Six important Points in Relationship to Bhagavad-gītā | Rus-Split | 10.5.92 | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Om namah bhagavate vasudevaya! So I imagine that all of you have a copy of the Bhagavad Gītā. Cut, cut. Yes, everybody has a copy. Do all the visitors have a copy also? Okay. The reason I'm asking this is today I'm going to lecture to you on 6 important points in relationship to the Bhagavad Gītā. The Bhagavad Gītā presents the summary of the vast Vedic philosophy. The Vedic philosophy is so vast— that even if you were to spend every minute of your time reading it, by the time you die, you may end up finished reading only a small fraction. So the Bhagavad-gītā presents the summary of the vast Vedic philosophy. There are 6 important points to understand in relationship to, to the Bhagavad-gītā. First point is the spirit in which the Bhagavad-gītā should be approached. The second point is The purpose of the Bhagavad-gītā. The third is subject matter of the Bhagavad-gītā. Then the fourth is the result of understanding this knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā. Fifth is how do you apply this knowledge to practically attain the goal of life. Sorry, this is the sixth actually. So we shall discuss these six different points today. Of course we have very limited time. Because we only have 45 minutes, and 45 minutes, half the time goes away in translation. So you're only talking about 20-25 minutes. So the first point is the spirit in which the Bhagavad Gita should be approached. The spirit in which the Gita is approached has to be similar to the spirit in which Arjuna accepted the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna said, I accept you as the Supreme Lord, and Arjuna accepted the Bhagavad Gita in the spirit that Kṛṣṇa presented it to Arjuna. Just like Prabhupāda gives the example, if you want to benefit from the doctor's medicine, you have to take the medicine according to the doctor's prescription. So similarly, the spirit of the Gītā has to be understood, which is that one should accept Kṛṣṇa's teachings without any interpretation. Many times people used to ask Prabhupāda, "Why did you call it Bhāgavad-gītā khakhaṇaye?" And in India, many times people ask us, why is it called Bhagavad-gītā As It Is? The answer is simple. In most of the translations, the real message of the Gītā has been distorted. So the true— because Prabhupāda has presented the true meaning of the Gītā in the proper spirit of the Gītā, therefore it is called Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Now what is the purpose of the Bhagavad-gītā? This is the second point that we are discussing. The purpose of the Bhagavad-gītā The purpose of the Bhagavad Gita is to eliminate all your miseries, is to eliminate your miseries, to eliminate all your problems. The living entity in the material world is experiencing nothing but misery, and this misery is being realized in 7 different ways. One is birth, one then is disease, old age, death, other entities troubling you, material nature troubling you, and the mind troubling you. So everybody is in anxiety. As I have told you many times, I had the opportunity to travel all over the world, meet people of all walks of life. Everywhere people are unhappy. So the purpose of the Bhagavad-gītā is to eliminate your anxieties and your misery. But we are so unfortunate that we don't want to eliminate our anxieties and miseries. It is just like Prabhupāda used to give an example that once there was a man absorbed in flying a kite. He was so absorbed in flying the kite that he was about to fall off the roof. Somebody came running and told him, "Careful, you're about to fall off." He said, "No, no, don't disturb me. Let me fly the kite." So we are telling everyone, "Sir, here is the solution to remove all your problems of life." They say, "No, no, no, we don't want this solution." They have faith in their solution but not in God's solution. So the purpose of the Bhagavad Gita is to bring you to God. Because Gita clearly establishes Krishna as the Supreme Lord. Gita doesn't leave you in any way, any, on any doubt about the position of God. Clearly tells you who is God. So this, the purpose of Gita is to eliminate your miseries, which can only be realized by once you surrender to God. Then the third topic that we are discussing is the subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita. Obviously, the subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita cannot be summarized in 5-10 minutes. Even if you read the Gita every day of your life Still, by the time you leave this body, you will not understand it completely. So Bhagavad-gītā discusses 5 areas of truth. First is the position of God establishes the supreme Īśvara. Īśvara means the controller. So there are many controllers. You have the policeman who's a controller, then the local government, then the central government. Even a 2-year-old child becomes a controller. The 2-year-old child goes in the garden and he sees in the garden there are many ants and many other insects on the ground. So he puts his feet on them and tries to kill them. And the ants are trying to run from the feet, but the children are playing thinking it's a great thing they're doing. Who can kill more ants? So even he's an Ishvara. But there is one supreme Ishvara over which there is nobody higher, and that is Krishna. So Bhagavad-gītā establishes this point first and foremost. Then it establishes the position of the jiva or the living entity. Jiva means living entity. Living entity is not Russian or Soviet or Indian or American, nor is it black, white, brown. Then what is the jiva? Pure spirit soul, 1/10,000 of the tip of your hair, and it is eternal in constitution. It cannot die, never takes birth, cannot cut it with any weapons, cannot dry it, Cannot burn it. So it is eternal and it is always changing dresses, just like in— you people are wearing— you throw your old clothes and wear new clothes. So that is the jeev. That is similarly the jiva is taking on different bodies. Right now the jiva is engaged in a material body, and the man in the material body, the jiva is not happy. And what jiva is also part and parcel of God, just like your hand is part of your body. Then you must understand prakṛti. This point I had explained in detail yesterday when the scientists were present for the Gītā class. So prakṛti very briefly means this nature that you and I see. Earth, water, fire, air, ether— these are the different elements of prakṛti. So everything that you and I see, we can see because it is a being created by prakṛti. The human body is also made of material elements, and so is this building and everything else that you and I see. So prakriti is not God, but prakriti is created by God. Then kala. Kala means time. Krishna says, "I am kala. I am the destroyer of everything." So kala destroys everything. You may be very beautiful today, but kala will make sure you don't remain beautiful till tomorrow. Therefore, even those who were beautiful in their teens become ugly in old age. Then kala, time, makes sure that If you're healthy today, tomorrow you fall sick. So time destroys everything. Just like you may feel very sad when some relative of yours dies, but after some time you forget about it, everything becomes normal. Therefore, in English they say time heals everything. So Kala is the representative of Krishna. Then the Bhagavad Gita teaches us karma. Karma means based upon your past activities, you're entitled to certain quota of happiness and distress today. A criminal may be convicted and jailed for life, but if he behaves properly in the jail, then that prison sentence is reduced. Prabhu nā, that's a fact. So similarly, we may be entitled to whatever suffering that is due to us, but if we surrender our lives to Krishna, and then Krishna guarantees our future will change. Just like Prabhupāda said, all these lines that you have in your hands When you clap and dance in front of the Deities, all those lines disappear. Devotees don't have to waste time in going to astrologers, because Kṛṣṇa has told them, "You surrender to Me and everything is blissful." So even if you're entitled to suffering, if you surrender to Kṛṣṇa and follow the laws of Kṛṣṇa, then your future can change. Just like because you're sick and you're in the hospital, it's not that you just remain sick, but you take medicine to fight the sickness and recover. So similarly, if we take advantage of this philosophy of the Bhagavad-gītā, then we can change our karma.

You—

all you have to do is learn to perform actions for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. Then the next point is result of understanding the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gītā. The result of understanding this philosophy is you go back to Godhead. Kṛṣṇa explains, beyond the material world there is a spiritual world, and in the spiritual world there's no birth, death, disease, old age. So if you go back to the spiritual world, then Krishna says no more misery. This material world is known as Kuntaloka. Kunta means where there's nothing but misery. Vaikunta means the opposite, where there's no misery. So Kunta is misery, Vaikunta means no misery. So if you understand this Bhagavad Gita, then the result will be that you will go back to Godhead, and that is the goal of life, going back to Godhead. And what is the process for understanding the Gītā? The process for understanding the Gītā is: Tat-bhidi-pranipate na paripashyena sevaya, upakdeśayanti te jñānam jñānenabhātṛ-darśanaḥ. By surrendering to a Self-realized soul, he can— taking shelter of him, then you can understand the truth. So this is the genuine way of understanding the Gītā, through the proper source. And if you take it to the proper source, then the effect is guaranteed. Then the other topic that we're discussing is How to apply the Bhagavad Gita in our day-to-day lives? We should not think this Bhagavad Gita philosophy is just theoretical philosophy. This Bhagavad Gita philosophy is a very practical philosophy. It can be applied in our day-to-day lives. So how do we apply the Bhagavad Gita? By following the Bhagavad Gita. For example, Krishna says of sacrifices and the chanting of the japa. So you want to make sacrifice, do the sacrifice. In the form of chanting japa. What is japa? Japa means chanting the names of God. Japa means chanting the names of God. Why do we chant the names of God? Because the names of God are non-different from God. And by chanting the names of God, then your heart gets cleansed and purified. So another result is Gita says, man mana mava mad bhakto madhyaji man namaskuru. Always think of Me, bow down to Me, offer your homage unto Me. So in your day-to-day lives, apply the Bhagavad-gītā's knowledge. Think about Kṛṣṇa. The nature of the mind is to be very, very active. You're sitting here in Moscow, but your mind could be in New York, and you can travel there in one second. You don't need passport, you didn't need, you don't need visa, you don't need billet. For going physically, you need a visa, but for the mind to go, it doesn't need a visa. So the mind is always traveling everywhere. Krishna says in the 6th chapter called Dhyana Yoga that you must make the mind your friend and not your enemy. The mind which is uncontrolled is your enemy, and the mind which is controlled is your friend. So the topic that we're discussing is how to apply the Bhagavad Gita in our day-to-day lives. But no one should think that Bhagavad Gita is just a theoretical document which cannot be applied in practice. So with your mind Think about Krishna's pastimes. Think about Krishna's instructions. Think about Krishna's desires. There's so many pastimes of Krishna, unbelievable. I'll tell you very quickly a small story just to give you an example of how many pastimes of Krishna you can select from. When Krishna was in Dwarka, there was a king whose name was Satrajit. This King Satrajit was a devotee of the Sun God. And he was, because of his devotion to the Sun God Vivasvan, he had obtained a special jewel called the Saimtaka jewel. So when he would wear that jewel on his body, there would be so much effulgence everywhere that nobody could even recognize him. So this King Satrajit, he was worshipping, he was very dear to the Sun God Vivasvan. And the Sun God gave him the Saimtaka jewel. So He would come to Dwarka with the Sāntaka jewel on His body. And when He would come to Dwarka with the Sāntaka jewel, there would be so much effulgence coming out of His body that everyone, the citizens of Dwarka, would say, "Oh, the Sun God has come, the Sun God has come to see Kṛṣṇa." Because when Kṛṣṇa was in Dwarka, even the demigods used to come to see Him. That's like if you have a big man living in your building or in your neighborhood, You see everybody coming to see that big man. So when King Satrajit would walk in Dwarka, nobody but Krishna would know that this man is not the sun god. But his body would radiate so much effulgence that everyone would say, "No, no, no, here is the sun god." They had Syamantaka jewel, diamond. This King Satrajit was worshiping it. You know how much gold that Syamantaka jewel was producing every day? 170 pounds of pure gold every day. Can you imagine 170 pounds of gold every day? It's, uh, so this Satrajit, Satrajit was very fond of this diamond because it was producing so much of gold every day. Not only was it producing 170 pounds of pure gold every day, but also wherever that Saimtaka jewel would be kept, there would be no hunger, no thirst, no famine. You definitely need one Saimtaka jewel for Russia. It will solve all your problems. Anyway, but Sāyamdaiga jewel was given to Satrajit because of his great devotion to the Sun God. So Kṛṣṇa went to Satrajit. He said, "Give this jewel to King Ugrasena." King Ugrasena was the grandfather of Kṛṣṇa. He said, "He is the ruling king. Give this valuable diamond to him." But King Satrajit said, "No, no, no. I want to keep worshipping it." King Satyajit had placed the Syamantaka jewel in a temple and the Brahmins were worshipping it. So as long as the worship was going on, he was getting 170 pounds of pure gold every day. So one day, the brother of Satyajit took that Syamantaka jewel and he wore it. And he was going in the forest. And in the forest, he got killed by a lion. The lion ate the— killed the king's brother. And he took the diamond away. So then there was another great Raksha there called Jambavan. He's been there for a long time, from the time of Lord Ramachandra. So when Jambavan found out that this, that this lion had killed the king's brother and he had this diamond, he went to the forest and just with his hands he killed the lion and he took the diamond away. Of course he had no attraction for the diamond. He gave it to his young son to play. Satyajit was worshipping it in the temple, but Jambavan didn't care. He gave it to his young son to play. And the Jambavan, just imagine, he killed the lion with his hands. No weapon was used. So Satyajit saw that his brother hasn't come back. He got very worried, and he was more worried because this diamond was with the brother. So when Krishna told him, "Give that diamond to King Ugrasena," hey, Satyajit did not agree. So Satyajit thought Krishna must have played some trick. So he spread the rumor in Dwarka that Krishna has kidnapped my brother and taken the diamond from him by force. So all of Dwarka, they started talking, "Look at Krishna, he killed Satyajit's brother and he's taken the diamond away from him." So Krishna felt very bad. That they were talking like this because he had not killed his brother nor had he taken. Nor does Krishna care for Sanyam Taka jewels. So Krishna with the citizens of Dwarka, they went to the forest. And when they went to the forest, they found Satyajit's brother's dead body there. And then he also found the lion that had killed his brother and was killed by Jambavan. And then he found the tunnel, an underground tunnel that was going very deep inside the forest. So when Krishna went with his friends from Dwarka, he knew that his friends will get scared to go inside that tunnel. Krishna told his friends, "You sit here, siddhyate. I'm going inside." So Krishna went inside the tunnel and he finally reached the house of Janmavan. And there he saw that the Janmavan's small boy was playing with that diamond. Actually, Janmavan was a great devotee of Lord Krishna. So when Kṛṣṇa saw, when Kṛṣṇa went inside, He saw that baby playing with Syāntaka jewel. Actually Kṛṣṇa wanted to take that Syāntaka jewel not for Himself, but because He was being defamed by Satyajit, He wanted to return it to Satyajit. So when that nurse that was taking care of Jambavan's son saw Kṛṣṇa there, she shouted, "Hey!" She made a big noise. And then Jambavam came running, and even though he was a devotee of Krishna, he was so motivated, he was so absorbed with passion that he just started fighting with Krishna. And for 28 days they fought with stones, with weapons, with hands, with trees, with— and Jambavam's whole body started paining. So after fighting for 28 days, Jambavam realized, oh, It was Krishna that he was fighting with. Because there was nobody who could have defeated Jambavan. He killed the lion with his hand. Just imagine, lion is called the king of the jungle, isn't it? But Krishna said, "Jambavan, you are the king of the jungle." Why? Because you killed the lion and the lion kills everybody else. So Jambavan fell at the feet of Krishna and apologized for all this. So Jambavan gave the Syamtaga jewel to Krishna.. And he gave his daughter called Jambavati. Because he had committed a big offense and he wanted to atone for this offense. So in the meantime, while Krishna was fighting with Jambavati, his mother and father and the citizens of Dwarka were in great anxiety. What happened to Krishna? Where has Krishna gone? So Krishna told Jambavati, I don't need this Saimataka jewel for myself. But because this man is defaming me that I have killed his brother to steal the jewel. That's why I want the jewel to return it to Satyajit. So when Kṛṣṇa returned to Dvārka, all the citizens and His parents were very happy. Ah, Kṛṣṇa has come back alive. And when Satyajit saw that, oh, that Kṛṣṇa had not stolen the jewel, because Satyajit was spreading the propaganda that Kṛṣṇa has stolen the jewel. And when he saw that He had not stolen the jewel, Satyajit apologized and fell at the feet of Kṛṣṇa to beg for forgiveness. King Satyajit wanted to make up for his offense. He had offended Krishna by spreading rumors about him that he had stolen the jewel. Now Krishna brought the jewel back. So what did Satyajit do? He gave the jewel and his very beautiful daughter called Satyabhama in marriage to Krishna. Satyabhama was so beautiful that you can't even describe her beauty. Everybody was anxious to marry her.. But she gave, King Satyajit gave his daughter and the Shrimataka Jewel to Krishna. So Krishna, when he got the jewel, he said, "I don't need the jewel. What do I need it for?" Krishna is the owner of all the opulences. He doesn't need a jewel. He said, "Keep it in the temple and then Dwarka will have no famine and prosperity." So this is just one story involving Krishna. So we were discussing how to apply the Bhagavad-gītā in our day-to-day lives. Apply it by meditating on Kṛṣṇa. Right now the mind is just meditating about sense enjoyment, money, sex life, and fame, so on. But if the mind gets absorbed in transcendental activities, then these material activities will have no place to stay. Just like in this glass, if you want to have— if there's a glass of water in it, then you can't add any milk. So, yeah, if you keep transcendental topics in your mind, then the material topics will not have a place to stay. So Bhagavad-gītā has to be applied in our day-to-day lives. The result will be you go back to Godhead. You have a chance of going back to Godhead. Why do you want to miss it? In the morning, if you go in front of the American Embassy in Moscow, you see hundreds of Russians waiting for the visa for America. Why do they want to go to America? They think they will get prosperity there. Okay, let us assume you'll get prosperity there, but But for how much more time? 30, 40, 50 more years? Not more than that. But if you go back to Godhead, you'll be eternally happy and comfortable. In the spiritual world, everybody has a private plane made of diamonds and emeralds, and you don't have to stand in line to get benzene. When I come to this temple every day, I see such a long line of people waiting for 2 hours to get little benzene. And these planes never have accidents, and you never get old, never get diseased. No balnitsa, no vrat cheese, no doctors, nothing. So Krishna is inviting you and begging you, please come back, please come back. The spiritual master, the agent of Krishna, is begging you, please go back, please go back. But we are so unfortunate, we say no, we won't go back, more happy here. Just like the hog. The hog is always living on stool and always living in a filthy place. You don't see hogs in Moscow, but if you go to Sukhumi area and Tashkent in India, you'll see hogs everywhere. And you go to the hog and say, "Here are some nice laddus and all, samosas," it will reject it. So that is our position. We want to reject a glorious life in favor of a miserable life. So apply the Bhagavad-gītā and you'll be happy eternally. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So I will leave 5 minutes for questions because yesterday I couldn't answer all the questions. Yes, then Mataji in the end.

With the Holy Names. He is the same that Reverend A. R. Iyengar gave as his spiritual master. He will practice the glories of the Holy Names himself. He will spread the love of God to his heart and he will give you spiritual English.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I've understood your question 100%, or whatever I've understood, I will try to reply. My translator was having a little trouble translating also, so I'm not even sure if he understood it 100%. Anyway, for chanting Hare Krishna, the best process is just hear attentively what you chant. If you listen attentively, then all good things will automatically develop. The garden in the heart will become more beautiful. Well, Kṛṣṇa was a man of honor and Sādhaji was spreading a false rumor. That's of course a big offense. When you are totally innocent and somebody defames you, you should get that false accusation cleared. Every Sunday this question definitely crops up. It's a permanent feature of the Moscow Temple Sunday lecture. So, I've been hearing this question on Sunday for last 3 years. Anyway, it's a good question. So, our attitude towards Christians and Muslims and everybody else is an attitude of respect. We have no quarrel with them. We just beg the Christians and the Muslims to really practice what the Lord has said in their scriptures. Religion means to develop love of God. So love of God means giving up sinful activities. Just like when there's a fire, you don't care who the fireman is as long as the fire is put off. So the goal of religion is to develop love of God.

Okay?

Yes, there's Mataji here. Well, we, we get attracted to prajñālpa because frankly none of us has attraction for Krishna. Because when you're attracted to Krishna, if we were, if we were attracted to Krishna, then automatically we would not be attracted to prajñālpa. Just like we're all attracted to prasad, especially when you're going to have 3 types of sweet rice, 3 types of sweets and samosa. So when it's time for prasad, you're not interested in any prajñālpa. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "My dear Lord, You are so kind. You have invested all Your transcendental energies in Your holy name, but I have no attraction for them." Even Caitanya Mahāprabhu was playing the role of a devotee. He said, "I have no attraction for them." So we have to keep trying hard so that we can overcome the anarthas. None of us should think, "Oh, I have such spontaneous attraction for Kṛṣṇa." We have no attraction. If you follow the rules and regulations, then the attraction will develop. Okay? Paśyaniwa approach. Tell me.

As we were distributing books, some people are asking us, "Oh, what pictures is in these books? And is it actual pictures or just models?" Where are they exhibited?

Tell them these are real pictures from the actual Paśyam displayed by the Lord. And, well, we have photo exhibitions everywhere. What do you mean, where are they exhibited? I don't understand that. Well, we have our own art department in America. It's all lying over there. Somewhere, it's all over the world.

Okay.

There's one written question which I'll answer. It's the last question.

Because siddhāntas were often incarnated physically.

Okay, okay. Well, that so-called person who they claim to be incarnation of Buddha is not incarnation of Buddha. Just because some fools accept something false to be real, we are not going to become foolish. We have the real answer. So Krishna will appear at the end of age of Kali. Now Krishna has incarnated in the form of ISKCON, and Prabhupāda said this ISKCON is non-different from Krishna. So So you can take advantage of Kṛṣṇa's association by associating with ISKCON.

Okay.

So I'll stop now because the marathon is still going on. Bhāgavatam class tomorrow morning. Tolkā, Zafar-ūtra, Niyadvacara. And you know we have the Lord Nrsimhadeva marathon going on for a few more days. So if you devotees want to get some more mercy, please make an effort. Distribute books. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa.