalam karyam karma karoti yah sa sannyasT ca yogi ca na niragnir na cakriyah sri bhagavan uvaca —the Lord said; anasritah —without shelter; karma- phalam —the result of work; karyam —obligatory; karma —work; karoti — performs; yah —one who; sah —he; sannyasT —in the renounced order; ca — also; yogi —mystic; ca —also; na —not; nir —without; agnih —fire; na —nor; ca —also; akriyah —without duty. TRANSLATION The Blessed Lord said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work. PURPORT In this chapter the Lord explains that the process of the eightfold yoga system is a means to control the mind and the senses. However, this is very difficult for people in general to perform, especially in the age of Kali. Although the eightfold yoga system is recommended in this chapter, the Lord emphasizes that the process of karma-yoga, or acting in Krsna consciousness, is better. Everyone acts in this world to maintain his family and their paraphernalia, but no one is working without some self-interest, some personal gratification, be it concentrated or extended. The criterion of perfection is to act in Krsna consciousness, and not with a view to enjoying the fruits of work. To act in Krsna consciousness is the duty of every living entity because all are constitutionally parts and parcels of the Supreme. The parts of the body work for the satisfaction of the whole body. The limbs of the body do not act for self-satisfaction but for the satisfaction of the complete whole. Similarly, the living entity who acts for satisfaction of the supreme whole and not for personal satisfaction is the perfect sannyasT, the perfect yogi The sannyasfs sometimes artificially think that they have become liberated from all material duties, and therefore they cease to perform agnihotra yajhas (fire sacrifices), but actually they are self-interested because their goal is becoming one with the impersonal Brahman. Such a desire is greater than any material desire, but it is not without self-interest. Similarly, the mystic yogi who practices the yoga system with half-open eyes, ceasing all material activities, desires some satisfaction for his personal self. But a person acting in Krsna consciousness works for the satisfaction of the whole, without self- interest. A Krsna conscious person has no desire for self-satisfaction. His criterion of success is the satisfaction of Krsna, and thus he is the perfect sannyasT, or perfect yogi Lord Caitanya, the highest perfectional symbol of renunciation, prays in this way: na dhanarh na janam na sundarim kavitam vajagadisa kamaye. mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi. "O Almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor to enjoy beautiful women. Nor do I want any number of followers. What I want only is the causeless mercy of Your devotional service in my life, birth after birth." TEXT 2 M\*\\ Wfd IR II yam sannyasam id prahur yogarh tarn viddhi pandava na by asannyasta-sahkalpo yogi bhavad kascana yam —what; sannyasam —renunciation; id —thus; prahuh —they say; yogam —linking with the Supreme; tarn —that; viddhi —you must know; pandava —O son of Pandu; na —never; hi —certainly; asannyasta —without giving up; sahkalpah —self-satisfaction; yogi —a mystic transcendentalist; bhavad —becomes; kascana —anyone. TRANSLATION What is called renunciation is the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, for no one can become a yogi unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification. PURPORT Real sannyasa-yoga or bhakti means that one should know his constitutional position as the living entity, and act accordingly. The living entity has no separate independant identity. He is the marginal energy of the Supreme. When he is entrapped by material energy, he is conditioned, and when he is Krsna conscious, or aware of the spiritual energy, then he is in his real and natural state of life. Therefore, when one is in complete knowledge, one ceases all material sense gratification, or renounces all kinds of sense gratificatory activities. This is practiced by the yogis who restrain the senses from material attachment. But a person in Krsna consciousness has no opportunity to engage his senses in anything which is not for the purpose of Krsna. Therefore, a Krsna conscious person is simultaneously a sannyasT and a yogi The purpose of knowledge and of restraining the senses, as prescribed in the jnana and yoga processes, is automatically served in Krsna consciousness. If one is unable to give up the activities of his selfish nature, then jnana and yoga are of no avail. The real aim is for a living entity to give up all selfish satisfaction and to be prepared to satisfy the Supreme. A Krsna conscious person has no desire for any kind of self- enjoyment. He is always engaged for the enjoyment of the Supreme. One who has no information of the Supreme must therefore be engaged in self- satisfaction because no one can stand on the platform of inactivity. All these purposes are perfectly served by the practice of Krsna consciousness. TEXT 3 113 || aruruksor muner yog am karma karanam ucyate yogarudhasya tasyaiva samah karanam ucyate aruruksoh —of one who has just begun yoga; muneh —of the sage; yogam —the eightfold yoga system; karma —work; karanam —the cause; ucyate —is said to be; yoga —eightfold yoga; arudhasya —one who has attained; tasya — his; eva —certainly; samah —cessation of all material activities; karanam —the cause; ucyate —is said to be. TRANSLATION For one who is a neophyte in the eightfold yoga system, work is said to be the means; and for one who has already attained to yoga, cessation of all material activities is said to be the means. PURPORT The process of linking oneself with the Supreme is called yoga, which may be compared to a ladder for attaining the topmost spiritual realization. This ladder begins from the lowest material condition of the living entity and rises up to perfect self-realization in pure spiritual life. According to various elevations, different parts of the ladder are known by different names. But all in all, the complete ladder is called yoga and may be divided into three parts, namely jhana-yoga, dhyana-yoga and bhakd-yoga. The beginning of the ladder is called the yogaruruksa stage, and the highest rung is called yogarudha. Concerning the eightfold yoga system, attempts in the beginning to enter into meditation through regulative principles of life and practice of different sitting postures (which are more or less bodily exercises) are considered fruitive material activities. All such activities lead to achieving perfect mental equilibrium to control the senses. When one is accomplished in the practice of meditation, he ceases all disturbing mental activities. A Krsna conscious person is, however, situated from the beginning on the platform of meditation because he always thinks of Krsna. And, being constantly engaged in the service of Krsna, he is considered to have ceased all material activities. TEXT 4 IK II yada hi nendriyarthesu na karmasv anusajjate sarva-sahkalpa-sannyasT yogarudhas tadocyate yada —when; hi —certainly; na —not; indriya-arthesu —in sense gratification; na —never; karmasu —in fruitive activities; anusajjate —does necessarily engage; sarva-sahkalpa —all material desires; sannyasT —renouncer; yoga- arudhah —elevated in yoga; tada —at that time; ucyate —is said to be. TRANSLATION A person is said to have attained to yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities. PURPORT When a person is fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he is pleased in himself, and thus he is no longer engaged in sense gratification or in fruitive activities. Otherwise, one must be engaged in sense gratification, since one cannot live without engagement. Without Krsna consciousness, one must be always seeking self-centered or extended selfish activities. But a Krsna conscious person can do everything for the satisfaction of Krsna and thereby be perfectly detached from sense gratification. One who has no such realization must mechanically try to escape material desires before being elevated to the top rung of the yoga ladder. TEXT 5 ailc+N R^l«4^lfd4^ II** II purvabhyasena tenaiva hriyate hy avaso 'pi sah jijhasur api yogasya sabda-brahmativartate purva —previous; abhyasena —practice; tena —by the influence of that; eva —certainly; hriyate —is attracted; hi —surely; avasah —helpless; api —also; sah —he; jijhasuh —willing to know; api —so; yogasya —of yoga; sabda- brahma — ritualistic principles of scripture; advartate —transcends. TRANSLATION By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attracted to the yogic principles—even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist, striving for yoga, stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures. PURPORT Advanced yogis are not very much attracted to the rituals of the scriptures, but they automatically become attracted to the yoga principles, which can elevate them to complete Krsna consciousness, the highest yoga perfection. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.33.8), such disregard of Vedic rituals by the advanced transcendentalists is explained as follows: aho bata svapaco 'to garTyan yajjihvagre vartate nama tubhyam tepus tapas tejuhuvuh sasnur dry a brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te. "O my Lord! Persons who chant the holy names of Your Lordship are far, far advanced in spiritual life, even if born in families of dog-eaters. Such chanters have undoubtedly performed all kinds of austerities and sacrifices, bathed in all sacred places, and finished all scriptural studies." The famous example of this was presented by Lord Caitanya, who accepted Thakur Haridasa as one of His most important disciples. Although Thakur Haridasa happened to take his birth in a Moslem family, he was elevated to the post of namacarya by Lord Caitanya due to his rigidly attended principle of chanting three hundred thousand holy names of the Lord daily: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And because he chanted the holy name of the Lord constantly, it is understood that in his previous life he must have passed through all the ritualistic methods of the Vedas, known as sabda-brahman. Unless, therefore, one is purified, one cannot take to the principle of Krsna consciousness nor become engaged in chanting the holy name of the Lord, Hare Krsna. TEXT 45 HiM HI l M\4\ ^ I W^fd d I ^ c^T ^||^ II ye caiva sattvika bhava rajasas tamasas ca ye matta eveti tan viddhi na tv aharh tesu te mayi ye —all those; ca —and; eva —certainly; sattvikah —in goodness; bhavah — states of being; rajasah —mode of passion; tamasah —mode of ignorance; ca —also; ye—although; mattah —from Me; eva —certainly; iti —thus; tan — those; viddhi —try to know; na —not; tu —but; aham —I; tesu —in those; te — they; mayi —unto Me. TRANSLATION All states of being-be they of goodness, passion or ignorance—are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything—but I am independent. I am not under the modes of this material nature. PURPORT All material activities in the world are being conducted under the three modes of material nature. Although these material modes of nature are emanations from the Supreme Lord, Krsna, He is not subject to them. For instance, under the state laws one may be punished, but the king, the lawmaker, is not subject to that law. Similarly, all the modes of material nature —goodness, passion and ignorance—are emanations from the Supreme Lord Krsna, but Krsna is not subject to material nature. Therefore He is nirguna, which means that these gunas, or modes, although issuing from Him, do not affect Him. That is one of the special characteristics of Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. TEXT 13 vjHid I 41 r^d HI Ph^ MI Id JTT^T: WT^T^ ||?3 || tribhir gunamayair bhavair ebhih sarvam idam jagat mohitam nabhijanati mam ebhyah param avyayam tribhih —three; gunamayaih —by the three gunas; bhavaih —state of being; ebhih —all this; sarvam —the whole world; idam —in this world; jagat — universe; mohitam —deluded; na abhijanati —do not know; mam —unto Me; ebhyah —above these; param —the Supreme; avyayam —inexhaustible. TRANSLATION Deluded by the three modes [goodness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me who am above the modes and inexhaustible. PURPORT The whole world is enchanted by three modes of material nature. Those who are bewildered by these three modes cannot understand that transcendental to this material nature is the Supreme Lord, Krsna. In this material world everyone is under the influence of these three gunas and is thus bewildered. By nature living entities have particular types of body and particular types of psychic and biological activities accordingly. There are four classes of men functioning in the three material modes of nature. Those who are purely in the mode of goodness are called brahmanas. Those who are purely in the mode of passion are called ksatriyas. Those who are in the modes of both passion and ignorance are called vaisyas. Those who are completely in ignorance are called siidras. And those who are less than that are animals or animal life. However, these designations are not permanent. I may either be a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or whatever-in any case, this life is temporary. But although life is temporary and we do not know what we are going to be in the next life, still, by the spell of this illusory energy, we consider ourselves in the light of this bodily conception of life, and we thus think that we are American, Indian, Russian or brahmana, Hindu, Muslim, etc. And if we become entangled with the modes of material nature, then we forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is behind all these modes. So Lord Krsna says that men, deluded by these three modes of nature, do not understand that behind the material background is the Supreme Godhead. There are many different kinds of living entities-human beings, demigods, animals, etc.-and each and every one of them is under the influence of material nature, and all of them have forgotten the transcendent Personality of Godhead. Those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance, and even those who are in the mode of goodness, cannot go beyond the impersonal Brahman conception of the Absolute Truth. They are bewildered before the Supreme Lord in His personal feature, which possesses all beauty, opulence, knowledge, strength, fame and renunciation. When even those who are in goodness cannot understand, what hope is there for those in passion and ignorance? Krsna consciousness is transcendental to all these three modes of material nature, and those who are truly established in Krsna consciousness are actually liberated. TEXT 14 JTRT I JTFTFtat ^ II** II dam hy esa gunamayT mama maya duratyaya mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etarh taranti te dam —transcendental; hi —certainly; esa —this; gunamayT —consisting of the three modes of material nature; mama —My; maya —energy; duratyaya —very difficult to overcome; mam —unto Me; eva —certainly; ye —those; prapadyante —surrender; mayam etam —this illusory energy; taranti —overcome; te —they. TRANSLATION This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it. PURPORT The Supreme Personality of Godhead has innumerable energies, and all these energies are divine. Although the living entities are part of His energies and are therefore divine, due to contact with material energy, their original superior power is covered. Being thus covered by material energy, one cannot possibly overcome its influence. As previously stated, both the material and spiritual natures, being emanations from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are eternal. The living entities belong to the eternal superior nature of the Lord, but due to contamination by the inferior nature, matter, their illusion is also eternal. The conditioned soul is therefore called nitya-baddha, or eternally conditioned. No one can trace out the history of his becoming conditioned at a certain date in material history. Consequently, his release from the clutches of material nature is very difficult, even though that material nature is an inferior energy, because material energy is ultimately conducted by the supreme will, which the living entity cannot overcome. Inferior material nature is defined herein as divine nature due to its divine connection and movement by the divine will. Being conducted by divine will, material nature, although inferior, acts so wonderfully in the construction and destruction of the cosmic manifestation. The Vedas confirm this as follows: mayam tu prakrtirh vidyan mayinarh tu mahesvaram. "Although maya [illusion] is false or temporary, the background of maya is the supreme magician, the Personality of Godhead, who is Mahesvara, the supreme controller." Another meaning of guna is rope; it is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A man bound by the hands and feet cannot free himself-he must be helped by a person who is unbound. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer must be liberated. Therefore, only Lord Krsna, or His bona fide representative the spiritual master, can release the conditioned soul. Without such superior help, one cannot be freed from the bondage of material nature. Devotional service, or Krsna consciousness, can help one gain such release. Krsna, being the Lord of illusory energy, can order this insurmountable energy to release the conditioned soul. He orders this release out of His causeless mercy on the surrendered soul and out of His paternal affection for the living entity who is originally a beloved son of the Lord. Therefore surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is the only means to get free from the clutches of the stringent material nature. The words mam eva are also significant. Mam means unto Krsna (Visnu) only, and not Brahma or Siva. Although Brahma and Siva are greatly elevated and are almost on the level of Visnu, it is not possible for such incarnations of rajo-guna (passion) and tamo-guna (ignorance) to release the conditioned soul from the clutches of maya. In other words, both Brahma and Siva are also under the influence of maya. Only Visnu is the master of maya; therefore He can alone give release to the conditioned soul. The Vedas confirm this in the phrase tvam eva viditva or "Freedom is possible only by understanding Krsna." Even Lord Siva affirms that liberation can be achieved only by the mercy of Visnu. Lord Siva says: mukti-pradata sarvesam visnur eva na samsayah. "There is no doubt that Visnu is the deliverer of liberation for everyone. TEXT 15 JTJTT^fdH) ^<41: HIHirt