Bhagavad-gītā for Everyone

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Сообщение Jayanti » 06 янв 2021, 18:55

TEXT 25

The mystic who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the moonlight fortnight, or in the six months when the sun passes to the south, or who reaches the moon planet, again comes back.

PURPORT

A perfect mystic leaves the body at his will at an auspicious time; others who have realized Brahman but are not so perfect, leave the body for good luck. Leaving the body when the cycle of all universal processes is in a positive phase, the mystic remains in Brahman forever; and leaving the body when the influence of dark forces grows, the mystic reaches Brahman, but then falls again. To put it bluntly: when the next cycle of universal processes declines, it is virtually impossible to enter Brahman with the help of ordinary yoga, and having come into contact with the eternal radiance, the mystic falls down again.

Some mystics cannot reach Brahman and, as a side effect, reach the Moon, live there their time and then also fall back. The Moon is a reflection of the Sun, therefore all who aspire to Brahman but are not perfect enough reach the Moon as one of the forms of the reflected Brahman. In fact, all of this indicates that the mystics initially choose the wrong goal. Instead of striving for God, for the true Sun, they all strive only for the sunlight, for Brahman; or Brahman is considered even lower as a reflection of the sunlight, in this case personified by the Moon.

The entire material world is created by God and for the convenience of cognition, all categories in it are arranged in a harmonious order from giant to more local. The alternation of day and night echoes the struggle of light and dark forces, good and evil. Having begun to comprehend the world with the concepts of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and ignorance, a person can gradually improve by deepening his knowledge. The creation and destruction of the universe is cyclical and calculated over a huge period of time; within the universe, all processes are also cyclical, although they are more local in time. They repeat the main giant cycle, representing its miniature which gives us help in the development of knowledge. The universe is created and destroyed and this basic law is further manifested at all lower levels, so any developed being - human, demigod or demon - can observe all the basic universe processes in miniature and develop spiritual knowledge. Scientists who looking at this completely harmonious world and say that everything arose by chance, are essentially insane.

As for life on the Moon, the Moon is a heavenly planet where, like on the Sun, life exists on the basis of fire or light. Earthly life is also formed by sunlight and moonlight, but light here is mainly transformed into bodies consisting of gross elements - earth and water. Earthly life in this sense is much lower than life on the Sun or the Moon. Bodies based on water and earth are short-lived and more susceptible to diseases and destruction, in contrast to the bodies of more highly developed beings. At the top of the world there are knowledge, intelligence and bodies are formed on the basis of intelligence, the body of Brahma for example; lower there are bodies formed on the basis of, respectively, ether, air, fire, water, and earth (space, gaseous state of matter, light, liquid state of matter and solid), moreover the bodies formed on the basis of each subsequent element are more and more lower quality.

People form desires on the basis of senses and mind, but then, embodying them in gross matter, they experience only disappointment. The demigods do not associate with gross matter, therefore their senses and mind are much stronger and they experience happiness of a much higher order than humans. Materialist thinks that everything have to be embodied in matter, while transcendentalist minimizes the use of gross matter, thereby making his life easier in all respects. Materialists think that the basis of life is gross elements while in reality everything is exactly the opposite: it is senses, mind, and intelligence that are the true basis of life and a superior force, in contrast to inert matter.

Seeing material forms, the materialists are fascinated by them and want to possess them, but the demigods live above gross matter and enjoy all kinds of relationships and knowledge without connection with gross matter. Ascending, a person develops consciousness, and the developed consciousness leads him to higher levels of life. Those who are attached to gross matter will suffer and fall lower and lower. These are elementary facts and rules that are not difficult to understand.

The Sun is a higher planet than the Moon; the light of the Sun is bright and contains all kinds of forms and pleasures; the Moon is lower and although there are also all forms and pleasures, but they are less intense. In fact, life on the Moon is more blessed than life on the Sun, because sense happiness is lower there; the same applies to Earth life where sense happiness is even lower, which is favorable for spiritual practice. On planets below the Earth, there is even less happiness, but the accompanying sufferings creates more and more difficulties which is not always favorable. Also, the lower the planet, the stronger demonic tendencies there, earthly life in this sense is the most balanced. Although in an absolute sense, one can develop spiritually, of course, in any place, even on the Sun, even on the Moon or in demonic worlds.

It is said that on the Moon there is a heavenly drink soma-rasa. The one who drinks it feels heavenly bliss. Here, people drink alcohol which chemically dulls consciousness, slows down the mind for a while, which allows them to experience happiness. But if a person controls the mind even a little, he will eventually get the same feeling of happiness only without killing the body and consciousness. Happiness in any case comes from the soul, from the senses, alcohol itself can not give happiness, it only mechanically affects the mind. Any material pleasure is always just an echo of Brahman. Therefore, when a person ascends to the level of Brahman and even higher, he loses interest in the material world.

TEXT 26

According to the Vedas, there are two ways of passing from this world—one in light and one in darkness. When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns.

PURPORT

Wherever the soul is born in the material world, it is all the the continuation of sufferings. People do not have enough of broad-mindedness to stop deal with small things and find dependence on God by developing knowledge and devotion. Materialists have no rest neither day nor night.

In this verse, passing from the material world basically means as the conscious leaving the body through the yoga process, not death from natural causes. Ordinary people live as long as they can, while advanced mystics leave the body at their will at an auspicious time. This is only for those who realize impersonal Brahman, because devotees, realizing God, reach Him regardless of the external conditions of leaving the body, as described in the next verse.

TEXT 27

The devotees who know these two paths, O Arjuna, are never bewildered. Therefore be always fixed in devotion.

PURPORT

God is the source of everything and the head of everything, so naturally His devotee does not have to worry about anything. This, of course, is not a reason to behave at random, everything must be approached responsibly. Any selfish activity under the guise of any religion will have consequences.

The eighth chapter comes to an end. Basically, almost all the main things necessary for spiritual development have already been given. In the first place there are knowledge and renunciation of the results of all types of activities - it is a reliable foundation for spiritual life. As for spontaneous devotion, it is difficult to imagine its development without preaching. With the help of sādhana (regulated service to God), a person can elevate to the level of Brahman, further realize the greatness of God. Most religions are in this phase. While a person is busy with personal welfare, it will be difficult for him to practice spiritual life, therefore, almost all religions are at the level of arcanā - the temple worship for neophytes.

If a person has not yet accepted the principle of preaching, his spiritual ascent will be very delayed, it will take a long time. Without preaching, people scatter their consciousness into hundreds of things never achieving happiness, and they have to accumulate piety for a long time for something more essential. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam calls it kaitava-dharma ("kaitava" - the way of deception, "dharma" - religion), it means religion for material purposes.

"Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the highest truth..." (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 1.1.2).

One way or another, our Bhagavad-gītā is written for potential and real preachers, for those who are looking for the essence. Further we will continue the commentary, where we will talk about God and the qualities of material nature.

TEXT 28

A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing austere sacrifices, giving charity or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. At the end he reaches the supreme abode.

PURPORT

All Vedic systems, including the varṇāśrama system, cannot be widely applied in society for quite a long time, so a devotee should follow the main path - bhāgavata-marg (the path of developing knowledge and preaching), without worrying too much about external rules and rituals. Śrīla Prabhupāda compiled books for ten thousand years and until the end of the age of Kali; they are addressed to all categories of people, including those who are going to live here for about the same time. But we give a commentary for those who are going to develop in the short term and achieve something significant in one life.

Śrīla Prabhupāda does not approve of comments about direct relationships (sambhoga), but for general enthusiasm and for serious preachers, indulgence is made, so sometimes we include some clarifications on this topic. Gradually giving himself, a person can gain a lot. Having attained God, one will receive much more than by observing all the Vedic or other rituals, austerities, and precepts taken together.
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Сообщение Jayanti » 06 янв 2021, 20:57

Chapter 9. The Most Confidential Knowledge

TEXT 1

The Supreme Lord said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most secret wisdom, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.

PURPORT

Those who are jealous of God want to become God themselves continuously increasing their wealth and striving to gain as much power and honor as possible. It is much smarter to realize God and become His servant not in words, but in deeds; this will give more happiness and more opportunities unlike material dominance. Material domination, in fact, is impossible. This is only an ephemeral ghost, since any property will bind a person and ultimately become the cause of his sufferings. Those who are not envious, they are happy and preach the message of God further freeing themselves from all material problems.

TEXT 2

This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.

PURPORT

Religion is always knowledge, it is direct knowledge of one's self and knowledge of God. First, this knowledge is theoretical, then a person realizes himself as an eternal soul, cognizes the greatness of God and thus becomes happy; and further he enters into a personal relationship with God. The essence of any religion is realization of oneself as an eternal soul, the realization of the greatness of God or achievement of a closer relationship with Him.

TEXT 3

Those who are not faithful on the path of devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of foes, but return to birth and death in this material world.

PURPORT

Without knowledge about God, a person will only have to believe in Him. Since most people are devoid of interest in spiritual life, almost all materialistic religions are built on faith. Faith is needed only as a certain initial impulse, because having achieved realization, a person will see everything directly. Realization of Brahman, realization of the greatness of God will fill the faithful with happiness; this spiritual happiness can also be called “faith,” but this is not a faith in the literal sense, but self-realization as an eternal soul and realization of the qualities of God. Those who do not even have the initial faith and refuse to study the scripture and follow will remain in the cycle of birth and death.

Usually all kinds of reverence for Deities (icons), saints, a spiritual teacher, reverence in the temple, initial realization of the greatness of God - all these are just a form of realization of Brahman, the impersonal aspect. Therefore, the vast majority of the faithful in their faith remain at the initial level of Brahman and combine this with active material activities. The soul is always active. When there is no spiritual activity, it means absorption in material activity, but there is a "magic key" - the dedication of all matter to God, and even better - the preaching of spiritual life. When material attachment subsides, a tendency to develop knowledge awakens in a person and he can cognize Brahman and the greatness of God in their pure form, and not as their reflection in various rituals. The spiritual master leads the disciple to this perfect stage of understanding or rāja-vidyā - the high point of spiritual life. Realizing the greatness of God, the devotee becomes happy, free and devotes his life to God.

The realization of Brahman is kaivalya, the initial happiness; the realization of God is ananda or the peak of happiness. Both Brahman and God are limitless, and both types of happiness are also limitless, but ananda is total because of the qualities of God (due to His qualities of greatness too), it is much higher than the happiness of the impersonal Brahman.

TEXT 4

By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.

PURPORT

God is always independent, He maintains all universes always remaining aloof. The Supersoul is present in everyone's heart being the supreme witness, yet in the supreme sense He is neutral to everything is happening. God created this world according to the desire of living beings, so when soul understands the meaninglessness of material life, he accepts the spiritual process and takes the path of returning home, back to Godhead.

By purifying the senses and developing knowledge, a devotee can perceive God, beginning from greatness. The gradation of devotion is generally endless. The main levels of this gradation are indicated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where one of the highest points is the example of Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda showed an unprecedented example of devotion, yet the rulers of the world sometimes give an even higher example (Lord Rama, for example), because their rule can affect the masses of people. The position of the devotees of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is even higher, this is described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
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Сообщение Jayanti » 09 янв 2021, 10:26

TEXT 5

And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still My Self is the very source of creation.

PURPORT

In the previous verse, God says that He pervades the entire universe with Himself, that living beings are in Him, but He is not in them. God says in this verse although He supports the creation, it is still not in Him. He further explains that being everywhere, He is also the source of everything. Usually cause and effect are different from each other, also the effect cannot be the cause, but God is both the cause and the effect, being everywhere and not being at the same time. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, "Behold My mystic opulence!", because the position of God is inexplicable from the point of view of ordinary understanding.

God is the source of everything, but He does not touch anything. God is the cause of creation, but He is not related with creation. He supports everyone, but He is aloof. He is everything that exists and at the same time He is aloof from everything. The answer is the material world was created at the desire of the soul to exist outside of God, therefore God, being the source of creation, is not directly manifested anywhere in it. These are not just some games with the aim of surprising; the material creation has its function, and God fulfilled in this way the desires of the soul to live outside of Him. It is impossible to live outside of God, because God is the eternal one Absolute, but at the desire of the soul, God, being omnipotent, made a creation where He is not manifested. Creation cannot be unrelated to the Creator, but according to His will, God is not directly related to His creation. On the other hand, the entire creation is His energy. Therefore, the material world is described as one with God and different from Him.

People need many arguments before they understand the existence of God. Nowadays there are also many people who formally recognize God or who are the faithful, but due to material attachments their religiosity is actually nominal. Such kind of religiosity smoothes out material problems a little and gives some hope for spiritual life, but in general, it changes little in the world.

God is the essence and basis of everything, however people are mainly interested in external things and have no interest in God. Topics about religion and God are usually unpopular, including because most denominations are essentially dead administrative institutions of personal and public religious image. Such half-dead churches mostly just lure their small flock and at best talk about some public topics, considering it a sermon or their great merit. They often say that no one has seen God or that it is impossible to see Him. All of that is natural, because knowledge of God will destroy with their image of "great pastors."

On the other hand, Vaiṣṇavism talking a lot about God, in many cases has the same goals as that churches - again money and image. Such churches, including the aforementioned "Vaiṣṇavism", can change but rather under the influence of preaching in society than from preaching by themselves - a priest or guru who "sat down" on church money and donations will always be static and deceitful directly or indirectly. People scold this kind of church, but the scolding ones are mostly not far away themselves, so this situation will not be solved without a preaching.

Kṛṣṇa describes Himself here. He is eternal and eternally young. He does not depend on the recognition or non-recognition of Him by people, but He describes Himself for sincere people and His devotees. God in the higher rasas does not act as omnipotent, and sometimes Lord Nārāyaṇa can be seen trying to entertain the all-attractive baby with His Sudarśana cakra, beautifully flying it through the sky. The spiritual world is everywhere for God, He does not distinguish between spirit and matter and He feels good everywhere, both in the spiritual and in the material world.

TEXT 6


As the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, always rests in ethereal space know that in the same manner all beings rest in Me.

PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:

For the ordinary person it is almost inconceivable how the huge material creation is resting in Him. But the Lord is giving an example which may help us to understand. Space is the biggest manifestation we can conceive. The cosmic manifestation rests in space. Space permits the movement of even the atoms and on up to the greatest planets, the sun and the moon. Although the sky (or wind or air) is great, still it is situated within space. Space is not beyond the sky.

Similarly, all the wonderful cosmic manifestations are existing by the supreme will of God, and all of them are subordinate to that supreme will. As we generally say, not a blade of grass moves without the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus everything is moving under His will: by His will everything is being created, everything is being maintained, and everything is being annihilated. Still He is aloof from everything, as space is always aloof from the activities of the atmosphere. In the Upaniṣads, it is stated, "It is out of the fear of the Supreme Lord that the wind is blowing." In the Garga Upaniṣad also it is stated, "By the supreme order, under the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the moon, the sun and the great planets are moving." In the Brahma-saṁhitā this is also stated. There is also a description of the movement of the sun, and it is said that the sun is considered to be one of the eyes of the Supreme Lord and that it has immense potency to diffuse heat and light. Still it is moving in its prescribed orbit by the order and the supreme will of Govinda. So, from the Vedic literature we can find evidence that this material manifestation, which appears to us to be very wonderful and great, is under the complete control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This will be further explained in the later verses of this chapter.

TEXT 7

O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium every material manifestation enters into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency I again create.

PURPORT

The material world is not attractive, everything in it is constantly interrupted by ordinary sleep or universal sleep, periodic destruction and the same. Wherever we look, everything is destructive and monotonous. God creates the world of matter at the desire of souls and since souls are imperfect, with imperfect desires and actions, then there are all these phases of sleep, creation, and destruction. Nevertheless, the material world also reflects the greatness of God and, for example, the destruction of the world is also grandiose and impressive. Everything that God creates is always large-scale, sophisticated and shows us His omnipotence, strength and intelligence.

TEXT 8

The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again, and by My will it is annihilated at the end.

PURPORT

Everything that has a beginning will also have an end, this applies both to the body of everyone and to the entire universe. Modern people are unintelligent, therefore they often cannot understand simple things. Sometimes they say that the universe is eternal, but how can the eternal be made up of temporary parts? We see that any thing or phenomenon here is temporary and limited - thus, the entire universe is temporary and limited. The eternal is always eternal and every part of eternity is also eternal. It is impossible for the temporary to become eternal. Someone may argue that material energy is eternal and only changes; it is true, but the world as a form is not eternal, and eternal material energy, going into the unmanifest, also becomes hidden. Of course, since all this is Brahman, it is generally eternal, nevertheless it constantly changes its form which is called temporality.

Realizing the greatness of God, the devotee becomes peaceful. Great jñānīs, thinkers, write about the frailty of life, showing us the path to the almighty God.
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Сообщение Jayanti » 09 янв 2021, 10:54

TEXT 9

O Dhanañjaya, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever detached, seated as though neutral.

PURPORT

Having created the material world, God gives souls complete freedom of action. So over time, the soul can understand the meaninglessness of a life separate from God. Nevertheless, a large number of living beings remain here forever, seeking to experience happiness from home, family and the same. There are family, children, other attachments in all forms of life. The only difference between humans and animals is the ability of humans to know oneself and God. God supports all these forms of life, but He personally does not touch them in any way.

TEXT 10

This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.

PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:

It is clearly stated here that the Supreme Lord, although aloof from all the activities of the material world, remains the supreme director. The Supreme Lord is the supreme will and the background of this material manifestation, but the management is being conducted by material nature. Kṛṣṇa also states in Bhagavad-gītā that of all the living entities in different forms and species, "I am the Father." The father gives seeds to the womb of the mother for the child, and similarly the Supreme Lord by His mere glance injects all the living entities into the womb of material nature, and they come out in their different forms and species, according to their last desires and activities. All these living entities, although born under the glance of the Supreme Lord, still take their different bodies according to their past deeds and desires. So the Lord is not directly attached to this material creation. He simply glances over material nature; material nature is thus activated, and everything is created immediately. Because He glances over material nature, there is undoubtedly activity on the part of the Supreme Lord, but He has nothing to do with the manifestation of the material world directly. This example is given in the smṛti: when there is a fragrant flower before someone, the fragrance is touched by the smelling power of the person, yet the smelling and the flower are detached from one another. There is a similar connection between the material world and the Supreme Personality of Godhead; actually He has nothing to do with this material world, but He creates by His glance and ordains. In summary, material nature, without the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, cannot do anything. Yet the Supreme Personality is detached from all material activities.

TEXT 11

Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.

PURPORT

Materialists and fools do not accept the existence of God and even when they hear the historical evidences, they ridicule the idea of ​​God. Why does not the sky fall on them? Because this world was created for such people and for their materialistic ideas. God is renounced, God is great, He is not hurt by such a caw, He does not take revenge, nevertheless, atheism leads to the bottom of the universe simply by virtue of its essence. The atheist will neglect everything except personal gain, and this is a sure path of degradation.

At the same time, belivers and devotees should not tell atheists any sacred things while preaching. When we talk about God, in this case we bear personal responsibility and we will have to answer. Insults will not touch God in any way, but they can affect us, because we give something dear to just anyone. The preaching should always correspond to the level of the interlocutor.

Sometimes people ask, "What happens when atheists destroy deities or icons?" God can manifest Himself through an icon or a deity, but this does not mean that He is attached to them. An icon or deity is a canonical form through which God can respond, but this form itself is not God.

Materialistic believers are always looking for some external confirmation of the existence of God. Especially at the beginning, I think it is important for everyone and God gives such confirmations. But we need to rise higher to the level of philosophy and further, even higher to the level of Brahman and the greatness of God. Without realizing God, religion will always be at the level of prejudices, rituals, all kinds of miracles, and hope for salvation.

TEXT 12

Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.

PURPORT

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in a purport on this verse, "There are many devotees who assume themselves to be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service but at heart do not accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, as the Absolute Truth. For them, the fruit of devotional service - going back to Godhead - will never be tasted."

In addition to ordinary atheists, there are those who only outwardly practice devotion but internally are interested mainly in personal welfare. Without knowledge, renunciation of the fruits of labor, and preaching, a person will always be unstable and his future will always be very uncertain. Māyā is the guardian of devotional service and easily knocks out all materialists. When we practice, we can go through many stages of such kind where the temptation can get stronger. A pure devotee easily sacrifices everything to God, so nothing bothers him. He uses money, fame, worldly love, family in preaching or leaves it all and move on. If watering the root of a tree, all its leaves will get water - when the activity is really directed towards God, there is no need to worry about anything, we see this practically.

Even higher is the threat to life, it is a difficult but good experience. We do not need to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of any principles, we can recognize the greatness of anyone and live in peace. We can also preach within the framework of any religion; we do not care about this or that religion - all of them have everything we need, including the highest rasas. Sometimes devotees sacrifice themselves for spiritual ideas, but that is another topic; we have a small position and we are not trying to imitate anyone. By and large, we do not care who is righteous or who is sinful; we are interested in the discussion of spiritual science. Sometimes devotees deliberately make mistakes and stupid things to get rid of the attention of materialists in religion. The path of some foolishness is also described in the Bhāgavatam.
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Сообщение Jayanti » 10 янв 2021, 18:16

TEXT 13

O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.

PURPORT

God is the head of all worlds and the head of everything. He is eternally at the head of everything and every intelligent person should join His banners. One can gradually gain His protection, come under His control by following the instructions of the scripture and the spiritual master (uttama-adhikārī). God is all-pervading, therefore, wherever we are, in any situation we can be connected with Him and act in His interests. A person becomes great when he can satisfy God with his knowledge and spiritual development, and in personal relationship God is always with him. After receiving such communication, the devotee becomes indifferent to whether someone recognizes him or not. At the same time, of course, the standard guru has to take care of the image because everything is part of the preaching; we also have to do this to some extent.

The main part of the preaching will begin later, but Śrīla Prabhupāda, as the great mahātmā, does not miss anything, gathering society back from the rubble. The corrupt and materialistic ISKCON can already be abandoned, partly because there will still be a reboot, but Śrīla Prabhupāda is not like that and He is trying to rekindle the spark again, as He did back on the Bowery. This is not calculation, this is devotion, love. No matter what happens, Śrīla Prabhupāda is always engaged in preaching in any situation. He does not think in terms of "we can do nothing, we will restore it later anyway." This is love, He never stops. He knows what these souls are losing. People do not know God, so they are stupid and careless, they do not understand what they are losing. The conditioned soul, as a rule, cannot even imagine what spiritual life and spiritual happiness are. Everyone sleeps here. Even if one thinks of God, one's idea of God and feelings for God are often very far from Him.

No one can be so efficient as Śrīla Prabhupāda, we simply crumble under His energy: we cannot even get out - everything is so exciting, and at some moment we simply cannot stand it. Śrīla Prabhupāda's desire to preach is like a waterfall, He does not stop day or night. His preaching will fall on our heads until we are cleansed.

Maybe He will gather his society back together and begin the uplift again without waiting for the collapse of modern civilization. I do not know, but I would not be surprised if it works out too. We are servants, we are executors, we do not make decisions, we do not know the whole plan, at best we are only part of the plan, but I know His persistence and His power.

TEXT 14

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.

PURPORT

Mahātmās always preach because they have a relationship with God. Mahātmās do this tirelessly from an excess of feelings, but they are not just sentimental, they are full of knowledge and well distinguish the position of different people. A pure uttama sees no flaw in anything, so the mahātmā descends lower to be more effective. Such mahātmās for the sake of preaching can become experts in any activity, but mainly their interest is directed to those who are looking for an active spiritual life.

TEXT 15

Others, who are engaged in the cultivation of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, diverse in many, and in the universal form.

PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:

This verse is the summary of the previous verses. The Lord tells Arjuna that those who are purely in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and do not know anything other than Kṛṣṇa are called mahātmā; yet there are other persons who are not exactly in the position of mahātmā but who worship Kṛṣṇa also, in different ways. Some of them are already described as the distressed, the financially destitute, the inquisitive, and those who are engaged in the cultivation of knowledge. But there are others who are still lower, and these are divided into three: 1) He who worships himself as one with the Supreme Lord, 2) He who concocts some form of the Supreme Lord and worships that, and 3) He who accepts the universal form, the viśvarūpa of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and worships that. Out of the above three, the lowest, those who worship themselves as the Supreme Lord, thinking themselves to be monists, are most predominant. Such people think themselves to be the Supreme Lord, and in this mentality they worship themselves. This is also a type of God worship, for they can understand that they are not the material body but are actually spiritual soul; at least, such a sense is prominent. Generally the impersonalists worship the Supreme Lord in this way. The second class includes the worshipers of the demigods, those who by imagination consider any form to be the form of the Supreme Lord. And the third class includes those who cannot conceive of anything beyond the manifestation of this material universe. They consider the universe to be the supreme organism or entity and worship that. The universe is also a form of the Lord.

TEXT 16

But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering.

PURPORT

At the beginning of the spiritual life, we are more interested in the methods of spiritual advancement in general, then - the details of their practical application, and after we are interested in God Himself. All religious rituals are not so important but for those who follow them, God says, "It is I who am the ritual." The purpose of the ritual is not the ritual itself, the purpose of the ritual is to help one realize God. Therefore, if a person preaches, he is not required to perform such rituals. Perhaps some people like the rituals, their beauty or solemnity, or some kind of esotericism and so on, in which case they need to see it as a representation of God. Sometimes people think about the importance of some mantras, rituals, or special purity, or the presence of parafernalia, but all these matters only if it brings one closer to God. The rituals themselves are not valuable and the devotee may not undergo any of them.

As for initiation, it can also be without a ritual, since the ritual is secondary; only following and understanding are important. In some cases, initiation can be at a distance, it does not matter; instructions and following are important. And it is worth to understand when Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: "spiritual master", "bona fide spiritual master", "guru", he means mainly the uttama-guru; the criterion of such a guru is his understanding of Śrīla Prabhupāda's books and the practical implementation of what is written in them.

"One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the platform of uttama-adhikārī. A neophyte Vaiṣṇava or a Vaiṣṇava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient guidance. Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhikārī as a spiritual master." (The Nectar of Instruction, 5, purport)
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Сообщение Jayanti » 10 янв 2021, 18:31

TEXT 17

I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support, and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable om. I am also the Ṛk, the Sāma, and the Yajur [Vedas].

PURPORT

People think that the Vedas are basically four vedas: the Ṛk-veda, the Sāma-veda, the Yajur-veda, and the Atharva-veda. But there is also the Vedānta-sūtra which describes the supreme goal of the Vedas, so it is more important; and even more important - Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, a commentary on Vedānta. Generally, in order to understand any scripture, a person must develop. Nowadays there are many translations of various scriptures and people interpret them in every way. Therefore, the criterion of truth is the practice or practical attainment of Brahman, the greatness of God, and Bhagavān. Until a person has attained self-realization and then the greatness of God and does not understand His various aspects, in this case, he is just a materialist somehow randomly worshiping one of the forms of God.

Some say that God is Viṣṇu, others - that Kṛṣṇa, and still others - that God is Śiva. God has many forms and an infinite number of expansions, they are all Him One. Until a person understands the various categories of the spiritual world, he will not be able to determine who God is. Lord Śiva personifies the impersonal aspect and also when He comes in contact with māyā, He does not fully manifest all the qualities of God. Lord Nārāyaṇa represents pure greatness, and Kṛṣṇa represents close relationships. These are the three expansions of God that manifest three spiritual aspects. It is not a matter of names, but of the qualities of any expansion of God. When a person thinks that it is only necessary to make a mechanical choice of some deity, he is a materialist.

Since the Vedas represent the entire path of spiritual life, they consistently call God the impersonal Brahman, Śiva, Lord Nārāyaṇa, and Kṛṣṇa, but which of Them is God can be understood if one develops spiritually. If one person says, for example, that God is Śiva and another says that God is Viṣṇu, but neither the first nor the second know who God is, this is materialism. Materialists worship Jagannātha, Lord Rama, Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Śiva, Lakṣmī based on their own arbitrary choice - all this is materialism or the beginning of devotion.

Scripture is a guide, but it must be true scripture, true translation, and ultimately there must be understanding of the subject and practice. If a person does not understand anything, but only considers this or that deity to be God, then generally it does not matter who he considers God because this is an ordinary blind materialistic cult. Simply by virtue of tradition or because he liked something, a person accepts some deity as an object of worship and considers it perfection. For such materialists, God is Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva. Materialists who do not understand anything at all need at least an initial intelligence, then God shows Himself in three images - Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva - so that the materialist would come to a dead end and bewilderment and begins to think, and not just make a blind cult or believe in some deity.

It needs spiritual practice to understand who God is. God is not an ordinary person, not an ordinary being, and simply pointing one's finger at different names of God, one will not understand anything. The impersonalists tend towards Lord Siva because they are attracted by universal unity; some materialists tend towards Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa because they are aimed at sensual life; other materialists worship the almighty Nārāyaṇa by reject Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa; all such worship of God is materialism. Therefore, if a person does not study the Vedas holistically, if he does not understand spiritual life as a science, he will remain a materialist worshiping one form of God or another, blindly considering it to be the best and, accordingly, thinking that he is also the best. When a person worships God mainly with the idea of ​​his own greatness then, as the Bhāgavatam says, he worships ashes - his efforts will go to blazes, because in fact he worships only himself.

TEXT 18

I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed.

PURPORT

God is the most precious and final point of all. When a person is God conscious, he remains calm in any situation. God gives protection to His devotee, or even without external protection, a pure devotee is calm because in any case he will return to God. When a devotee has many spiritual feelings, he is full of himself; his external position or external events and impressions become not so important to him. And also in separation from God, he is full of feelings. God is always attractive, in all moods and hypostases.

TEXT 19

O Arjuna, I control heat, the rain and the drought. I am immortality, and I am also death personified. Both being and nonbeing are in Me.

PURPORT

Of course, God is not deal with the rains. Nevertheless, in the highest sense everything comes from God, and an ordinary person can realize God as warmth, light of fire or rain. In the highest sense, all these are God. A person who is more developed can see rain as a manifestation of spiritual feelings, the endless rain of separation - this is eternal, supreme poetry.

Immortality is also beautiful. Everyone's desire is the desire for happiness and immortality, but death is also God. For the materialist, natural death is useful because it is deserved by him and its purpose is education; but for the devotee, death is God Himself, it is not so important through what it comes.

TEXT 20

Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. They take birth on the planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.

PURPORT

Nowadays almost no one knows about the demigods and the name of Indra is an empty word for people. Devotees gradually understand the universal structure; the demigods are also related to devotees and in some cases they are also related to the stages of devotion. All qualities and situations have their own development, demigods and demons often personify different qualities inherent in each one. Everyone wants domination, but there is a demon who personifies the pinnacle of domination. Indra personifies strength and power, Śiva - knowledge and renunciation. Above all is God - as we purify ourselves, we realize Him. Sometimes knowledge of the demigods can be neglected, but as long as we are contaminated, the Bhāgavatam's stories about the demigods are quite relevant to us.

Ordinary materialists want to get property here on earth; more advanced materialists understand the frailty of earthly life and want to ascend to paradise, where life expectancy is higher and happiness is much greater. Devotees are not interested in paradise life, because the principle is that the earthly life and the paradise life are one and the same, and life even in millions of years is nothing compared to eternity.
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Сообщение Jayanti » 10 янв 2021, 18:39

TEXT 21

When they have thus enjoyed heavenly sense pleasure, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus, through the Vedic principles, they achieve only flickering happiness.

PURPORT

Life in paradise or on earth in some comfortable conditions - all this is meaningless and not joyful. Even the position of the demigods is meaningless, what to say about humans. Sometimes a person saves money his whole life for some luxurious house or lives somewhere in the south where it is eternal summer, buys a yacht or a car, has many women or some kind of large family - these are the dreams of narrow-minded fools. We can also understand materialists who dream of such things, but when spiritual leaders and gurus strive for such things, it is puzzling. One would have to be a complete fool to exchange one's spiritual life for money or such acquisitions. Transcendentalists avoid pleasure in order to achieve the highest goal, while devotees have no particular personal desires, serving God in happiness. On the other hand, a devotee can have thousands of times more than materialists, because in the spiritual world the abundance of everything is immeasurably greater.

That is, the Vedas are mainly used by people for material prosperity. In this case, these people can ascend to paradise, but then they will fall down again. Following the Vedas, or following a gradual path, must lead to Godhead, otherwise one cannot get liberation. The Vedas and Vedic rules by themselves, without God realization, cannot give liberation.

TEXT 22

But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form-to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.

PURPORT

This is an important verse because God always gives us missing understanding. Thus, over the years, the experience of a devotee grows more and more. We are trying all the options and all the methods of preaching that can elevate a human. There is a deadlock everywhere in the material world. Whatever we build, everything comes to a deadlock, then despair comes. Finally, having a deadlock everywhere, we start hit it until we break through it without any rules or logic. All this happens in dozens of variations.

A preacher, of course, is a very experienced person when he really preaches to people in the material world and not only busy in some general lectures within the denomination. Such a preacher, having gone all the way, can also elevate disciples. His disciples will elevate, since he already walked the way himself and paved the path for them in many ways. Those who do not preach in the material world, recruit neophytes year after year unable to help them, so the movement degenerates into an ordinary religion. They think they need guru status to start teaching “for real,” but if no one has elevated in twenty years of your preaching within the denomination, what will change if you call yourself a guru? "Guru" in this case is just a name, a label; by hanging such a label on himself, a person does not increase his capabilities. If a person is experienced, he does not have to become a "guru", he will elevate people anyway.

TEXT 23

Whatever a man may sacrifice to other gods, O son of Kuntī, is really meant for Me alone, but it is offered without true understanding.

PURPORT

It is impossible to have an eternal relationships with the demigods, they are the same souls as we are, but with a higher material status. They receive their status by virtue of their religiosity, their devotion to God, therefore Kṛṣṇa says here that worship of the demigods, in the highest sense, is recognition of Him but performed indirectly. If we want to have eternal happiness and eternal relationship, this is possible only with God.

TEXT 24

I am the only enjoyer and the only object of sacrifice. Those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down.

PURPORT

The bottom line is that any activity should be directed towards God. Whether sacrifice, science, art - all should have God as their goal. As far as art is concerned, it does not necessarily have to deal with God as a person, the Western world is materialistic, so, say, the theme of Brahman in art can be much more fruitful than stories about a personal God. For example, the classic of Western cinema - Stalker by Tarkovsky and the most popular book in the CIS - The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, both of which speak about Brahman. Stalker - about the Supreme Mind, The Master and Margarita - about good and evil, God and the devil. "He does not deserve the light, he deserves peace." All this is closer to people, so it has a broad scope. Salinger, Lermontov - about disillusionment with the world, about the meaninglessness of material life.

A person must preach from his own level. Until we have realized God personally, our preaching about God as a Person will not be effective. As long as we do not realize God ourselves, our preaching will always be only a material form of stories about the spiritual. Even preaching of God of those who have elevated to the spiritual level, until they will be sufficiently purified, are covered with defilements.

Preaching about the Personality of Godhead is the pinnacle of preaching, and there are many subtleties in such preaching. For example, we do not write much about the spirit world because most people will perceive such descriptions on the material level. It is necessary to present God in such a way that people feel His greatness or attractiveness, otherwise it is better not to deal with it - you will only get stories about God at the level of entertainment art.
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Сообщение Jayanti » 10 янв 2021, 18:49

TEXT 25

Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.

PURPORT

Material nature simply fulfills a person's desires - whatever a person wants, he can fulfill his desires. Where a person directs his consciousness, there he moves. When a person fulfills his desires, he gives rise to many consequences of activity, and thus he is in an endless circle of actions and their consequences. There are people who worship ghosts and receive information or mystical abilities from them. As a rule, such people give their life force to the ghosts and will later be born in their community. Others turn to the demigods for material gain. Having risen there and and spent their time in paradise, they fall down again. An intelligent person seeks eternal happiness and eschews temporary goals.

TEXT 26

If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit a water, I will accept it.

PURPORT

The offering of food, water, and flowers to God is a method for realizing Him. Because people regularly eat and drink then offering food and water plays a central role in the rituals of pāñcarātrika or regulated devotion. Offering food is a reason to think about God and also through offering food to God it is sanctified. Materialistic believers love to emphasize the importance of such kind of rituals, but without the development of knowledge and preaching, worship of God is not highly effective. Worship of the altar, worship of God in the temple can be a good start, however, without moving on to the development of knowledge and preaching, the believer will remain a neophyte. On the other hand, such rituals can help destroy impersonalism in a person and help a person gain some kind of initial experience of devotion to God.

TEXT 27

O son of Kuntī, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.

PURPORT

All types of activity can be associated with God, but it is even more effective to correctly preach to everyone about God. The best precedent for this is the distribution of Śrīla Prabhupāda's books, it is necessary to start this process and improve it. Over the years, such a distribution becomes a truly blissful nature and we wait for a free hour when we can go out again with books. When a person preaches, he can spiritualizes his whole life completely.

Offering food, various rituals in the temple and altar, going to the temple, dedicating all one's actions to God - all these are the initial level of devotion. It is difficult for beginners to understand spiritual science, therefore they idolize mainly the initial things considering them holy and sacred. The beginner believes that devotional service to God is mainly external actions, but devotion to God is mainly understanding and preaching. "Who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love" means that a person is constantly develops knowledge and preaches, and other, external, activities are less important. Devotion and love lead to knowledge and then to preaching. The neophytes make the cult of temple life and prescriptions considering this approach highly spiritual, while they do not understand any aspect of God.

When a person offers his actions to God, then he gets rid of attachment to the fruits of actions and also realizes that God is everywhere. This is the idea behind such offerings. God does not need our activities, but when a person offers every action to Him, then he can understand that God is present everywhere and get rid of attachment to the fruits of his own actions. Offering all his actions to God, a person can eventually understand the meaninglessness of any activity and begin to think about God directly, out of connection with any activity. When a person is not attached to any results (good and bad), he can understand and feel that he is a soul, not a body and activity.

Why does Kṛṣṇa say to offer everything to Him? God does not need our activities, it is just an excuse to start think about God and ultimately develop God consciousness and internally renounce any activities. Renouncing of activities does not necessarily mean inaction, a devotee can be engaged in any activities but in consciousness he is realize the self and God. Purification means that the devotee does not attach importance to money, family, himself, or the external situation, but is mainly focused on learning spiritual science and selfless preaching.

Materialists will say that both money and family can be used in devotional service, but the answer is that without realizing God, they will not be able to use anything effectively. It happens that beginners and fanatics leave their families, quit their jobs - this is the other extreme. The point is to realize God whether there is a family or not, it does not matter. God is behind all phenomena, God controls everything; when a person develops knowledge and devotion, everything else will follow.

Usually a devotee worships God at home, goes to the temple, goes to programs, but mostly his mind is absorbed in how to earn money or how to support a family, on family relationships, etc., in this way his whole life passes and he dies in fear, still without realizing God. Maybe a few of these people can get liberation, the rest are born again and continue the same thing until they rise to the level of preaching. Others preach for the sake of earnings or honor which is the same thing, and they also mostly do not even get a liberation because they are busy with themselves under a religious sign. A preaching is needed, but a selfless preaching that does not mean money and fame as the goal, because preaching for money and fame is the same conditioning.

TEXT 28

In this way you will be freed from all reactions to good and evil deeds, and by this principle of renunciation you will be liberated and come to Me.

PURPORT

In this way Kṛṣṇa describes here the result of devoting all activities to Him. Constantly thinking of God, a devotee renounces all the results of his actions and becomes free from consequences, whether such consequences come to him or not. There are two points here: the first is detachment from the fruits of labor, and the second is attachment to God. Both of these things are interrelated: renunciation leads to attachment to God, and attachment leads to renunciation. By focused on God, the devotee attains the spiritual world during this life or at the moment of death. The idea is that a devotee leaves here and solves all problems at once. People try to adapt inside matter, but generally it is meaningless; the highest idea is to reach the spiritual world by leaving the world of matter behind, to leave here without even looking back.

Practically, it looks like this. A devotee works somewhere, gets some money, preaches in his spare time. A devotee somehow arranges his affairs in order to live somewhere, eat something and continue to engage in spiritual science. He can solve his material affairs in one way or another, it is not so important. Sometimes he probably earns more and sometimes less, it does not matter. Preaching by word, speech or printed word is also important, and whether a devotee's family is successful or not, does not really matter. And the various "Vedic" productions are not important, mainly the knowledge and books of Śrīla Prabhupāda should be distributed.

Materialists immediately say to this like: "So, should I live in a cave now?" Materialists and fools always distort everything to extremes in order to reject it. They say that it is a lack of care for the family and children, that the Vedic duty is to support the family and so on. But in the words above, we are talking about inner consciousness and not about external activities. You can support your family, of course, but in some cases you can leave it. The idea is that a person develops knowledge and preaches. If he does not do this, then both maintaining the family and leaving the family is just selfishness.

Using the scripture to one own needs is a distortion of the scripture and an insult to God; such use of the scripture for material purposes is useless and will not protect people who act in this way from reactions. God says to offer everything to Him. By following this direction, the devotee will eventually move away from both actions and consequences, including, for example, continue to act and live in the family. The preaching will captivate him and he will forget everything else. When a devotee will reach God, he will become completely satisfied and perhaps even will be able to help his family in spiritual development. But since the preaching is aimed at a wide range of people, this is not so important whether he will help his family or not. Sometimes the devotee's children become devotees, sometimes they do not, that does not matter.

The materialists say again, "If he cannot help his family, then who can he help?" Such a devotee can help the whole world. Of course, he is trying to help the family, but if they are persistent in materialism, then there is no point in wasting time on them. Śrīla Prabhupāda supported his family, but after he realizing that they are notoriously materialists, he left it when the children grew up. What is the point in such a family, why is it needed? The wife must also preach. Modern people are mostly mūḍhas, animals, they do not understand the happiness of freedom and spiritual knowledge. Such mūḍhas are constantly earning money for material things, and having furnished themselves with all kinds of things, they certainly continue to be always unhappy. Mūḍhas, donkeys, we are not attracted to such a donkey life at all.

Some of these mūḍhas become gurus or professional lecturers, they earn money by lecturing, build their own cottages or buy expensive cars. If a donkey is dressed in royal clothes, he will not become smarter from this. Therefore, when a donkey accepts the title of guru or Sannyas for the sake of prestige, it does not make him spiritually developed. Other donkeys flock to the donkey calls, who consider the first donkeys to be gurus and worship them. They think that by worshipping a donkey who looking for money, they will reach God, but for some reason, by worshipping these donkey faces, they do not reach God.
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Сообщение Jayanti » 12 янв 2021, 23:33

TEXT 29

I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.

PURPORT

The more a person is connected to God, the stronger the relationship between them. Perfection consists in having a developed dependence on God. This can be done only over the years, gradually, by following and showing a lot of intelligence. This is not a mechanical connection, it is always some kind of dialogue. It sometimes takes dozens of years to understand some things, why God wanted it this way and not that way.

At the beginning of the spiritual life, our impression of the spiritual is to a certain extent false. People often follow false spiritual concepts and practices with great pleasure, because materialism is closer to us in the beginning. A person can gradually get rid of this if he is sincere and seeks the truth. Materialists, on the other hand, will remain in false concepts for the rest of their lives, but somewhere this is not so important, because they do not actually practice anything, although they are outwardly engaged in rituals or chanting the holy name. Will such materialistic believers be liberated in one lifetime? This is generally an individual question, but most are not. They will have to be born again in order to go through death and birth and somehow take the spiritual life more seriously.

We have seen many such believers or devotees and preached to them. When a person does not want to do something significant, he stands still. They are ready to be busy with themselves day and night, build houses for themselves, take care of their families and so on, but just not devote themselves to the development of knowledge and selfless preaching. All materialists are the same, just some do it outside of religion, others - being in religion, so from a general point of view, the difference is small. Perhaps someone needs a lot of time to germinate some spiritual fruit. Therefore, the movement often spreads through marginal people, those who cannot find a place in life, for Śrīla Prabhupāda they were hippies. Any materialists who crave personal well-being are of little use for spiritual life.

People do not give themselves to God simply out of stupidity. The soul is an intermediate energy, taṭasthā, so if a person is busy with matter, he will be distant from God. The idea is to give God everything or at least everything that we are capable of. In fact, the mature spiritual life consists in that. "To give everything" does not mean to give up something external, it is necessary to learn to give yourself, your consciousness. The stupidity of people is they do not understand: such surrender does not deprive them of anything material. It is their bad habit to think if they do not fulfill their small plans, they will be lost, but the opposite is true. We have a vision and make plans based on a very narrow range of information and perception, whereas God knows everything. A person who surrenders to God only strengthens his position. In the highest sense, there is no any loss here, however most people do not even want to try to go in this direction. And secondly, people are stupid because the fulfillment of their material plans will not give them anything in life.

We know rich people and very rich people, none of them are happy. We know famous people, and there is the same picture. Wealth will not make anyone happy, it is impossible technically, due to many factors. People only dream that money will give them happiness, but most likely it will be the opposite. Happiness is found in communication, knowledge, relationships, and it is better for a person to take some insignificant, average position - not to live in poverty, but not to live in luxury too.

Therefore, giving everything to God, the devotee becomes close with Him, and God teaches him more and more. This is the purpose of religion and spiritual practice.

TEXT 30

Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.

PURPORT

The external behavior of those who fulfill God's plan ceases to play a significant role. The point is to develop knowledge, devotion, and preaching and the external position of a person is not so important. For example, Jesus Christ preached to the fishermen, they caught fish, accordingly ate it, and He taught them about God not paying attention to their "fish eating" because it does not matter. He himself fed them with fish and blessed them. It is better, of course, not to eat fish, but if a person is conditioned so, they do not pay attention to it because it is secondary.

Neophytes pay a lot of attention to external things, unreasonably much. I remember there were some instructions on which side of the world to sleep with your head, constantly studied whether there were impurities in wheat flour and so on - all these plays almost no role. Now is the age of Kali, such subtleties are drowning under the pressure of gigantic defilements, plus external things in themselves are not connected with God. If there is no essence, such external rules will not help, and if the essence is there, they will not affect either. For example, preaching vegetarianism is a rather indirect thing. Vegetarianism in itself does not give spirituality, it is an accompanying, auxiliary principle, there is no spiritual basis in it. Such (restrictive) principles should always be not in the foreground, no one should be alienated by vegetarianism from God. First, a person must learn enough about God, then all these "chocolates". A novice believer can study, chant, and practice while he is not yet a vegetarian, on the other hand, there are also vegetarian demons.

Of course, it is a pity for animals, killing animals is not good, but sometimes the situation is such that we do not have the opportunity to deal with it, and the preaching of vegetarianism in some cases does not play a special role. For example, millions of cows are being killed nowadays. We can collect some money and buy some cows, it will be a good yet completely naive, childish act that does not change the overall situation in any way. It is necessary to stop the killing of all cows, not two or three among millions. However, if we have stopped killing all the cows, but there is no God consciousness in the world, we can consider our activities are useless, because in this case we have not solved any single problem.

Suppose we stopped killing cows, fish, and even forced the lions to eat cheese. Everyone has their own house, no wars, no violence, strong families, the land gives birth to 4-6 harvests - all these are meaningless without the consciousness of God. Everyone will still be born and die inside matter, there will be no happiness without God consciousness - life is meaningless even on Brahmaloka. The answer is that if you deal directly with cows, families, varṇāśrama, communities, none of these problems will be solved. These problems cannot be solved without preaching, without spiritual understanding.

How to help cows, families, and varṇāśrama? It is necessary to distribute Śrīla Prabhupāda's books. Śrīla Prabhupāda showed practically that it is possible to help in this way, because through the distribution of books people are elevated, also all His money came mainly from the distribution of books. The bottom line is everything else will be barely alive without preaching and distribution, the "Vedic culture" will only smolder. We do not mind, let the Vedic culture live and flourish like holidays, communication and so on, but it will not survive at all by itself. And it will be the same with the donation money, the temples and everything else, it will basically disappear.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's example is not to make money from books and to set up temples where a new Orthodox or humanistic religion will begin. Bhaktisiddhānta Ṭhākura has the same experience: where are these temples and what do they change in the world. It is works only harer nāma, the preaching now, the rest does not work, neither karma-yoga, nor jñāna, nor mysticism (sādhana is mystical yoga plus sāṅkhya). All pāñcarātrika, temples, principles are just a consequence and support, but they do not give an effect by themselves. Well, some people want to live peacefully, having some religiosity, they do not need tops, they are "humble", but they will not be able to live like that. Kali increases and all such half-devotees do not hold on, they give up the practice. We are looking for at least a few people who will follow the path of preaching.

TEXT 31

He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.

PURPORT

The preacher by gaining more and more experience, becomes more and more happy. He understands the conventionality and illusiveness of the world, and his consciousness becomes more and more spiritualized. He is not dependent on the ordinary course of affairs, and since his life is devoted to God, God uses him more and more, and the devotee realize Him more and more. This devotee is self-sufficient and can act either alone or in a community. Gradually, he gets rid of defilements such as striving for profit, glory and becomes even happier in his relationship with God.

We have seen in practice how God protects such preachers, it is truly unique. However, even if something happens, such a devotee who has given himself to preaching happily returns to the spiritual world. In some cases, he elevates to the spiritual level in this life, directly comprehending all the secrets of spiritual existence. God rewards him both here and in the spiritual world, and certainly such a devotee is very dear to God. The rest people continue to deal with families, money and themselves, talking about love, faith and much more, staying far from God.
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Jayanti
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Сообщение Jayanti » 12 янв 2021, 23:56

TEXT 32

O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth-women, vaiśyas [merchants], as well as śūdras [workers]-can approach the supreme destination.

PURPORT

Anyone who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa and preaches is elevated in spiritual life. Women can be elevated when they are engaged in preaching or help in preaching. Such girls no longer need to look for who will be their husband, in Kali-yuga, in my opinion, it is easier to return to God than to establish family life.

We fulfill the promise to write about the situation of girls. As for marriage, most marriages are unsuccessful now and the situation and psyche of a girl after such a marriage can become worse than before marriage. Therefore, a girl who cannot get married should not be particularly sad. If a girl practices the spiritual life and preaches, then it does not matter whether she is married or not, because she is in a situation that is better than all that exists.

Girls need attention and guidance. They have strong feelings, and often women suffer from the press of their own feelings. This happens in both married and single women. One of the husband's functions is to calm the wife's feelings, then the girl becomes satisfied, but most men in our time are not able to do this, so everything is as it is. Nowadays there is a lot of discord in families, and lectures on the duties of a woman or a man may be useful in some way for the general culture, but in practice they will not give much effect. There are too many contradictions in the family for general lectures to change something. Even in Muslim families women are gaining more strength now, which indicates an increase in the influence of Kali.

A girl can also become the second or third wife of a worthy man, if everyone agrees. Polygamous marriage is easier and more natural than people think. Western culture is a culture of barbarians, a culture of egoists, where the female is ready to beat her rival because she wants to be "the only one." None of the women is the only one to any of the men, and none of the women are worthy of the title of the only one, such a desire to be the only one is just a form of ignorance. In men, lust is manifested as the desire to possess many women, female lust is the desire to be liked by others and get a man as property.

A girl can also become a second or third wife by accepting a devotee as her husband, even if she has no physical relationship with him. This is written by Śrīla Prabhupāda.

"And the law is you cannot marry more than one wife. The rascal lawgiver. So many women, there must be... One husband, at the present moment, must marry at least one dozen wives, otherwise they're going to hell. At least, she will know that "I have got a husband." Maybe the husband of twelve wives, but they are anxious to have a husband. That facility should be given to them. They are anxious." (Room Conversation, August 15, 1971, London)

She will know that: “I have got a husband,” he will take care of her at least morally and give her spiritual teachings and guidance. This is also a form of marriage, it may not be ideal, but in its own way it is quite good.

Can a husband be a spiritual teacher for his wife? If he is qualified, of course he can. The husband in some sense is a natural guru for both the wife and children, he can also be a completely full-fledged guru and elevate the spouse to the top of the spiritual life. But if he is a full-fledged guru, it means that he can elevate many people, including his wife too, as a special case. Not that "after dinner, he decided to announce to his wife that he is her guru." A guru is an active preacher with dozens of years of preaching experience and a certain personal spiritual position, he is the guru for all, not just for his wife.

Can a wife be a guru for her husband? Theoretically, she can, but she cannot teach her husband while she is in a superior position in relation to him. In general, you can teach anyone, without unnecessary cult. A girl can be a guru if she is self-realized. However, besides self-realizing, it takes a lot of experience because even realizing God, but not having knowledge and experience, she will not be successful in preaching. Girls are emotional and see the world from an emotional perspective - this is not the best position for preaching, although in preaching among women, they may have some success because they are in a similar consciousness.

Girls are sincere and due to sincerity and feelings they can achieve some progress, however, without knowledge, such progress will mostly remain her personal success which she will not be able to convey. If we have some kind of spiritual understanding or vision, nobody in the material world cares about it, and even in a religious environment almost no one perceive such things. Preaching is a complex subject and a person must be taught from the very bottom to grow up on his own. We cannot do it instead of him, we just help. But anyone can be a teaching guru, teaching people in general, this option is also favourable. An inquisitive person will orient himself from books and get his own experience.

All this modern cult of the gurus is very far fetched, people "believe" the guru then he falls – they go away, "Oh, I so believed him." But if he was your guru, what did he teach you? He fell, we understood that, but in the time before he fell, what did he teach you? The guru is not a solemn icon; he must teach. He teaches something immediate (pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ) and you are comprehend something right now - this is the guru. The guru teaches the science of God, not faith in the guru himself. They believed in the guru for ten years, then the guru fell, they left. Why did they leave? Has God ceased to exist? The guru fell – did the planets stop spinning or did the stars go out? What is the point of such an discipleship? He did not give them any knowledge of God, they worshipped him as an icon, and that was all. Useless cultism. They thought he was great. If your guru is great, you will know everything. If the disciple knows nothing, what is the greatness of his guru?

Can a guru marry a disciple? Yes, he can. At first she is a disciple, then a relationship arose between them and the guru married her. She was a disciple and she remain a disciple, only she also become a wife. However, here the question arises latently: if he is self-realized, why did he suddenly have lust? But the reasons for marriage can be different. Anyway, this option also exists and it is better than if the guru takes a mistress.

When disciples do not have knowledge, they spend their whole lives trying to find out which guru is better or prove to others and to themselves that it is their guru is the best. Since they have no relationship with the guru, they look at him like a movie. If your guru really teaches you, if you have at least some kind of relationship with him, then he will explain his situation to you himself, and then it is a personal matter whether you understand him or not. If there is a problem with the dīkṣā guru, you can take another guru or follow the śikṣā guru; initiation is following, not a ritual or external devotion.

A man can have many wives by mutual consent, and they can become his helpers in life and in preaching. No one will change this system - men will always have a lot of women - only now it exists in the form of divorces and adultery. There is no obstacle to such a relationship if people are serious. A gṛhastha-guru can also have many wives if there is mutual consent. This is at least much better than a "sannyāsī-guru" who have many mistresses. It is also not necessary to have intimate relationships with your wives. If a man even is little elevated, wives will be happy without sex because of feelings.

A gṛhastha-guru can take wives not out of lust, but to give them shelter. Unmarried girls often look at many gurus from this point of view. If a girl wants to be his wife, he can agree, on his terms, and give her some kind of shelter or guidance. Maybe she will live with him, or live nearby, or live far away, maybe they will meet rarely or often, but she can love him. Especially in the version without physical intimacy, a devotee can have many wives. Personally, he may not need so many wives, but if they want, he can agree. This is a personal relationships. However, in any case, marriage should not create problems, but solve them. If any form of marriage creates problems, it is better to do nothing then. If marriage solves people's problems, that is fine; if marriage has only increased people's problems, then it is not needed.

Marriage is a guidance for the wife and children in the spiritual life. Can there be a marriage without children? Yes, it can be without sex and without children, as a guidance to his wife. Why then need such a marriage without children if the girl could be just a student? Because women may lack feelings and attention and because all girls should be married. The girl receives care, support, communication, does something for her husband, helps him - there is some kind of sensual exchange between them. So the girl gets shelter, the man gets help and support. Girls are sincere and strong in this sense. When they pray for their husband, he also becomes stronger, and the relationship makes the girls more stable. If the wives are also engaged in preaching, this is almost an ideal situation.

A man should be focused on God, on preaching, otherwise he will not cope with one wife, let alone several. If God and preaching are the main goal for him, then everything will be in balance; if he is just looking for more women, it will all fail. Polygamy may not apply to many men, but even if someone acting like that saves at least one girl, it's not a small thing. Śrīla Prabhupāda says that man have to take some girls as wives, otherwise they will be lost. Religious marriage is some kind of compromise between sensual life and spiritual life, but it is important for women to be married and to be loved.

Girls love one, a man, as a rule, always has several women in mind. A man copies God, so he can love several. Those girls who are against polygamy, you just need to understand that then 10-30% of women will always be unmarried, because in fact there are simply more women (if girls are not killed in abortions which happens in some countries). If a man can somehow spiritually elevate and support women, he can take wives, in fact, as much as he can, but marriage is always a personal relationships, it is not a formality. In terms of relationships, there is much more personal relationship in marriage than the guru-disciple system. In fact, girls often lack exactly these - relationships and feelings. Since women are more than half of the population of the world, this issue is quite important and relevant.

Some kind of confrontation between wives is inevitable, but this is a good factor for the husband and for themselves. They mutually weaken by confront each other, and it is easier for a man to control them, which will make everyone more happier. A polygamous marriage can be much easier than a regular marriage in which two people "sit opposite each other" all their lives. Also, polygamy is a family, and ideally, wives are friends, it is easier for them to live like this, because there is more communication and mutual help. When there is love, one wife asks her husband to take more care of the other wife - this is a civilized relationship, not Western barbarism. This is a spiritual situation, this is exactly what spiritual relationship is: not to rush to the forefront herself, but to offer another girl for God.

The most modest girl is most attractive to a man, if he is still a man, of course, and has not become a woman. But men who have already become women in his essence, like strong girls, bitches and the like. Since presently mostly women are dominant, a son, a boy, growing up, from under one mother goes under a new "mother" - his wife, and so he can remain a boy until 60 years. The second type of man is a lout who drinks, sometimes beats and so on, which is also not the best option. Presently most marriages are cohabitation, some agreement, because there is no real close relationships there. The institution of marriage as a whole is collapsing and will continue to collapse.

All religions are not against polygamous marriage, since this is the structure of both the spiritual world and the universe. At least as far as the higher rasas are concerned, God is not monogamous. How do they gather into the higher rasas where they would never be the only one and the best? God is polygamous, also a man, a husband, can be polygamous. Monogamy in Christian countries was introduced as a concession to gentiles in Italy, where it was customary to have one wife. However, they forgot that in addition to the wife, the tradition also included concubines. The official wife was one, but men had several women in those days. Monogamy was introduced, but the concubines were forgotten. Of course, whether a family is monogamous or polygamous, if it interferes with spiritual life, then it is better not to have any family. If you are tired of family problems, engage in preaching; and generally a Vedic family is when they see each other not often, living in different halves of the house. There are so many contradictions between a man and a woman that if they are constantly side by side, there will always be problems. But when a man preaches, he will be detached, even being in the same room with his beloved wife. In general, marriage is not such an important thing, so those who do not like polygamy - well, you can do without it.

If none of the marriage options is suitable for a girl, she can dream of God and give her feelings to God. It is unlikely to be clean, but it is also acceptable. In the highest sense, everyone is a soul, and if the person is elevated, gender no longer matters.

TEXT 33

How much greater then are the brāhmaṇas, the righteous, the devotees and saintly kings who in this temporary miserable world engage in loving service unto Me.

PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:

In this material world there are classifications of people, but, after all, this world is not a happy place for anyone. It is clearly stated here, anityam asukhaṁ lokam: this world is temporary and full of miseries, not habitable for any sane gentleman. This world is declared by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be temporary and full of miseries. Some of the philosophers, especially the minor philosophers, say that this world is false, but we can understand from Bhagavad-gītā that the world is not false; it is temporary. There is a difference between temporary and false. This world is temporary, but there is another world which is eternal. This world is miserable, but the other world is eternal and blissful.

Arjuna was born in a saintly royal family. To him also the Lord says, "Take to My devotional service and come quickly back to Godhead, back home." No one should remain in this temporary world, full as it is with miseries. Everyone should attach himself to the bosom of the Supreme Personality of Godhead so that he can be eternally happy. The devotional service of the Supreme Lord is the only process by which all problems of all classes of men can be solved. Everyone should therefore take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and make his life perfect.

PURPORT
The expression "My devotional service" can be understood in two ways. The first option is devotional service, which belongs to God and is established by Him. The second option is devotional service related to God, that is, dedicated to Him. Both of these options are correct.

TEXT 34

Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, offer obeisances and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.

PURPORT

This is the supreme greatness of God. The awareness of greatness always purifies. Even if we have a higher relationships of Kṛṣṇa-līlā's rasas, we are always purified by bowing down to Lord Nārāyaṇa. So it is the same here: Arjuna is a friend of God, but when he got into trouble, God explains to him His supreme greatness. In this way Arjuna was purified from delusions. By fully surrended to the Supreme Lord, one gets rid of all problems and becomes happy.
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