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GT001Dear Vaisnava's,Devotees,and Friends of Krsna,Please Forgive

me.as I lost my internet Connection,and could not afford to get it

back,right away ,So i was not posting Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad

Gita Classes,or Srimad Bhagavatam Classes,That you can read and

listen too,by clicking on listen ! I aslo post ,My Diksha

Guru,Radhanath Swami Maharaja's " Nectarian Nectures " that I get Every

other Day,so I will Continue to send posts, almost every day,or every

other day,i promise to post Srila Prabhupad's Bhagavad gita

Classes,Srimad Bhagavatam Classes,And , Or ,Radhanath

Swamies " Nectarian Nectures " Lectures ,witch I know ,All Viasnava's

Want! Please Forgive me for the cease of service,witch is a sign,that

I am a very Fallen soul,So please read and listen to these

classes,witch is perfect,and Blissfull,being Spoken , By a Pure

Devotee's of Lord Krsna,so i can deliver these enlightening

classes,like a post man, unchanged,and pure,because i don't change a

single word,that Srila Prabhupada,or Radhanath Swami speak! All

Glories To Srila Prabhupada!All glories To Radhanath Swami Maharaja!!

All glories To Sri Sri Guru,and Gauranga! Jai Radhe,your Fallen

Servant, !

>

Jaya Kesava Dasa (krsnajoe)

>

Hare Krsna!

 

" Intro 1 to Bhagavad-gita "

66/02/19-20 New York,

First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself

 

listen

 

 

--------

 

 

Prabhupada:

 

om ajnana-timirandhasya

jnananjana-salakaya

caksur unmilitam yena

tasmai sri-gurave namah

 

[i offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with

the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the

darkness of ignorance.]

 

sri-caitanya-mano-'bhistam

sthapitam yena bhu-tale

svayam rupah kada mahyam

dadati sva-padantikam

 

[When will Srila 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 sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca

sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam

sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca

 

[i offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my

spiritual master and of all the other preceptors on the path of devotional

service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnavas and unto

the six Gosvamis, including Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami,

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Jiva Gosvami and their associates. I offer my

respectful obeisances unto Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu,

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and all His devotees, headed by Srivasa Thakura. I

then offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Krsna,

Srimati Radharani and all the gopis, headed by Lalita and Visakha.]

 

he krsna karuna-sindho

dina-bandho jagat-pate

gopesa gopika-kanta

radha-kanta namo 'stu te

 

[O my dear Krsna, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the

distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherdmen

and the lover of the gopis, especially Radharani. I offer my respectful

obeisances unto You.]

 

tapta-kancana-gaurangi

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.]

 

vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca

krpa-sindhubhya eva ca

patitanam pavanebhyo

vaisnavebhyo namo namah

 

[i offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of

the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees,

and they are full of compassion for the fallen souls.]

 

sri-krsna-caitanya

prabhu-nityananda

sri-advaita gadadhara

srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda

 

[i offer my obeisances to Sri Krsna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Sri

Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasa and all others in the line of devotion.]

 

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

 

[My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage

me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please

engage me in Your service.]

 

Introduction to Gitopanisad by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the author

of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Easy Journey to Other Planets, editor of Back to

Godhead, etc.

 

Bhagavad-gita is known also Gitopanisad, the essence of Vedic

knowledge, and one of the most important of the various Upanisads in Vedic

literature. This Bhagavad-gita, there are many commentations in English and

what is the necessity of another English commentation of the Bhagavad-gita

can be explained in the following way. One American lady, Mrs. Charlotte Le

Blanc asked me to recommend an English edition of Bhagavad-gita which she

can read. Of course, in America there are so many editions of English

Bhagavad-gita, but so far I have seen them, not only in America but also

India, none of them can be said strictly as authoritative because almost

every one of them have expressed their own opinion through the commentation

of the Bhagavad-gita without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gita as it is.

 

The spirit of Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita

itself. It is just like this. If we want to take a particular medicine, then

we have to follow the particular direction mentioned on the label of the

medicine. We cannot take the particular medicine according to our own

direction or by the direction of a friend, but we have to take the medicine

under the direction given on the label of the bottle and as directed by the

physician. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gita also should be taken or accepted as

it is directed by the speaker Himself. The speaker of the Bhagavad-gita is

Lord Sri Krsna. He is mentioned in every page of the Bhagavad-gita as the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. Of course, " bhagavan " is sometimes

designated to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, but here bhagavan

is certainly designated to Sri Krsna, a great personality, but at the same

time we must know that Lord Sri Krsna, as He is confirmed by all the

acaryas... I mean to say, even Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya,

Nimbarka Svami and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and many others. In India there

were many authoritative scholars and acaryas, I mean, authorities of the

Vedic knowledge. All of them, including Sankaracarya, has accepted Sri Krsna

as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord Himself has also established

Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gita. He is

accepted so in the Brahma-samhita and all Puranas, especially in the

Bhagavata Purana, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [sB 1.3.28]. So therefore we

should take Bhagavad-gita as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead

Himself.

 

So in the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita the Lord says,

 

imam vivasvate yogam

proktavan aham avyayam

vivasvan manave praha

manur iksvakave 'bravit

[bg. 4.1]

 

evam parampara-praptam

imam rajarsayo viduh

sa kaleneha mahata

yogo nastah parantapa

[bg. 4.2]

 

sa evayam maya te 'dya

yogah proktah puratanah

bhakto 'si me sakha ceti

rahasyam hy etad uttamam

[bg. 4.3]

 

The idea is the Lord said to Arjuna that " This yoga, this system of

yoga, Bhagavad-gita, was first spoken by Me to the sun-god and the sun-god

explained to Manu. Manu explained to Iksvaku, and in that way, by disciplic

succession, one after another, this yoga system is coming, and in course of

time this system is now lost. And therefore, I am speaking to you the very

same yoga system again, the very same old yoga system of Bhagavad-gita, or

Gitopanisad. Because you are My devotee and you are My friend, therefore it

is possible for you only to understand. "

 

Now the purport is that Bhagavad-gita is a treatise which is

specially meant for the devotee of the Lord. There are three classes of

transcendentalists, namely the jnani, the yogi and the bhakta. Or the

impersonalist or the meditator or the devotees. So here it is clearly

mentioned, the Lord says to Arjuna that " I am speaking or I am making you

the first man of the parampara. Because the old parampara or disciplic

succession is now broken, therefore I wish to establish again another

parampara in the same line of thought as it was coming down from the sun-god

to others. So you, you take it and you distribute it. Or the system, the

yoga system of Bhagavad-gita may now be distributed through you. You become

the authority of understanding Bhagavad-gita. " Now here is a direction that

Bhagavad-gita is especially instructed to Arjuna, the devotee of the Lord,

the direct student of Krsna. And not only that, he is intimately in touch

with Krsna as friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is understood by a person who

has similar qualities like Krsna. That means he must be a devotee, he must

be in relation, direct relationship with the Lord. As soon as one becomes a

devotee of the Lord, he has a direct relationship also with the Lord. That

is a subject matter very long, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee

is in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in five ways. One

may be a devotee in a passive state, one may be a devotee in active state,

one may be a devotee as a friend, one may be a devotee as parent, and one

may be a devotee as conjugal lover.

 

So Arjuna was a devotee in relationship with the Lord as a friend.

The Lord can become a friend. Of course, this friendship and the conception

of friendship which we have got in the mundane world, there is a gulf of

difference. This is transcendental friendship which... Not that everyone

will have the relationship with the Lord. Everyone has got a particular

relationship with the Lord and that particular relationship is evoked by the

perfection of devotional service. At the present status of our life we have

not only forgotten the Supreme Lord, but also we have forgotten our eternal

relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of many, many millions

and billions of living beings, each and every living being has got a

particular relationship with the Lord eternally. That is called svarupa.

Svarupa. And by the process of devotional service one can revive that

svarupa of oneself. 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.

 

Now, this Bhagavad-gita was explained to Arjuna and how Arjuna

accepted it? That should also be noted. How Arjuna accepted the

Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Tenth Chapter. Just like

 

arjuna uvaca

param brahma param dhama

pavitram paramam bhavan

purusam sasvatam divyam

adi-devam ajam vibhum

 

ahus tvam rsayah sarve

devarsir naradas tatha

asito devalo vyasah

svayam caiva bravisi me

[bg. 10.12-13]

 

sarvam etad rtam manye

yan mam vadasi kesava

na hi te bhagavan vyaktim

vidur deva na danavah.

[bg. 10.14]

 

Now, Arjuna says, after hearing Bhagavad-gita from the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, he accepts Krsna as param brahma, the Supreme

Brahman. Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, but the supreme living

being or the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Brahman or

supreme living being. And param dhama. Param dhama means He is the supreme

rest of everything. And pavitram. Pavitram means He is pure from material

contamination. And He's addressed as purusam. Purusam means the supreme

enjoyer; sasvatam, sasvata means from very beginning, He's the first person;

divyam, transcendental; devam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ajam,

never born; vibhum, the greatest.

 

Now one may doubt that because Krsna was the friend of Arjuna,

therefore he might say all these things to his own friend. But Arjuna, just

to drive out this kind of doubts in the mind of the readers of

Bhagavad-gita, he establishes his proposition by the authorities. He says

that Lord Sri Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not

only by himself, Arjuna, but He is so accepted by authorities like Narada,

Asita, Devala, Vyasa. These personalities are great personalities in

distributing the Vedic knowledge. They (are) accepted by all acaryas.

Therefore Arjuna says that " Whatever You have spoken so far to me, I accept

them as completely perfect. " Sarvam etad rtam manye [bg. 10.14]. " I take it,

I believe it that whatever You have spoken, they are all right. And Your

Personality, Your Personality of Godhead, is very difficult to understand.

And therefore You cannot be known by even the demigods. You cannot be known

even by the demigods. " That means the Supreme Personality Godhead cannot be

known even by greater personalities than the human being, and how a human

being can understand Sri Krsna without becoming His devotee?

 

Therefore Bhagavad-gita should be taken up in a spirit of devotee of

Lord Sri Krsna. One should not think that he is equal, on the same level of

Sri Krsna, or one should not think that He is an ordinary personality, maybe

a very great personality. No. Lord Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of

Godhead. So at least theoretically, on the statement of Bhagavad-gita or on

the statement, assertion of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand

the Bhagavad-gita, we should accept Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, and then, with that submissive spirit... Unless one receives this

Bhagavad-gita in a submissive spirit and aural reception, it is very

difficult to understand Bhagavad-gita because it is a great mystery.

 

So in this Bhagavad-gita... We may survey what is this

Bhagavad-gita. This Bhagavad-gita is meant for delivering persons, persons

from the nescience of this material existence. Every man is in difficulty in

so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in the matter of fighting the

battle of Kuruksetra. And as such he surrendered unto Sri Krsna, and

therefore this Bhagavad-gita was spoken. Similarly, not only Arjuna but

every one of us is always full of anxieties due to our, this material

existence. Asad-grahat. It is... Our existence is in the environment or

atmosphere of nonexistence. But actually, we are not nonexistent. Our

existence is eternal, but some way or other we are put into this asat. Asat

means which does not exist.

 

Now out of so many human being who are actually inquiring about his

position as to what he is, why he is put into this awkward position of

suffering... Unless one is awakened to this position, that " Why I am

suffering? I do not want all these sufferings. I have tried to make a

solution of all these sufferings, but I have failed, " unless one is in that

position, he is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins

when this sort of inquiries are awakened in one's mind. In the Brahma-sutra

this inquiry is called brahma-jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. And every

activity of the human being is to be considered a failure without having

this inquiry in his mind. So persons who have awakened this inquiry into his

mind as to " What I am, why I am suffering, wherefrom I have come or where I

shall go after death, " when these inquiries come, are awakened in the mind

of a sane human being, then he is practically the right student for

understanding Bhagavad-gita. And he must be sraddhavan. Sraddhavan. He must

have respect, a fond respect in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a

person, as the ideal person was Arjuna.

 

So Lord Krsna, He descends, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati

[bg. 4.7], just to establish the real purpose of life. When man forgets the

real purpose of life, the mission of human form of life, then it is called

dharmasya glanih, the disturbance of the occupation of human being. So in

that circumstances, out of many, many human being, who awakens, one who

awakens the spirit of understanding his position, for him this Bhagavad-gita

is spoken. We are just like swallowed by the tigress of nescience, and Lord,

being causelessly merciful upon the living entities, especially for the

human being, He spoke Bhagavad-gita, making His friend Arjuna as the

student.

 

Arjuna was certainly, being an associate of Lord Krsna, he was above

all ignorance. But still, Arjuna was put into ignorance in the Battlefield

of Kuruksetra just to question about the problems of life to the Supreme

Lord so that the Lord can explain them for the benefit of future generation

of human being to chalk out the plan of his life and act in that way so that

his life, his mission of human life, can be perfect.

 

So in this Bhagavad-gita the subject matter is comprehending five

different truths. The first truth is what is God. It is the preliminary

study of the science of God. So that science of God is explained here. Next,

the constitutional position of the living entities, jiva. Isvara and jiva.

The Lord, the Supreme Lord, He is called isvara. Isvara means controller,

and jiva, the living entities are... Jivas, the living entities, they are

not isvara, or the controller. They are controlled. Artificially, if I say

that " I am not controlled, I am free, " this is not the sign of a sane man. A

living being is controlled in every respect. At least, in his conditioned

life he is controlled. So in this Bhagavad- gita the subject matter

comprehends about the isvara, the supreme controller, and about the

controlled living entities and prakrti, the nature, the material nature. And

next, the time, or duration of existence of the whole universe, or this

manifestation of the material nature, and the duration of time, or the

eternal time, and karma. Karma means activity. Everything, the whole

universe, whole cosmic manifestation is full of different activities. The

living beings especially, they are all engaged in different activities. So

we have to study from the Bhagavad-gita, isvara, what is God, jiva, what are

these living entities, and prakrti, what is this cosmic manifestation, and

how it is controlled by time, and what are these activities?

 

Now out of these five subject matter, in the Bhagavad-gita it

establish that the Supreme Godhead or Krsna or Brahman or Paramatma... You

may call whatever you like. But the supreme controller. There is a supreme

controller. So the supreme controller is the greatest of all. And the living

beings, they are in quality like the supreme controller. Just like the

supreme controller, the Lord, He has control over the universal affairs,

over the material nature, how the... It will be explained in the later

chapters of Bhagavad-gita that this material nature is not independent. She

is acting under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih

suyate sa-caracaram [bg. 9.10]. " This material nature is working under My

direction, " mayadhyaksena, " under My superintendence. " So we, we are

mistaken. When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we

should know that behind these wonderful manifestations, there is a

controller. Nothing can be manifested without being controlled. It is

childish to, not to consider about the controller. Just like a very nice

motor car with very good speed and very good engineering arrangement is

running on the street. A child may think that " How this motor car is running

without the help of any horse or any pulling agent? " But a sane man or an

elderly person, he knows that in spite of all engineering arrangements in

the motor car, without the driver it cannot move. That engineering

arrangement of a motor car, or in electric powerhouse... Now at the present

moment it is the day of machinery, but we should always know that behind the

machinery, behind the wonderful working of the machinery, there is a driver.

So the Supreme Lord is the driver, adhyaksa. He is the Supreme Personality

under whose direction everything is working. Now these jiva, or the living

entities, they have been accepted by the Lord in this Bhagavad-gita, as

we'll know it in later chapters, that they are parts and parcels of the

Supreme Lord. Mamaivamso jiva-bhutah [bg. 15.7]. Amsa means parts and

parcels. Now as a particle of gold is also particle, a drop of water of the

ocean is also salty, similarly, we, the living entities, being part and

parcels of the supreme controller, isvara, Bhagavan, or Lord Sri Krsna, we

have got, I mean to say, qualitatively all the qualities of the Supreme Lord

in minute. Because we are minute isvara, subordinate isvara. We are also

trying to control. We are just trying to control over the nature. In the

present days you are trying to control over the space. You are trying to

float imitation planets. So this tendency of controlling or creating is

there because partially we have got that controlling tendency. But we should

know that this tendency is not sufficient. We have the tendency of

controlling over the material nature, lording it over the material nature,

but we are not the supreme controller. So that thing is explained in the

Bhagavad-gita.

 

Then what is this material nature? The nature is also explained. The

nature, material nature, is explained in the Bhagavad-gita as inferior,

inferior prakrti. Inferior prakrti, and the living entities are explained as

the superior prakrti. Prakrti means which is controlled, which is under...

Prakrti, real meaning of prakrti is a woman or a female. Just like a husband

controls the activities of his wife, similarly, the prakrti is also

subordinate, predominated. The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is

the predominator, and this prakrti, both the living entities and the

material nature, they are different prakrtis, or predominated, controlled by

the Supreme. So according to Bhagavad-gita, the living entities, although

they are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, they are taken as prakrti.

It is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita yes,

apareyam itas tu viddhi apara [bg. 7.5]. This material nature is apara iyam.

Itas tu, and beyond this there is another prakrti. And what is that prakrti?

Jiva-bhuta, these...

 

So this prakrti, the constitution of this prakrti is constituted by

three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion, and mode of

ignorance. And above these modes, three different kinds of modes, goodness,

passion, and, I mean to say, ignorance, there is eternal time. There is

eternal time. And by combination of these modes of nature and under the

control, under the purview of this eternal time, there are activities. There

are activities, which is called karma. These activities are being done from

time immemorial and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our

activities. Just like in the present life also, we enjoy the activities, the

fruits of our activities. Suppose I am a businessman and I have worked very

hard with intelligence and I have amassed a vast amount of bank balance. Now

I am the enjoyer. Similarly, suppose I started my business with a vast

amount of money, but I failed to make a successful..., I lost all the money.

So I am sufferer. So similarly, in every field of our life we enjoy, we

enjoy the result of our work. This is called karma.

 

So these things, isvara, jiva, prakrti, or the Supreme Lord, or the

living entity, the material nature, the eternal time, and our different

activities, these things are explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Now out of

these five, the Lord, the living entities, and the material nature and time,

these four items are eternal. Now manifestation, manifestation of prakrti

may be temporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that this

manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy

of Bhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, they do

not accept the manifestation of the world as false. They accept that the

manifestation is real, but it is temporary. It is just like a cloud takes

place in the sky and the rainy season begins, and after the rainy season

there are so many new green vegetation all over the field, we can see. And

as soon as the rainy season is finished, then the cloud is vanquished.

Generally, gradually, all this vegetation dry up and again the land becomes

barren. Similarly, this material manifestation takes place at a certain

interval. We'll understand it, we'll know it, from the pages of the

Bhagavad-gita. Bhutva bhutva praliyate [bg. 8.19]. This manifestation

becomes magnificent at a certain interval, and again it disappears. That is

the work of the prakrti. But it is working eternally; therefore prakrti is

eternal. It is not false. Because the Lord has accepted, mama prakrti, " My

prakrti. " Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakrtim param [bg. 7.5]. Bhinna

prakrti, bhinna prakrti, apara prakrti, this material nature is a separated

energy of the Supreme Lord, and the living entities, they are also energy of

the Supreme Lord, but they are not separated. They are eternally related. So

the Lord, the living entity, the nature, material nature, and time, they are

all eternal. But the other item, karma, is not eternal. The effects of karma

or activity may be very old. We are suffering or enjoying the results of our

activities from a time immemorial, but still, we can change the result of

our karma, or activity. That will depend on our perfect knowledge. We are

engaged in various activities undoubtedly, but we do not know what sort of

activities we shall adopt that will give us relief from the actions and

reactions of all activities. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita.

 

Now, the position of isvara is supreme consciousness. Position of

isvara, or the Supreme Lord, is supreme consciousness. And the jivas, or the

living entities, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, he is also

conscious. A living entity is also conscious. The living entity is explained

as prakrti, energy, and the material nature is also explained as prakrti,

but amongst the two, one prakrti, the jivas, they are conscious. The other

prakrti is not conscious. That is the difference. Therefore the jiva prakrti

is called superior because the jivas has consciousness similar to the Lord.

The Lord is supreme consciousness. One should not claim that a jiva, a

living entity is also supremely conscious. No. A living being cannot be

supremely conscious at any stage of his perfection. This is a misleading

theory. This is misleading theory. But he is conscious. That's all. But he

is not supreme conscious.

 

The supreme conscious, it will be explained in the Bhagavad-gita in

the chapter where the distinction between the jiva and isvara is explained.

Ksetra-ksetra-jna. This ksetra-jna has been explained that the Lord is also

ksetra-jna, or conscious, and the jivas, or the living beings, they are also

conscious. But the difference is that a living being is conscious within his

limited body, but the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Isvarah

sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati [bg. 18.61]. The Lord lives within

the core of heart in every living being, therefore He is conscious of the

psychic movements, activities, of the particular jiva. We should not forget.

It is also explained that the Paramatma, or the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, is living in everyone's heart as isvara, as the controller and He

is giving direction. He is giving direction. Sarvasya caham hrdi

sannivisthah [bg. 15.15], everyone's heart He is situated, and He gives

direction to act as he desires. The living entity forgets what to do. First

of all he makes his determination to act in a certain way, and then he is

entangled in the actions and reactions of his own karma. But after giving up

one type of body, when he enters another type of body... Just like we give

up one kind of dress, one type of dress, for another type of dress,

similarly, it is explained in this Bhagavad-gita that vasamsi jirnani yatha

vihaya [bg. 2.22]. One, as one changes his different dresses, similarly the

living entities, they are also changing different bodies, transmigration of

the soul, and pulling on the actions and reactions of his past activities.

So these activities can be changed when a living being is in the mode of

goodness, in sanity, and he understands what sort of activities he should

adopt, and if he does so, then the whole action and reactions of his past

activities can be changed. Therefore karma is not eternal. Other things, out

of the four, five items -- isvara, jiva, prakrti, kala, and karma -- these

four items are eternal, whereas the karma, the item known as karma, that is

not eternal.

 

Now the conscious isvara, the supreme conscious isvara, and

difference between the supreme conscious isvara, or the Lord, and the living

being is, in the present circumstances, is like this. Consciousness,

consciousness of, both of the Lord and the living entities, they are, this

consciousness is transcendental. It is not that this consciousness is

generated by the association of this matter. That is a mistaken idea. The

theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material

combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gita. They cannot. Consciousness

may be pervertedly reflected by the cover of material circumstances, just

like light reflected through a colored glass may seem according to the

color. Similarly, the consciousness of Lord, it is not materially affected.

The Supreme Lord, just like Krsna, He says that mayadhyaksena prakrtih [bg.

9.10]. When He descends in this material world, His consciousness is not

materially affected. Had His consciousness been materially affected, He was

unfit to speak about the transcendental subject matter in the Bhagavad-gita.

One cannot say anything about the transcendental world without being free

from the materially contaminated consciousness. So the Lord was not

materially contaminated. But our consciousness, at the present moment, is

materially contaminated. So whole thing, as the Bhagavad-gita teaches, we

have to purify the materially contaminated consciousness and in that pure

consciousness, the actions will be done. That will make us happy. We cannot

stop. We cannot stop our activity. The activities are to be purified. And

these purified activities are called bhakti. Bhakti means they are, they

appear also just like ordinary activity, but they are not contaminated

activities They are purified activities. So an ignorant person may see that

a devotee is working like an ordinary man, but a person with poor fund of

knowledge, he does not know that the activities of a devotee or the

activities of the Lord, they are not contaminated by the impure

consciousness of matter, impurity of the three gunas, modes of nature, but

transcendental consciousness. So our consciousness is materially

contaminated, we should know.

 

Now when we are such materially contaminated, that is called our

conditioned stage. Conditioned stage. And the false ego, the false

consciousness... The false consciousness is exhibited under the impression

that " I am one of the product of this material nature. " That is called false

ego. The whole material activities, yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke [sB

10.84.13]. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke, one who is absorbed in the

thought of bodily conception. Now, the whole Bhagavad-gita was explained by

the Lord because Arjuna represented himself with bodily conception. So one

has to get free from the bodily conception of life. That is the preliminary

activity for a transcendentalist who wants to get free, who wants to be

liberated. And he has to learn first of all that he is not this material

body. So this consciousness, or material consciousness, when we are freed

from this material consciousness, that is called mukti. Mukti or liberation

means to become free from material consciousness. In the Srimad-Bhagavata

also the definition of liberation is said, muktir hitvanyatha rupam

svarupena vyavasthitih [sB 2.10.6]. Svarupena vyavasthitih. Mukti means

liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world...

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada

Himself

 

H OM E

 

 

© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.

 

 

 

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