Bhagavad Gita Ch14 Summary: 3 modes | Rus-Split | 03 May 90 | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

Prasad RAVAL. Just like the mother and father, they are very concerned when their children get lost. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is very unhappy to see us rebel against Him and stay in the material world. So Kṛṣṇa has made it clear that if you take to the spiritual knowledge, then we will get a spiritual body like Him. And getting a spiritual body means living in the spiritual abode of the Lord. Like the standard of living, say, in England is higher than India. So similarly, there's a different standard on different planets. And in the spiritual abode of the Lord, there is the complete spiritual standard where everybody is engaged in just glorifying the Lord. The creation is let loose by the Lord. The Lord is the cause of the creation, and also eventually there is dissolution. But Kṛṣṇa says that one who takes to the spiritual abode, one who takes to the spiritual knowledge, he does not die at the time of dissolution, nor is one born again at the time of creation. In other words, the spiritual abode of the Lord is not disturbed by creation and dissolution. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-iniṣa-kānteya-mṛtaya-samavanti-yāhaḥ tasaṁ brahma-mahadyo-nir-ahaṁ bija-pradāpitā. He says, it should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth due to Me. In other words, Kṛṣṇa claims He is the father of all living entities. Last Sunday in Bombay, We had a conference on vegetarianism. That conference, I used this verse to present my talk. So Kṛṣṇa is saying that I am the source of everyone. Whether you have a human body or an animal body or a dog body or a cat body, Kṛṣṇa says, "I, I am the source of this body." So what right do we have to kill the children of God to satisfy our tongue? Because actually we are all members of the same family. One who is God conscious, to him everybody is his relative. And one who is on the material platform, he is busy dividing the society into friends and enemies. So Kṛṣṇa is saying that I am the seed-giving father of all species of life. These days, unfortunately, the leaders of society all over the world do not show any respect to those in who are in the animal bodies. They think that those who are in the animal species can be butchered at our own free will, and therefore the animals are being used for experimentation, for medical purposes, The animals are being slaughtered and so many sinful activities are being committed on these lower species of life. Animals are the less intelligent children of God, but they are also the children of Bhoga. So Krishna has established this point that I am the father of everyone. If you were to tell your father in a house that here is my brother, he's less intelligent, "So can I kill him?" Of course the father will say, "No." So Kṛṣṇa, after explaining that He is the father of everyone, in the 14th chapter goes on to explain what is this material nature. Kṛṣṇa explains that the material nature consists of three modes: goodness, passion, ignorance. And the moment the living entity comes in contact with the material nature, he becomes conditioned by these modes. He becomes conditioned by these modes, that means he comes under their influence. It is just like, suppose somebody falls in the company of drunkards, then the moment the person starts to associate with drunkards, he begins to come under their influence. So just like that, the moment the living entity falls from the spiritual world into the material world, it comes in contact with these three modes. Prabhupāda used to explain that just like you have three basic colors— red, yellow, and blue— and all, any color that you see is a result of a combination of these three colors. Any artist can tell you. Is there any artist in this room? So all colors are a combination of red, yellow, blue, is it not? So similarly, goodness, passion, ignorance, they combine together and create different ideas for us and different actions. Now, of the three— goodness, passion, ignorance— Krishna explains goodness is better than the other two. Goodness frees you from sinful reaction because goodness means You understand what is right, what is wrong. But still goodness is not the highest. Higher than goodness is the stage of pure goodness. Pure goodness is the stage where you just want to do for the pleasure of the Lord, and you have no personal motivation at all. Kṛṣṇa says, those who are under the influence of goodness, they are under the spell, or they become happy. Because of the knowledge that they possess. Because a man in the mode of goodness, he thinks that he has knowledge, and he does have some knowledge, and he thinks that, "Oh, this knowledge is enough, and I don't have to go beyond that." So goodness means greater knowledge and greater happiness. Just like in India, we meet a lot of people who know, who have some knowledge about Kṛṣṇa, But they don't surrender like the ISKCON devotees. But they are so happy with what they know, but they don't want to go beyond that. So goodness is better than the others because goodness is based upon some degree of knowledge. Passion— passion is the situation where one is very, very active, but in that position, under the influence of passion, we have unlimited desires. To it to fulfill. So many desires that from morning to night the living entity is always thinking, "Oh, now I have this, how can I get this?" So basically in the material existence today, people are very heavily under the influence of passion. Under the influence of passion one works very, very hard. So the whole material civilization, Prabhupāda says today, is under the influence of passion. Then is ignorance or darkness. What is the symptom of one in ignorance? He's very lazy, does not do any work, sits at home all day and drinks beer and vodka, sleeps a lot. I know some people, they go to sleep on Friday night and get up on Monday morning. And he has no interest in Self-realization. He just interested in being lazy and take life easy. So Kṛṣṇa says that due to goodness one becomes happy, and due to passion one engages in fruitive work. Fruitive work means I want the fruits of my labor. And due to passion or ignorance, one's real knowledge is covered and one becomes like a madman. Actually, Kṛṣṇa is telling us in the next, in the 10th verse of this 14th chapter, that we should get out of the influence of all the three modes. So Kṛṣṇa, in the 10th verse of the 14th chapter, He is inducing the living entity to go beyond the influence of the three modes. Because even if one is under the influence of the mode of goodness, there is no surety or guarantee that the other modes will not interfere. Like in our preaching in countries like India, we see, for example, That sometimes a person may be in the mode of goodness, he does his puja at home, gives donation to the Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees, but that same individual later on engages in sinful activities like drinking and gambling and so on. Now, what is the proof that the mode of goodness is influencing us? Kṛṣṇa says, that when all the gates in the body are experiencing the influence of goodness, then one will be— one will have knowledge and one will stay away from sinful activities. So when all the gates in the body— there are 9 gates in the body— they should all be illuminated with knowledge. Just like, for example, there is one main gate to come inside this apartment. And if you have a big house, you may have 3 or 4 different gates. Now, if all the gates are locked up, then there is no possibility of the thief coming in. But if 3 gates are locked and 1 gate is open, then the thief can easily come in. Similarly, there are 9 gates in the body: 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils, the mouth, the genitals and the anus. So there are 9 gates in the body, and when all these 9 gates are full of spiritual knowledge, then it is concluded that one is under the influence of goodness. Because it is through these 9 gates that one engages in sinful activities. These 9 gates are the outlets through which you engage in sense enjoyment. Prasad RAVAL. So if every gate is influenced by knowledge of goodness, then it will avoid sinful activities. And what is the symptom of one who is under the influence of passion? Great attachment. Therefore, you see, people are very attached to each other. They are thinking that this body should never leave. We are attached to the fruits of our work. Work very hard, intense endeavor. We work so hard that there is no time for spiritual cultivation. And uncontrollable desires, our desires know no limit. The sky is the limit, as they say. And what is the symptom of one who is in the mode of ignorance? He is like a madman. He is under illusion and he's in darkness. The, the Kṛṣṇa has described briefly What are the symptoms of individuals in different modes? Many people think that when they die, the end result is going to be the same for everyone. I'm sure even in your country, you can't buy one ticket and get on the train and go anywhere you want. The ticket will only take you where— what you have paid for. So Kṛṣṇa makes this point very clear in the subsequent verses. He says that when one dies under the influence of goodness, he goes to the higher planets of the great sages. And when one dies under the mode of passion, he takes birth among those engaged in fruitive activities. And when one dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom. So if somebody is thinking that regardless of what I do, I am going to get a human birth, that theory is completely rejected by Kṛṣṇa. So if one is thinking, "Now I've got this human life and I cannot fall down lower," that is also wrong. If one is under the influence of ignorance, then he will definitely fall down to lower species of life. So therefore, one who has obtained this human life, at least he must be under the influence of goodness. Otherwise, the whole human birth would be wasted. So Action done in the mode of goodness, that is considered to be pure. But actions performed in the mode of passion give misery, and in the mode of ignorance is foolishness. In the Sanskrit language, there is a word called kripana. Kripana means a miserly man. So if somebody has money and he does not invest that money for making more money, then he's called a miserly man. So similarly, If we have this human body and if we do not use it correctly, then it is said that one is a miserly man. Therefore, the Vedas are again and again, again and again telling us the same point: utilize the human life correctly. And one who is under the influence of ignorance, his life is just considered to be a foolish life. If you are in the level of goodness, Kṛṣṇa says, then by proper association you can cultivate real knowledge. Real knowledge means to understand who I am. Just like in your country, there's so many different departments of technology and learning, but in almost no country of the world is there any department that gives you real knowledge in terms of your real identity. Then before you started chanting 16 rounds, You had already developed some level of goodness. You had probably given up taking intoxication or given up taking meat and so on. You were already developing goodness habits. Then you met a devotee, he gave you Bhagavad-gītā, you read the Bhagavad-gītā and your whole life changed. Am I right? So that is what Kṛṣṇa is saying. He is saying, from the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops. And from the mode of passion, what develops? Greed, unlimited desires. And from the mode of ignorance, madness, illusion. Urdhavan gajanti satva-stha madhyateśtanti rājasaḥ jāganya-gūṇa-vṛtti-stha adho gajanti tāma-saḥ. So Kṛṣṇa in this verse is summarizing what He has said all along. And what is that? Those who are on the mode of goodness, they go up. They go to the heavenly planets, higher planets. Those in the mode of passion, those who die in the mode of passion, they take their birth on this earthly planet. And those who are in the mode of ignorance go down to the Patala-loka. So Kṛṣṇa is telling Arjuna: "Now, Arjuna, go beyond the influence of the three modes." So after Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna, Now go beyond the influence of the mode of goodness. Arjuna wanted to know what are the symptoms of one who is beyond the influence of goodness or all the three modes. So this is very important because Kṛṣṇa is telling Arjuna, now Arjuna, I have given you knowledge of goodness, passion, and ignorance. I have told you that goodness is higher than passion and ignorance. But still, go beyond goodness also. Don't get influenced in goodness. Just like, I'm sure you have also met some people, they say, "I am vegetarian, I go to the temple or the church," but they still don't dedicate their life to God. So Kṛṣṇa is saying, "Now go beyond goodness. Don't get stuck in goodness. Don't think, now you have come to the level of goodness, that is all. I don't want to go beyond that." Just like sometimes devotees also, they will chant 8, 9 rounds, they will be vegetarians, but they won't associate much with devotees and they won't surrender. They are scared of surrendering. So they just want to remain at goodness, but they don't want to come to pure goodness. So Kṛṣṇa is telling such devotees, go beyond that. Don't get stuck at 8 rounds. Go beyond and advance. So Arjuna wants to know, "What are the symptoms of one who is beyond the mode of goodness?" So Kṛṣṇa is describing the symptoms. So He describes the symptoms in 4 verses. One thing Kṛṣṇa says, one who has no attachment. We must give up this attachment. One who is unwavering. Unwavering means one who is steady. Not that one day you are up, next day you are down. Just like sometimes you meet devotees, they say, "Oh!" "Today I'm in a good mood. I'm going to chant my rounds. I'm going to do devotional service." And sometimes they'll say, "Oh, today I'm not in a good mood. I'm not going to chant my rounds. I'm not going to go out on book distribution. I'm not going to do anything." So Kṛṣṇa is saying, "Become steady." Then He says, "Remain neutral." In other words, the devotee does not divide the society into friends and enemies. The devotee is a friend of all living entities. Just like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we see, That we see that Hiranyakāśipū wanted his son to be trained up in diplomacy. So Hiranyakāśipū told the teachers of Prahlāda, "Please train up my friend, my son in the art of diplomacy." But Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "My dear father, I am not interested in learning the science of diplomacy." So the devotee is neutral or he is a friend of all living entities. He is not disturbed in happiness or distress. In the material world, what is our principle? When I get what I want, I'm happy. When I don't get what I want, I'm sad. If somebody gives you a Mercedes car and few thousand rubles, you're very happy. And if you have to go through some difficulty, you become very sad. So a devotee has to be equal in all situations. He's not attracted either to the gold or a stone. He sees everything with an equal vision, who is equal towards everyone, who is steady whether he is praised or whether he is insulted. Just like sometimes the devotees, they are very happy if somebody praises them, and if somebody chastises them, they become angry. But Bhaktisiddhānta Mahāprabhu used to say that we should beware of flatterers. That is, if somebody comes to you and flatters you, you should get very scared. You should get very scared if somebody flatters you, because generally people flatter you when they want something from you. Just like when our devotees in European countries, when they go on book distribution, they will stop somebody and say, "Oh, Mr. So-and-so, you look like a great philosopher." And the man will say, "Yes, really? I look like a philosopher?" And then they will say, "Oh, please take this book about philosophy." Sometimes they go up to people and say, "Oh," "You look very learned. You look like a medical doctor." And the man is so happy, then in the end he ends up taking a book. A devotee is the same whether he is praised or criticized. Actually, if somebody gives you some suggestions for your spiritual improvement, you should be very grateful. This is how one can become equipoised, by having the spiritual knowledge. So Kṛṣṇa says,— that without any deviation one should engage in devotional service, then one can come to the spiritual platform. So Kṛṣṇa has clearly told us how to free ourselves from the entanglement of material existence. If we take to the process of bhakti-yoga, which is the process in which one employs the senses in service to the Lord, then one is going towards perfection. In Bhakti Yoga, you acknowledge that there is God and that a devotee is there. And there is an exchange activity, an activity of love between the devotee and the Lord. Both have their identity. It is not that the devotee merges with the Lord. That means one is always an individual. So Bhakti Yoga is the position where one lovingly engages in devotional service to the Supreme Lord. So Kṛṣṇa is the source of everything, but Kṛṣṇa is telling us to come to the path of bhakti-yoga. Because bhakti-yoga recognizes the personal form of the Lord. And by recognizing the personal form of the Lord, the devotee uses one's senses in service to the Lord. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, second canto, it is explained that what is the value of the tongue that doesn't vibrate the glories of the Lord. So, anyway, The tongue that doesn't vibrate the glories of the Lord in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is compared to the croaking of a frog. You know, the frog makes noise by its croaking, and then the snake identifies where the frog is, and the snake comes and bites the frog. The snake doesn't know where the frog is, but the frog is saying, "Kang, kang, kang, kang, kang." So the snake says, "Oh, here is the frog," and it goes and bites. The Bhāgavatam says, what is the value are these ears if we do not hear the glories of the Lord? It is just like the holes in the body of a snake. Then what is the value of decorating a dead body? What is the value of this hand if this hand is not used to serve the Lord? Just like the Bhāgavatam says, people decorate a dead body. In the Soviet culture also, before they bury the body, they decorate him nicely. It is in all the cultures, India, America, same culture. But the Bhāgavatam says, what is the value of decorating a dead body? So, and what is the value of the legs that do not walk to the temple of the Lord? It is said that those legs that do not walk to the temple of the Lord, they are just like that trunk of the trees. So like the tree of that, the trunk of the tree cannot move, isn't it? So Bhāgavatam says, what is the value of those legs that do not walk to the temple of the Lord? So the Bhāgavatam very clearly says, the animals are also discharging semen and the bellows of the blacksmith are also breathing. So we must not use this life just to breathe and discharge semen, but we must use this life to cultivate the principles of God consciousness. So all these senses can be used in service to the Lord. And we have the example of King Amṛśa. How King Amṛśa used his senses in service to the Lord. To give us example, King Amṛśa used his tongue to vibrate the glories of the Lord. He used his ears to hear the glories of the Lord. He used his leg to walk to the temple of the Lord. He used his hand to clean the temple of the Lord. He used his head to bow down before the Lord. So similarly, just like when you put food in the stomach, all the parts of the body become healthy. Similarly, by serving the Supreme Lord, the living entity is automatically satisfied. Those who think that by serving the Lord something wrong is being done are simply wasting their valuable human lives. Prabhupāda used to relate a simple story sometimes. The story is that once upon a time, once the different parts of the body, they all had a meeting. And the different parts of the body was saying, why is it that all the food is always going into the stomach? So they all decided they will not put food in the stomach. The hand said, "I'm not going to lift any food." The eye said, "I'm not going to look at any food." So in few days they discovered that all the parts of the body became very weak again. So they had another meeting and the purpose of the meeting was to find out how, why have the parts become weak. Then they discovered that the parts had all become weak because They were not putting food in the stomach. So similarly, if we don't water the root of this creation, that is God or Kṛṣṇa, then the society can never be happy and peaceful. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is only telling people to establish a relationship with Kṛṣṇa, God. That is all. So whatever position you may be in, you may be married, you may be single, you may be a businessman, you may be a government officer, whatever. You can stay, but just perfect your life by worshiping Kṛṣṇa. And our ability to worship God is increased by the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. The more we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the greater is the spiritual advancement we make. The chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra cleanses the heart. It is just like when you have a cataract, you cannot see. When you have cataract in the eyes, you can't see. But when the cataract operation is done, then you can see again. So similarly, By the chanting of this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the heart gets cleansed. Chaitanya-darpana-mārjanam. And one understands who he is, where he is coming from, where he is headed for, and what his constitutional duties are. So with this we end our discussion of the 14th chapter of the Bhāgavad-gītā entitled "The Three Modes of Material Nature." Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Prasada RAVAL RAVAL. Can you explain the verse in 8th chapter of Bhāgavad-gītā that Those who leave this world in the light, they do not return back, and those who live in the darkness, they all again return back.

Those who live in light, they do not come back.

Does this relate to only yogis, or—

It relates to yogis, doesn't relate to devotees. Devotees are not affected by all this. So you don't have to worry whether one is going to die in the day or in the night.

Well, It's certainly not good to kill animals, but in the case when animal wants to kill a man or another man wants to kill a man, is it possible to make this killing?

When animal is coming to attack a man to eat, maybe in self-defense you can try to protect yourself.

If a man attacks another man?

Well, if a man comes to attack you, of course you can fight in self-defense.

We do not say that somebody is coming to kill you, you say, "Okay, now kill me." Well, he says that in this chapter Krishna says that devotees should be equal to everyone, but there are some people and there are some devils in the human form. Here is the question.

So when you come across a demon, you should just avoid him. He will not leave you alone, he will try to pursue, to So tactfully avoid him or defeat him. Allez!