çré-bhagavän uväca
paraà bhüyaù pravakñyämi
jïänänäà jïänam uttamam
yaj jïätvä munayaù sarve
paräà siddhim ito gatäù
(BG 14.1)
Translation :
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Again I shall declare to you this supreme wisdom, the best of all knowledge, knowing which all the sages have attained the supreme perfection.
idaà jïänam upäçritya
mama sädharmyam ägatäù
sarge ‘pi nopajäyante
pralaye na vyathanti ca
(BG 14.2)
Translation :
By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature like My own. Thus established, one is not born at the time of creation or disturbed at the time of dissolution.
Real Problem of The World Is Suffering
Krsna is here declaring the teachings of Bhagavad Gita to be jïänam uttamam. This means the supreme of all knowledge. It is the highest and the deepest wisdom. And it is that which many great souls have attained the supreme perfection of life because the problems in this world are ultimately the repetition of birth, old-age, disease and death. The real problem of the world is suffering. In fact that’s the only problem. And we see today we are ad mister Agrawal’s residence. He is an advocate. Why is anyone higher an advocate? Because of suffering or they are afraid of suffering. We also have people here who are doctor. Why is any one go to a doctor? Due suffering or fear of suffering. In fact why we do we built a house? Because you are afraid of suffering, practically, everything man does to motivate himself is out of fear of suffering. The whole world is revolving around this principle. While do we elect politicians in to office? Because we are afraid without proper administration to the state we will suffer. Probably and usually politicians create more suffering. Anyways this is a big problem in the world. So many people are suffering. Why the people grow food in the ground? To relieve the suffering from starvation. There are some very are rare souls who have sex life for at the positive reason of willing about Krishna Consciousness, God consciousness in the world. The most people they have sex simply to relieve the suffering of the sex impulse. Why do we erect these big cinema houses and these cinema houses? Because we are suffering from so much burden with our own lives we have to forget ourselves by putting ourselves in some fantasy world. Most of the things that we think we are created for our enjoyments are actually created to relieve us of suffering. And in the material life enjoyment simply means to relieve from suffering.
Fear And Suffering Is All Pervading
Guru Maharaj used to say that in the older days when the king wanted to punish someone he would take that person very strong, darks and they would push him under the water of the river and they hold him down until he was just about to die. And then at that point he would let him up and then he push him down again. Keep him down until he was about to suffocate and then bring him up. And for those few seconds he was up he would be thinking oh! How nice i.e. the enjoyment of this material world. When there some may relief from the anxieties, frustration, burdens, agitations of the material world we called that enjoyment. India has the second largest army in all over the world only less than China. why do you think there are so many millions of people in Indian army? Because this country is so afraid of suffering being attacked and subjected by other powers. So fear and suffering is all pervading.
And Krsna is explaining here that the highest knowledge is that which once and for all release us from the suffering of this material existence. And they don’t teach these things in our collages and in our universities. In fact what they teaching is more sophisticated ways of creating greater suffering in this world or at the most making some arrangements in your life then you can temporarily medicate the suffering. But janma-måtyu-jarä-vyädhi-duùkha-doñänu-darçanam. The real problems are you take birth, you have to grow old, you have get disease and you have to die and there is no material arrangement that can solve this problem.
Pleasures Of This World Are Temporary
Therefore Krsna in this fourteenth chapter of Bhagavad Gita is explaining that when you become fixed in this knowledge you can attain transcendental nature which is not subjected to birth at the time of creation or disturbed at the time of dissolution.
bhümir äpo ‘nalo väyuù
khaà mano buddhir eva ca
ahaìkära itéyaà me
bhinnä prakåtir añöadhä
[Bg. 7.4]
apareyam itas tv anyäà
prakåtià viddhi me paräm
jéva-bhütäà mahä-bäho
yayedaà dhäryate jagat
[Bg. 7.5]
That this material creation is consisting of eight elements- earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego. And they all object of misery because they are all temporary. Krsna says in Gita that the non permanent appearance of the pleasures and the pains of this world that always coming and going like summer and winter seasons. You know that whatever pleasure you derive from your senses how longer that last. Generally pain lasts much longer than pleasure. When you have something nice to eat how longer can you enjoy the pleasure? Your mouth experiences a few minutes of pleasure the most pleasure your mouth can get out of good food. But if you have a toothache that may cause you sever misery for days and weeks at a time. It is a fact. With your fingers you can feel something very soft and it will give you pleasure for few minutes. But if you have boil on your finger for weeks it’s a sever pain. When you sick you are sick for days and it causes you pain. When you well you are not in pleasure just because of you are in good health. You are just in a situation and just anxious to find some pleasure what would happen.
Transcend This Material Existence
So we can see that pleasure is very flickering and pain is flickering also but it is far more in during i.e. the nature of this material existence and no one can change that nature of this materialistic existence. Krsna says: dukhalayam asasvatam, the nature of this material world is to suffer and no one can change that. But Krsna explains –
mam upetya punar janma
duhkhalayam asasvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah
[Bg. 8.15]
That you can transcend this material existence. You can’t change it but you can transcend it. And how to we transcend this material existence? By realizing –
apareyam itas tv anyäà
prakåtià viddhi me paräm
jéva-bhütäà mahä-bäho
yayedaà dhäryate jagat
[Bg. 7.5]
That the soul the Jivatma is of spiritual nature-
na jäyate mriyate vä kadäcin
näyaà bhütvä bhavitä vä na bhüyaù
ajo nityaù çäçvato ‘yaà puräëo
na hanyate hanyamäne çarére
[Bg. 2.20]
For the soul there is neither birth nor death nor having once being does it ever sees to be. The soul is by nature part of God. mamai-vamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah. Krsna says every soul is part of Me. It is Sad- Cit- Ananda. To wake up to the reality about true existence i.e. the only real relief from the suffering from this material existence. And that knowledge which teaches us the ways and means of transcending illusion and ignorance i.e. the supreme knowledge and i.e. what Krsna’s teaching in Bhagavad Gita.
Highest And Purest Of All Sciences – Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita is the highest and the purest of all sciences because it fulfills the ultimate desires of every living being. But Bhagavad Gita is not a scripture simply to read and discuss it is a scriptures i.e. meant to be applied to every aspect of our life. Sometimes we see there are many great scholars of the Gita who know everything by memory and can explain in very specific terms all the detail information taught in Gita and can expound purports but those same people between Slokas they are smoking the beedies or they are chewing the pan or they are drinking the alcohol or they are going to the cinemas and watching the television or they are having various female disciples who they enjoy. In this way they are teaching the Gita but they are not practicing Gita.
The Gita’s tell teaching us that every act every word should be offered in the service of Krsna. We should do nothing for our own selfish purpose. We should have no additions or attachments to the things of the body. Krsna says in Gita that we should eat food only i.e. offered in sacrifice. In order to maintain this body we have to eat. Lord Sri Krsna explains that if you don’t eat foods in the mode of goodness which are first offer to Him in devotion you are eating only sin. You are eating only for your own selfish enjoyment and therefore that will be come in great reaction. But when we eat Prasad pure vegetarian food offer to Krsna and we eat in order to supply our body energy so we can do seva then that eating purifying our existence. Similarly Krsna explains in Gita that if you have sex according to prescribe message of the Vedas to for procreate God conscious children that sex is spiritual offering to the supreme Lord. But if we do the same activity simply because of its good feeling or simply because of we want to expand our family for our own materialistic purposes then we become entangled in bondage by that action. When we do our occupational duties in this world according to our consciousness there are three modes of material nature which will create bondage but if we perform our work in Krishna Consciousness we perform our work with the understanding that I am going to dedicate a portion of the fruits of my activities in the service of the Lord and His devotees then that very occupational activity becomes the cause of libration.
Real Compassion
yajïärthät karmaëo ‘nyatra
loko ‘yaà karma-bandhanaù
tad-arthaà karma kaunteya
mukta-saìgaù samäcara
[Bg. 3.9]
That work done as the sacrifice to the supreme Lord must be performed any other work is a cause of bondage. We are not these material bodies. We are the eternal souls our first priority in life must be to work according to the needs of the soul. And what are the needs of the soul? Yoga, to reconnect with the supreme soul. Bhagavad Gita is teaching us so practical method by which through out the day we can be immersed in serving the true need of the soul. And we must also learn how to serve the needs of the soul of other living beings. This is called compassion. “Real compassion is to understand what are the real needs of the soul of other living beings and how to cure that person from the diseases of ignorance.” Opening hospitals is the charity in the mode of goodness, giving food to the poor and clothing to the poor is also charity in the mode of goodness providing we expect nothing in return. If we are expecting name and fame or some better benefits for ourselves in that way it is actually in the mode of passion. And if we are doing it in competition against other living beings then it is in the mode of ignorance if it causes harm to others. So we must know that to help people who are physical need is one of the essential purposes which is responsibility of everyone. If you have you must share with others. But the fact is even if you heal person by giving them hospitalization do you think that healthy peoples in this world by suffering much less than the diseased? It really not much difference, so many healthy people are in so much mental anxiety and suffering. Even if you are healthy after a few years how long could your health go on? Therefore on the bodily concept the only charity you can do is postpone suffering for just a little bit of a future day that’s maximum charity on the bodily concept can help. But if we give a person the ways and the means by which they can transcend material nature and again reconnect with the eternal soul, Krsna then we are showing real compassion.
Monkey Business
And for this reason Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has spoken-
bhärata-bhümite haila manuñya janma yära
janma särthaka kari’ kara para-upakära
[Cc. Ädi 9.41]
That every living beings who is born on this land of India is responsible to distribute that charity to perfume that welfare work by which people can easily relieve from all suffering forever i.e. your first responsibility because after all the dogs and the cats and the hogs and the monkeys they are also eating and sleeping and mating and defending and protecting their children and providing from them their necessities of life. Just like recently herein Vrindavan and we saw some people eating some roties and the monkey came and jumped on the head and stole their roties and jumped on to the tree with the roties. I was watching and that monkey started feeding little children their roti. So what’s the difference between that you going to work and Stealing people’s money and then giving to your children, not much difference. You may say that we are no stealing we are doing in fair swear. But according to the laws of monkeys they are doing in fair too also. We have our laws and then monkey said their laws. So the consciousness is the same you go out and do some work and provide. Human life is meant for something more than this. This is monkey business. Human life is meant for self realization. And Bhagavad Gita is giving us that path of self realization. It must be applied to our life.
Krsna And Guru Concern With Sincerity of Our Endeavor Not With Result
One time Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu He was traveling through out all of the southern paths of India giving the most intimate and precious charity to all living beings. He was giving the Holy Name of Krsna. He didn’t expect anything in return except that you please kindly accept it. Just accept the name of Krsna with faith i.e. our only alms to beg. So Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu He was going from town to town to village to village and who ever He met with His beautiful gracious form He would appeal to them chant the Holy Names
Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa, Hare Hare
Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare.
You chant, simply chant these sixteen fairly two syllable mantra then you will be relieved, you will be freed from all sufferings and you will attain real and nature ecstasy of the soul. He came to holy land of Srirangam their there was a Brahman. He was very simple not well educated. At that time Srirangam was the high seat of learning for the whole south India. Previous to Lord Caitanya Srirangam was the place where Jamunacharya made his head quarters and after Ramanujacharya. So from that time there were so many thousands upon thousands of the most learned scholars who are all devotees, Vaishnavas who very seriously studying Bhagavad Gita. This one Brahman he was sat in the courtyard in a special place each day he would read all the 18 chapters of Gita. But because his Sanskrit pronunciation was not very good or accurate the other scholars would laugh at him and sometimes criticize him. But he didn’t mind everyday thankfully he would chant Gita. Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw him as he was reading the Gita Sri Gita tears were flowing in his eyes. Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked him – What is it that you are reading Gita i.e. bring you in such feelings of happiness? This simple Brahman replied that actually Swamiji, I don’t know what I am reading because I don’t really understand how this high Sanskrit vocabulary of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. And as far as how I recited sometimes I recite right and sometimes I recite wrong and I don’t even know [31:33]. And all these people they are laughing at me and criticizing me but my guru maharaj has ordered me to read full 18 chapters of Sri Bhagavad Gita every day in this place. My guru maharaj’s instructions are my life and soul I don’t mind what any one says I must please him all hearing out his order. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very pleased because he had complete faith in the words of his Gurudev. And he was willing to execute the order of his Gurudev even in the face of so much opposition and inconvenience. Even though by material standards he was very unqualified he didn’t allow to those disqualifications to in any way an obstacle to do whatever he could to carry out the words of his guru. “You see Krsna and Gurudev They are not concern with the results of our actions They are concern with the sincerity of our endeavor.” Krsna tells Arjuna that you fight this war because it is My order. Krsna said- I don’t care whether you win or whether you lose. I am only concern that you sincerely tried your best to serve Me. Sometimes we are asked to do a particular service when we have no qualifications to perform. Just like I have been asked to speak all of you tonight you are all learned people from this holy of Kurushetra. I am basically illiterate man coming from a country where no nobody knows Bhagavad Gita I feel like a great fool trying to speak Bhagavad Gita in the residence of Kurushetra. And in fact I am a fool. You are so gracious you are seating, so patiently tolerating whatever I am saying. I have no qualification that my Gurudev has ordered me you speak this Bhagavad Gita wherever you go. So here I am speaking to you Bhagavad Gita trying to remember few of the many words that guru devotees has given trying to repeat like a parrot like retired parrot. But it is his words so I must try to fulfill hope against hope that we just sincerely try to serve the order of guru by his grace I like to become perfect. “We are not concern with qualifications and disqualifications we are only concern with serving the Lord.”
mükaà karoti väcälaà
paìguà laìghayate girim
yat-kåpä tam ahaà vande
çré-gurum déna-täranam
If one sincerely serves Gurudev one gets his mercy. And by the mercy of Gurudev even if you are a lame man you can cross over mountains, the Himalayan Mountain and if you are dumb man you could the most elegant poetry and even you are blind mind you can see far the stars in sky. So many times we have to be put in this predicament.
For some years I was going to universities in America teaching vegetarian cooking classes. Some classes two hundred people would come for class. And they had all stand in a big circle around me watching me teach them how to cook. But I didn’t know how to cook. I was cooking Indian food vegetarian they didn’t know anything about Indian food so they didn’t know what I am cooking right or wrong. I was doing everything all wrong but they didn’t know so they were thinking it was right. So they were accepting me as professor authority of cooking. And sometimes some Indian students would come for that class. And I would cook and they would be looking and they were be thinking that this is not the way we learned but they were thinking this must be higher level of cooking than we have learn. And they I say- yes, because it offer to Krsna.
Attached Yourself To Your Service
So in this way sometimes we are put in particular what we have no qualification but if we are simply trying to serves our gurus our order Krsna says in Gita-
ananyäç cintayanto mäà
ye janäù paryupäsate
teñäà nityäbhiyuktänäà
yoga-kñemaà vahämy aham
[Bg. 9.22]
Just surrender to me I will preserve you what you have and carry what you lack. There be no need for fear if we are simply trying to serve the Lord Krsna told Arjuna you go in this battle field and you fight. He was out number. Kurus had eleven akshouni division of soldiers the Pandvas had hardly seven, was Drona and Bhisma on the other side and they were absolutely undefeatable. They were both disciples of Parasurama. What chance that the Pandvas had? Krsna said Arjuna don’t worry about these things if you lose this battle you will attain the heavenly world because you have fought for Me and if you win this battle you will held the whole world because you have fought for Me. Don’t be attached to the result, don’t be attached to honor or dishonor, pleasure or pain, happiness or distress, success or failure, victory or defeat, good or bad. You just attached yourself to your service. And what is your service to please Me. saàsiddhir hari-toñaëam.
Bhagavad Gita Can’t Be Understood By Scholarship
Bhagvatam explains that whatever occupational duty you may have your goal is to please to Krsna. So this Brahman told Caitanya Mahaprabhu- I have no qualification. I don’t even know what I am doing. Every body else knows it and laughing and criticizing me but my Gurudev has said so I am doing. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so please. He was so sincere. And then the Brahman was asked by Lord Caitanya what is it that you cause tears to your eyes if you don’t understand the slokas of the Gita. He said as I am reading there is only one thought in my mind it is the picture of Krsna and Arjuna and in this beautiful picture of mind I am seeing that Krsna who is the supreme source of all existence, who is the creator, maintainer and inhalator of all creation with His beautiful blackish complexion and wonderful lotus like eyes He is holding the reins of Arjuna’s chariot and like menial servant He was serving His devotee. How Krsna was the Lord and master of creation becomes the humble menial servant of His devotee? How He is conquered by the love of His devotees? This is what brings tears in my eyes. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard this He became so happy and He embraced this Brahman. And He said- “you have truly understood the essence of Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita can’t be understood by scholarship. Bhagavad Gita can only be understood as it is through humility and devotion through surrender.” “Surrendering once own ego to the will of the Lord. And all the teachings of the Gita are meant to ultimately bring us to this point of being humble servant of the Lord.” And all of the philosophy of the Gita is only meant to bring us to that conclusion of being a Bhakta.
sa eväyaà mayä te ‘dya
yogaù proktaù purätanaù
bhakto ‘si me sakhä ceti
rahasyaà hy etad uttamam
[Bg. 4.3]
Krsna tells Arjuna that you are able to understand these teachings of Mine which are great mystery because you are My devotee and My friend i.e. the qualification.
Krsna Is Always Hungry For Love Of His Devotees
Just three days back we are in Vrindavan and we visited one a holy place called Bhatroll. It’s a very isolated part of Vrajabhumi. You have to walk some distance from so many fields, in fact now days that area is famous for dacoit’s people generally don’t go there alone. But that’s another story. But “the spiritual significance of the place can’t be disturbed by any material condition that may surround.” So we climbed up the stairs of this mountain. And we entered into this very ancient beautiful temple. So the pasture ground of Vrindavna and they became very much hungry how is that Krsna becomes hungry? Krsna explains that He is Atmarama He is self sufficient but Krsna’s is He is always hungry for love of His devotees. Krsna doesn’t require the food He requires He doesn’t requires but He is always longing to reciprocate love of His devotees. When we long for something it’s because we don’t have it. Krsna’s longing is something different. Krsna has everything but He longs to give us entrance into His divine love. So He asked His friends- you please go to those Brahmans who are performing yajïä and ask them for some food. The cowherd boys went to Brahmans and the Brahmans were so busy in doing yajïä performing their Vedic rituals that they didn’t pay attention to these little cowherd boys. These boys they became very sad because they were not able to serve the order of Lord Sri Krsna. They returned with empty hands. Krsna told them but don’t we attached to the result just be attached to the service. This Brahmans they are so much attached to performing these rituals but they didn’t know there are the rituals they are all ultimately meant to please Me. And by performing the rituals they displeasing Me because they don’t have time to please Me. In the name of religions today most rituals are like this. We perform our religious ceremonies simply for the sake of performing the ceremony but we forget that the real reason is to please Krsna. bhoktäraà yajïa-tapasäà. Krsna says all yajïa, all rituals are meant for My enjoyment. So Krsna said you go to their wives. They are very simple they are not big big scholars they are house wife. The ladies when they heard that Krsna is hungry immediately took and put the best food even the best food that ramp of for the husband’s sacrifices they stole it. And put it in the basket and went to the forest to meet Krsna. And when they came to this place called Bhatroll when they are offering in their hands risking everything Krsna bestowed upon them His beautiful darshan and in this beautiful darshan they attained the perfection of life pure unmotivated, uninterrupted love. This is Bhagavad Gita.
sarva-dharmän parityajya
mäm ekaà çaraëaà vraja
ahaà tväà sarva-päpebhyo
mokñayiñyämi mä çucaù
[Bg. 18.66]
Just surrender to Krsna. Of course if we have the capacity to be a big scholar we should learn the Gita to our capacity but we must apply it to our life. “All knowledge if it is not accompanied by humility and desire to serve it is like decorations on the dead body.” So how to become humble servants of the Lord i.e. the real knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita. How to realize that we are not these physical bodies but we are the eternal servants of Krsna the Jivatma and to act according to our eternal constitutional position of being humble servants of Lord. To always remember Krsna is the means by which we can purify our hearts and the conclusions of all these wonderful teaching is to chant the Holy Names the most practical and powerful means of always remembering Krsna and the most accessible and simple process of cleansing our mind and our heart. It is for this reason that all of the great Acharyas they have advocated Nama Sankirtan that along with carefully reading the Gita every day and studying it we must apply that teachings in our life by humble selfless service and constantly be cleansing our hearts to the chanting of the Holy Names.
Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa, Hare Hare
Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare.
Is there any questions? Any one has any questions we can try to answer.
Question :What is Karma?
Answer : Karma is one of these intrinsic laws of this material existence. We know the law of gravity. I will show the law of gravity what goes up must come down. You don’t have to the eyes of Newton or Galileo to understand the law of gravity. Was a Galileo who have discovered gravity? Newton? Anyways Newton, Galileo some how or other they both instrumental in laws of gravity but did they discover it? Whether they discover or not discovers it’s already there. Goes up must come down.[Maharaj drops Kartala] The laws of gravity. Ha… Come here. So he is not Newton or Galileo. What is your name? Which standard you are in school? [8th class] [Dropping Kartala] Galileo just drop something from the lining tower and he said he drop this from the top the same results. [Again drop Kartala] Say about gravity. What goes up must come down. There is another law that for every action has equal and corresponding reaction. So easy that goes up higher more the bounces back. The laws are so easy to understand but we are so complicated. There are big big scientists to tell us what we can figure out by just throwing something against the wall or dropping something on the floor. So what is the law of Karma? It is the law of nature that whatever action you perform there would be an equal reaction upon you. You cause pain to another that pain must come back to you in this life or the next. You give pleasure to another that pleasure must come back to you either this life or next and all the pleasures and pains that you experiencing now are the reactions to your previous activities i.e. karma. Krsna says in the Gita that the goal of life is to come out of this cycle of karma by engaging in activities that are in the service of the Lord they have no karmic reactions. Any other question? Hari Bol…
From the Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s parampara we are all the beggars. The charity I beg that you all sincerely chant the Krsna’s. We don’t care for anything else. We want to you all please stand up. As I am chanting you fold your hands in the mood of Draupadi. But Bhisma wanted Krsna to have the credit. He knew that Draupadi was the great devotee and Krsna will protect her and but to glorify Krsna he sat there looking at floor. And mean while Draupadi raise their arms as you are raising you are arms and she cried out- Hey Krsna! Hey Govinda! Hey Krsna! She chanted very loudly with great feeling Hey…….Krsna! Hey……. Govinda! Please do with loudly this time. Hey…… Krsna! Hey……. Govinda! We should chant like baby is crying for mother like Draupadi crying for her chastity which is more dear to her life to be protected. In this way together all chant the Holy Name.
