Bhagavad-gītā for Everyone

[Jayanti]

TEXT 37

O son of Kuntī, either you will be killed on the battlefield and attain the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom. Therefore get up and fight with determination.

PURPORT
It is very difficult to find people interested in spiritual science. Even after accepting the spiritual process in one or another confession, people are still mostly absorbed with their material problems, which steals their mind and knowledge. We are all the same as souls - why are some persons enlightened and others not? Because the latter are busy with themselves. In general, religion does not require any special asceticism from a person. Even if we take some Christian ascetics it would be a thousand times greater effect if they followed the instructions of the Bible and preached. The New Testament, in fact, is one continuous call to preach, and Jesus Christ, similary, gave an example of constant preaching. Neither the Bhagavad-gītā nor the Bible call for renunciation of the world, nor do they call for any special repentance or for the introduction of any temple rituals. They point out to go to preach or do one's duty in the name of God, and when person really does something for God he becomes peaceful. "Nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ." There is nothing ours in this world then why bother? "You can't make a single hair white or black" - it's little depend on us.

Just as Lord Kṛṣṇa encourages Arjuna to engage in the battle, we also encourage people to develop spiritual understanding and communicate with others on these topics.

TEXT 38

Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat—and, by so doing, you shall never incur sin.

PURPORT
Since Kṛṣṇa is Arjuna's friend, so Arjuna accepts God's arguments as friendly and he does not feel fear or awe of Him. When God reveals Himself in all his greatness, no soul can resist and immediately begins to fulfill His command. However, we do not see God because we have a lot of our own plans and urgent matters. All this is sad – people continue to vegetate in an uninteresting material life devoid of dynamics.

When a person acts for God, he incurs no consequences. There is a fundamental difference between acting in selfish interests and acting in accordance with scripture. When person wants to get result, he falls into the duality of happiness and misery, he is happy when he is successful and he is sad when he fails. A devotee has no personal interests, therefore, he is always happy and his activity is not hindered. The world is created with the help of intelligence, so in any situation a devotee finds a way out with the help of intelligence. Materialists are very sophisticated in their plans, while the faithful has no special pretensions for something, so his life is simple and easy. "Plain living and high thinking" - this is the formula for happiness and good luck.

The Supersoul, the Superconsciousness, stays behind everything in the world, God is in every atom and in everyone's heart. As the Supreme witness, He determines the consequences of everyone's actions. God is not interested to punish anyone, but He maintains universal justice and simply sends everyone his own result on the principle of "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." One of the main points in all that is the person's motives. One and the same action can be done with different motives. Therefore, although a devotee can act like an ordinary person, nevertheless, since he has no selfish motives, he technically does not get the consequences because he is non-attachment and because he acts under the direction of a higher authority. This is the principle of karma-yoga and the principle of devotional service is even higher.

Karma-yoga means that we have some kind of karma, for example, we should to work, but by doing work in the spirit of Bhagavad-gītā person gets out of this situation with minimal losses. Devotional service this is what God wants from us directly. In the case of devotional service we do not have any karma, fate or forced duties, but we voluntarily accept the instructions of God through knowledge. We are not responsible by acting in this way because we are only fulfilling His desires. What are God's desires? Maybe He needs money or to win any state? Of cause, He does not need anything like this and the whole world is already His property, but there is one thing in which we could be useful to Him - this is helping other living beings in spiritual life. This is really needed.

God out of compassion for lost souls, has established religion from age to age because every soul is His creation. Having lost contact with God rebellious souls are desperately trying to build his personal happiness on their own, and although God can give them all easily and gratuitously, anyway they, stubborn, are burrowing as worms deeper and deeper into material world. They are wanting to become a God themselves sometimes even begin to hate Him, although He has never done anything wrong to anyone. This hatred is born because of their constant failures - suffering defeat after defeat, they become embittered in an attempt to become gods.

Sometimes people find it difficult to understand who God is, but the answer lies on the surface. Everyone in the material world wants wealth, beauty, health, and everyone wants not to grow old, to be young and strong. Where do such universal desires come from? Because this is God - He is young, never age, rich, strong, and omnipotent. All the people of the entire material world have been striving for these things millennium after millennium, all as one - this is the answer to all questions. All scientific discoveries are an attempt to become omnipotent, to get out of the influence of the laws of nature, to become free from all laws, just as God is eternally free. People are looking for love, but the only worthy object of love is God; and when person can understand the futility of material life or when we can direct someone to God - it is a wonderful event. A devotee who is seriously engage in preaching activities gradually becomes free from all consequences.

TEXT 39

Thus far I have declared to you the analytical knowledge of sāṅkhya philosophy. Now listen to the knowledge of yoga whereby one works without fruitive result. O son of Pṛthā, when you act by such intelligence, you can free yourself from the bondage of works.

PURPORT
It is almost the middle of the second chapter, but never once did Lord Kṛṣṇa say to believe Him. Kṛṣṇa was explaining argument after argument to Arjuna and now He is going to describe the structure of the material world and make real simple to everyone how liberation happens.

We can easily see that this world has a complex harmonious structure, similarly spiritual life, or religion, has its own internal structure and laws. If the gross material world is arranged in such an exquisite and precise way, what to say about the science of spiritual life? Or does anyone think that having created through laws, harmoniously every atom and every corner of the universe, God will offer in religion to simply believe in Him? God is the supreme logician, the supreme philosopher, and He is the most intelligent Person, therefore we do not find any appeals to a blind faith. Kṛṣṇa says here: "you act with such intelligence"; the entire Bhagavad-gītā is dedicated to spiritual knowledge. Gradually we will change this primacy of faith rooted in religions due to materialism, and the world will be illuminated by transcendental understanding. There is no faith in the spiritual world, so both spiritual life and spiritual perfection are expressed in knowledge.

What will the dull priests say to God's argument about analytic knowledge? In fact, they consciously or unconsciously hide from everyone the brilliant God full of all perfections. Faith as love for God and devotion to God certainly is an element of spiritual life, but the full formulation looks like: "Knowledge without feelings is a dry thinking, feelings without knowledge are sentiments and fanaticism"; that is why feelings for God (or faith) and knowledge must always go hand in hand and one without the other will always be incomplete. Knowledge is what leads us forward, and feelings, love for God is the essence which fills us. For example, the vision of God is knowledge, cit. God is a person and He is the source of all forms, all worlds, all knowledge - all this is cit-śakti. The structure of the spiritual world again is cit, knowledge, form; and the relationship between the soul and God, spiritual feelings is ānanda, happiness; but without knowledge of God no ānanda is possible.

Person can direct his feelings (faith) to God and perhaps God will reveal Himself - person will know Him (cit) and love Him (ānanda). Seeing God is like a sparkling lightning that cuts the sky from horizon to horizon, person experiences a spiritual shock and the feeling of love for God rushes in a continuous stream. Even a single moment of such perception will change his entire life. Or a person may know about God (cit), then gradually rising and has reached God, he will find ānanda – eternal communication with Him. But in any case, ānanda, love, is based on the aspect of knowledge, cit-śakti. In other words, the qualities of God, His name, His form, His attributes (cit) are the source of love for Him (ānanda). Love, or ānanda, does not exist by itself, it is always based on knowledge. The desire to find one "pure" love, or faith, is a form of impersonalism or materialism. Sometimes they say that "God is love", but this is not true - God is the Person we love and He also loves us. Love is a mutual exchange of feelings or even if one start looking for personified love, this is not He, but His energy.

Because of materialism, people constantly want to highlight one of these two aspects at the expense of the other. Some emphasize faith, for example, there are Catholics or Orthodox, others emphasize knowledge, for example, there are Protestants. However, the full formula is "with all thy heart, with all thy mind"; person cannot comprehend God if he tries to do one thing without the other. There are needed both feelings and knowledge. However, nowadays there is a bias towards faith, so highlighting the aspect of knowledge is more relevant. Christianity collapsed because it went into the wilds of faith; the faith itself can take completely stupid forms, and in some cases a fervent faith becomes dangerous to society because of its extremism.

On the other hand, sit and theoretically think about God is also no much use. Therefore, the decision, or the spiritual path, is always a combination of these two points - love and knowledge. If we want to be more correct then it is better to replace the word "faith" with the words "feelings" or "love". In this sense, the Bible says well: "with all thy heart" - this is a good definition. Faith (śraddhā) in the Vedas is mentioned as the initial position, but even at the beginning it is quite possible to dispense with faith by studying the scripture. What to believe gentlemen? God gives a factual description of the world, we can perceive directly everything that He describes: karma, guṇas, and later: Brahman, Paramatma, and others - all these are accessible to perception.

The ordinary common faith in God carries itself a tinge of impersonalism. For example, a person enters to a temple or reads a scripture and feels a spiritual uplift, he perceives it as a sign of truth, and although this is true, yet the person knows nothing about God. What happens next? A Christian enters a christian temple, a Muslim enters a mosque, a Jew enters a synagogue, and everyone feels the same thing - spiritual uplift, goodness, the Holy Spirit, Brahman - and everyone is confirmed in this way in "faith" with almost complete absence of knowledge. This impersonal faith in God is good, but then these three people meet and begin to prove to each other their "truth" based on their own personal experience, but none of them know the truth. If all three people do not know anything about God but only believe in Him, in some higher impersonal power, respectively linking its manifestation with their own confessions, based on their personal feelings - this is lead them to fanaticism or to belief in some rites or other external things.

When there is no knowledge, person is afraid of everything and can also deify anything. Such believers have no criteria in religion, they have only their impersonal, helpless faith; and for lack of knowledge they fenced off from the world by the confines of their sect and administrative positions. At the same time, the supreme head of the sect is afraid of any debate because he has nothing to say. So what is religion exist for? Not for the sake of candles. Religion must speak about God and give knowledge about God - understanding.

TEXT 40

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.

PURPORT
Śrīla Prabhupāda commentary on this verse as they say: "nothing more, nothing less." I'm fact, my commentaries are a simplified version of Prabhupāda's commentaries. Although only half a century has passed, but people have degraded even more and sometimes it is difficult for them to perceive the academicism of Śrīla Prabhupāda's commentaries. His commentaries are much more extensive and universal, but I write more with reference to the place and taking into account some of the specifics of modern religion and society.

PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:
Activity in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Kṛṣṇa without expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work begun on the material plane has to be completed, otherwise the whole attempt becomes a failure. But any work begun in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has a permanent effect, even though not finished. The performer of such work is therefore not at a loss even if his work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is incomplete. One percent done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness bears permanent results, so that the next beginning is from the point of two percent; whereas, in material activity, without a hundred percent success, there is no profit. Ajāmila performed his duty in some percentage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but the result he enjoyed at the end was a hundred percent, by the grace of the Lord. There is a nice verse in this connection in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ harer
bhajan na pakko 'tha patet tato yadi
yatra kva vābhadram abhūd amuṣya kiṁ
ko vārtha āpto 'bhajatāṁ sva-dharmataḥ

"If someone gives up self-gratificatory pursuits and works in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and then falls down on account of not completing his work, what loss is there on his part? And, what can one gain if one performs his material activities perfectly?" (Bhāg. 1.5.17) Or, as the Christians say, "What profiteth a man if he gain the whole world yet suffers the loss of his eternal soul?"
Material activities and their results end with the body. But work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness carries the person again to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even after the loss of the body. At least one is sure to have a chance in the next life of being born again as a human being, either in the family of a great cultured brāhmaṇa or in a rich aristocratic family that will give one a further chance for elevation. That is the unique quality of work done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

[Jayanti]

TEXT 41

Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.

PURPORT
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: "A strong faith in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that one should be elevated to the highest perfection of life is called vyavasāyātmikā intelligence. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta states: ...Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime."

So, at the first stage a person may have faith in some higher principle, but later he will receive practical experience, knowledge. Further Śrīla Prabhupāda writes:

"The resolute purpose of a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is based on knowledge ("Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ") by which one comes to know perfectly that Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, is the root of all manifested causes. As water on the root of a tree is automatically distributed to the leaves and branches, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can render the highest service to everyone—namely self, family, society, country, humanity, etc. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied by one's actions, then everyone will be satisfied."

So, a pure devotee is one who has complete knowledge of both material nature and all spiritual manifestations. A pure devotee knows God in greatness, also he knows God in all other relationships (rasas), he knows all aspects of devotional service, and he knows when and how to apply them. Since a pure devotee knows God, he can understand any scripture in the world and apply it in practice because he knows the essence of everything. "Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti" - God is present everywhere and He is the source of everything.

TEXT 42-43

Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this.

PURPORT
There are many prescriptions in and out of religion: how to achieve a particular result, how to get good health or family, and so on. There are astrology and other sciences related to the Vedas. A pure devotee does not pay much attention to such things. We, as souls, are not connected with the material body, and when person is fully engaged in spiritual activities, he is under the protection of God, so no horoscopes have any power over him. About family and other things the Bible well says: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

People do not believe it and continue to make useless plans. They have no idea how much God can bestow on them and lead a miserable, unhappy life in the material world. Even the so-called faithful are looking for a lot of money and they are wasting their time senselessly. Somehow we may understand materialists who seek money and honor, but when the faithful profess material values, it shows their complete brainlessness. Having the opportunity to find the real happiness, they continue to delve into the mud of personal wealth and other things. All this is depressing.

TEXT 44

In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination of devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.

PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:
Samādhi means "fixed mind." The Vedic dictionary, the Nirukti, says, samyag ādhīyate 'sminn ātmatattva-yāthātmyam: "When the mind is fixed for understanding the self, it is called samādhi. "Samādhi is never possible for persons interested in material sense enjoyment, nor for those who are bewildered by such temporary things. They are more or less condemned by the process of material energy.

PURPORT
Person loses one's mind and determination because of the constant distraction of the mind for material purposes. Material life is like a sleeping. It is also like a puppet theater where people are lead on strings like puppets. Therefore, sometimes religion has introduced into society by force, for example, Prince Vladimir who introduced Christianity in Russia where people that time followed some rites, but they did not understand it, when the harmonious Vedic system degenerated to the level of paganism, the worship of demigods. If a society is inert due to materialism, the holy king can bring determination into it, actually forcing it to accept one religion or another. As a matter of fact, this is a common situation - Moses and Muhammad acted almost in the same way.

Sometimes people do not want to treason their religion even on pain of death. On the one hand, it is devotion, on the other hand, it is ignorance. Or sometimes some kind of ceremony is performed over the faithful of one confession and after they declare that a person began to belong to another confession - all this is absolute nonsense. All four major world religions (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism) fully carry the truth, and person can develop spiritually being in any of them. They all contain the same spiritual principles, but perhaps only Buddhism is somewhat specific.

TEXT 45

The Vedas mainly deal with the subject of the three modes of material nature. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of them. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the Self.

PURPORT
That means all near-religious activities are related to the qualities (guṇas) of material nature, in other words, this is all materialism. God teaches, "Abandon all these worries and engage in real religion, become self-realized." He says: "Why do you endlessly try to get some meager benefit and think about small things? Abandon all these things to the second place and direct your eyes on Me". In fact, this is the main motive of the entire Bhagavad-gītā and also the essence of any religion. Someone may say Kṛṣṇa is not God, well, they can accept Jehovah as the person of God or Allah, this is still the same God - Almighty. No matter what religion a person belongs, all the principles of material and spiritual life will be the same. The chanting of the holy name, the principles of destiny, the principles of renunciation, or the qualities of God are the same everywhere. Similarly, the self of every living being is the same: we are all souls, we are all part of Eternity and the spiritual world. The self of everyone is eternal and eternally unchangeable, there are no disagreements and struggle at this level because the subject of disagreements is absent. Disagreements exist on material foundation, on the foundation of prejudices and erroneous concepts, but in the spiritual sphere they do not exist - this is the foundation of true religion.

[Jayanti]

TEXT 46

All purposes that are served by the small pond can at once be served by the great reservoirs of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.

PURPORT
All and any rituals are meant to make a man focus his thoughts on God. The temple, the temple environment, icons, or the singing of prayers - everything is intended to rise a man in his thoughts and feelings, and think about God. It does not really matter what the form rituals the form rituals are, the final result should be the remembrance of God. Therefore, if a person, for example, abandons all rituals or rites, but begins to think about God and, best of all, to develop knowledge about God, in this way he will achieve the final result of all the rites.

The highest purpose of the Vedas or any other authoritative religion is knowledge of God and love to God. Someone thinks that we have our own Orthodox God and they have another Hindu God, but God is neither Orthodox nor Hindu - God is the source of everything and He is the One who owns everything. He owns this planet and this entire universe, and because He is omnipotent, He has millions of names. He also has His eternal world where there are an infinite number of planets, where His palaces stand wallowing in wealth and beauty.

Remembrance of God also comes through chanting the holy name of God. Because God is absolute, He is nondifferent from His name. A man, by chanting the holy name or prayer, comes into contact with spiritual energy and becomes spiritualized. Knowledge comes in the same way. Even chanting the holy name just for a few days, person can rise to the spiritual platform; however, we cannot consider this as a rule and we should organise ourselves for the vyears of patient spiritual practice. The holy name is absolute and the process of chanting is already self-sufficient; thus, when the taste of the holy name awakens, person gets happiness from the very chanting.

Scripture studing and preaching are also the holy name and chanting of the holy name. In a sense, it can be said that the conscientious study of the scripture this is a non-offensive chanting because the scripture, as the holy name, contains the complete instruction for achieving perfection. Lord Caitanya once called Himself as a fool who could not understand scripture. He did this to teach by His example impersonalists who were immersed in the theoretical study of Vedanta. However, Lord Caitanya perfectly knew all spiritual science and He was engaged in preaching almost constantly. Even the years of His renunciation in Nīlācala, Jagannātha Purī, He still was preaching, giving an example of the exaltation of spiritual emotions.

Thus the main processes of devotional service are listening and chanting; that means, first hearing, reading, studying the scriptures, and then repeating what you have heard for others or discussing it. This also includes chanting of the holy name but, on the contrary, here is chanting first, and then listening. And the next process is remembering. Remembering is sometimes considered to a main processes, sometimes not, but remembering can be self-sufficient and in some cases person can achieve perfection only by remembering God. When person attains direct awareness of God (sambhoga), he becomes free from following rules and regulations because thus he will be completely absorbed in spiritual relationships. However, from the point of view of a spiritual development, he needs to continue his training. Also, in most cases, he needs to hide his relationship and continue to help beginners in the spiritual life. A pure devotee in the mood of Lord Caitanya "never attains" a personal relationship with God, so his constant efforts to improve himself are automatically implied.

TEXT 47

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.

PURPORT
So, person should not stop activity, but give up his attachment to its results. Sometimes we do something and success comes, sometimes failure comes - we should try not to be influenced by such things. This is necessary to make mind balanced, it is easier for person to develop spiritually in an even consciousness. The same will be achieved when person is engaged in positive spiritual activities: when he is absorbed in spiritual activities, some material vicissitudes cease to interest him. Person rises above the matter in devotional service and attains the stage of active samādhi (the highest spiritual uplift). It may be difficult to understand theoretically, but in this case the human mind stops in the flow of spiritual happiness. A devotee who has attained this state is outwardly engaged in daily activities, he can behave like an ordinary materialist, nevertheless, his mind is fixed at one point and stops wandering. Elsewhere it is called "buddhi-yoga" - the yoga of the spiritual intelligence.

Devotional service is divided into two sections - bhāgavata-vidhi and pāñcarātrika-vidhi. The bhāgavata way is hearing and chanting, and pāñcarātrika is temple worship. Bhāgavata is the main process and pāñcarātrika is secondary. Karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, pāñcarātrika, and varṇāśrama - all these are the support of the main method, and they will not give a significant effect by themselves. Śrīla Prabhupāda introduced some minor elements against the background of active preaching; when the preacher does not create a new preacher, temple worship declines. Despite the terms, these provisions apply to any of religions, and accordingly, this whole picture can be seen everywhere. Perhaps in the West or in India thousands of people visit temples, but this religiosity is cosmetic in nature, and we practically see how the age of Kali becomes stronger from year to year. Of course, perhaps such a temple is better than no temple at all, and some religious holidays (pāñcarātrika) give some piety to the world, but in general, opening a temple and collecting money for food or lecturing for the entertainment of the public is not the purpose of preaching.

TEXT 48

Be steadfast in yoga, O Arjuna. Perform your duty and abandon all attachment to success or failure. Such evenness of mind is called yoga.

PURPORT
The best thing is to follow God's instructions about preaching and devote your life to it. All other activities are temporary anyway, there is little happiness in it. When a person preaches, God is always with him; so, whether victory comes or defeat comes, the devotee is satisfied because God is always with him in both cases. God can also test us and because He is perfect in everything, testing can be not easy. There is no better happiness in the world than spiritual life - our eternal holiday, and there is nothing more difficult in the world when God tests us and wants us to become stronger and more mature. Spiritual life is absolute, therefore it can sometimes be paradoxical - when great happiness is associated with great difficulties. It is impossible to develop mechanically in spiritual life - mechanically chanting a prayer or mechanically attend service in the temple. Similary person not be able to preach mechanically - one always has to think a lot and manifests more and more intelligence. At the beginning God gives us a doable task, but with the devotee's development, He increases it in volume or changes its quality and goals. At the beginning God gives us a doable task, but with the devotee's development, He increases it in volume or changes its quality and goals. In fact, all yoga, or religion, is aimed at gaining such a connection with God.

TEXT 49

O Dhanañjaya, rid yourself of all fruitive activities by devotional service, and surrender fully to that consciousness. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.

PURPORT
Here Kṛṣṇa speaks of the ultimate goal of all yoga – a surrendering oneself to God. Further He will describe all the yoga systems and such knowledge is certainly useful, however, when person surrenders himself to God, follows His instructions, he, passing through many, many stages of yoga, rises to the very top. At the bedding, when I read such statements, this did not seem plausible. In my understanding, jñāna-yoga or mystical yoga looked somehow more solid, but the answer is that God stays behind everything, that's why outwardly somewhat naive method of bhakti-yoga is so powerful. It can be given an analogy to illustrate this situation. For example, a man develops his own enterprise, purchases equipment, hires staff, he delves into all the details of production, and completely absorbed in all this things. But then fate brings him to the President of the country; one way or another, the owner of the enterprise becomes sympathetic as a specialist to the President, and the President gives him to manage similar enterprises throughout the country. Thus, instantly a person becomes the manager of hundreds of enterprises.

A miser wants everything only for himself. Such individualism greatly limits him and deprives him of a free open life. A person who is always calculating something in his favor, loses true friendship and love as well, because he will have only calculation everywhere. People are ready to do something for themselves all days long: they earn money for their own apartments or build cottages, watch movies about love or adventure, about animals and aborigines in Africa, walk in parks, like to pet a dog; but when it comes to God, their faces immediately turn sour or they say they don't have time.

On the one hand, they can be understood - religion has been made a social outcast, religion is remembered either at the cemetery or at a holiday once or twice a year. Also, when people see, for example, a well-groomed priest driving a very expensive car, they naturally have bad thoughts.

On the other hand, they are not interested in God because they want to be God themselves. Almost everyone wants to become a God in the material world, but they just do not have the power to do it. If a girl is beautiful, she wants to be the most beautiful; if a person is rich, he still continues to earn money because his goal is to become even richer and become the richest.
God is also rich, but such people do not want to know about God's wealth; they look at earth's rich people with much more pleasure because their goal is to become the same. They are envious of God, so they dislike topics about God. In fact, they are not even inspired by the prospect of spiritual wealth or spiritual beauty. All this comes from narrow stingy thinking; they, having outlived their age, go to the animal forms of life where they can get for free family, food, and free love without much hassle, unlike how it usually common with people.

[Jayanti]

TEXT 50

A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad actions even in this life. Therefore strive for yoga, O Arjuna, which is the art of all work.

PURPORT
Both good and bad actions bind a person. Good actions produce good fruit, bad actions produce bad fruit, but both are unfavorable in the highest sense. The methods of jñāna and mystic yoga are aimed at purifying the body and mind in order to manifest the eternal nature of the soul; but the soul is a part of God, and if person direct his attention to God, purification, or liberation, comes automatically. In devotional service to God, liberation (salvation for Christians) is a by-product of love for God. The one who has realized himself and God is truly the richest person in the world, and from this moment his happiness knows no bounds.

TEXT 51

The wise, engaged in devotional service, take refuge in the Lord, and free themselves from the cycle of birth and death by renouncing the fruits of action in the material world. In this way they can attain that state beyond all miseries.

PURPORT
People are mostly not interested in liberation. Humanity is fascinated by scientific and technological progress, and the prospect of its own material development. And, although the living conditions in the world, relationships between people, material wealth are getting worse, the influence of ignorance is such that person thinks everything is developing. Ignorance is also characterized by the fact that everything is the opposite in it - the bad seems to be good, and the good seems to be bad. Since God is omnipotent there are no sufferings or imperfections in the spiritual world; so, where do they come from here? The soul is insignificant and makes mistakes, that is why he suffers. Theoretically, the soul's unerring activity can lead he to a serene life in the material world for millions of years, which to some extent is embodied in the paradise life. The soul is born in paradise if he acted well and deserved it, and he falls down due to his own activity too. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." In the paradise there is a high level of comfort and profusion, so, those who living there are happy, benevolent, they have many talents and material happiness; but even such a life is temporary and accordingly, cannot be considered happy.

Because the life of modern people is very stressful and they have little intelligence and spiritual inclinations, then the method of spiritual development is simplified as much as possible - simply by chanting the holy name one can achieve liberation. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Chanting the holy name is very powerful process and a chanter, for example, can easily attain the level of Brahman, whereas jñānīs and yogīs spend their whole lives for this. But, of course, Brahman (the radiance emanating from the body of God, the majesty of Eternity) is just a reflection of the holy name.

TEXT 52

When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.

PURPORT
A wonderful verse - knowing the truth and all the way to it or having come into contact with God, a person loses interest to all other things. God is much higher than material phenomena, so whatever such a person may hear, he is simply not interested in it. Everything is the same in the material world, material world is boring that's why materialists constantly come up with something to variegated their lives. In the end, without getting even a minimal amount of happiness, they drink alcohol in order to at least chemically bring some kind of feeling of happiness into themselves. As for the transcendentalists: devotees lose interest in jñāna and mystic powers both their own and others. There are many people in the world with superhearing or supervisibility, when a person hears other people's thoughts or can see the past or future, but those who are spiritually advanced are not impressed.

TEXT 53

When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the Divine consciousness.

PURPORT
“To be fixed in the trance of self-realization” is to constantly feel happiness, spiritual uplift; this is already feels like Eternity and real happiness. The Vedas are very extensive and contain many sections for many categories of people. This is usually what happens: a person opens the scripture and when he read something that he likes, he takes it into his life as a guide. This is probably the rule for all beginners - to choose a favorite point of scripture. Then a second, third point is added to that first; then there come points that person does not like, but he already agrees with them because his understanding deepens; and so on until the person understands everything completely. The point described in this verse means that a person has reached a state, where he understands that all sections of the Vedas are meant for realizing his true self. When one realizes himself, he loses interest in all preliminary practice.

When a person realizes Brahman, he also loses interest in fruitive activities, in the growth of his welfare. Further, if he understands the Supersoul, he loses interest in brahmanism because the greatness of God is far greater than the impersonal Brahman. The Brahman happiness easily surpasses material happiness because Brahman is eternal. Why does a person who has eternal happiness, need materialism - the shards of broken glass? But the greatness of God is far greater than the brahma-bhūta, the great Eternity; and personal relationship with God is superior to the greatness of God because it is full of love and close relationships.

[Jayanti]

TEXT 54

Arjuna said: What are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in Transcendence? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk?

PURPORT
A person with divine consciousness always speaks about God. For those who are spiritually advanced, preaching is a natural state because God is the object of all their feelings. However, this does not mean that one should always speak directly about God, one should only say what others can understand. One should not talk about God to those who do not accept such words as a value because it is an insult. The peaching is more often about the material world, about fate, about some yoga methods, about the greatness of God. The preaching of knowledge about the material world, from the point of view of the scripture, is also spiritual preaching about God. Therefore, year after year the preacher usually says some preliminary principles because this is relevant for the spiritual development of the vast majority of people.

Personal relationships with God are usually not talked about at all: firstly, because only few people will appreciate and understand it properly; secondly, because if we start to say such things, then others, out of envy or out of stupidity, will begin to invent that they also have such relationships; thirdly, because personal relationships may differ from the examples of relationships that we read in the scriptures, and if people listen to such descriptions, it may create chaos in their heads. Well, and fourthly, because we have a completely different spiritual goal, and while we are in the material world, other things are extremely important to us. A spiritual master can return a disciple to the spiritual world, but the guru has a lot of other things to do here, so even those who have returned, are trained to help in the mission. And therefore such disciple, happily perceiving the spiritual nature, mainly engaged in a preaching work; this is mean he remains a servant, as Śrīla Prabhupāda writes about.

A spiritual master brings his disciples back to their personal rasas, and the idea that rasa of the disciple and rasa of the guru should be the same is fiction. Guru and disciple may be of different rasas and this situation does not create any problems. Also the idea that the guru raises everyone to his own rasa is wrong. For example, to a disciple from the servant rasa other moods are simply not natural, moreover, all spiritual moods are absolute and they are all absolutely attractive. Yes, it is possible to raise a disciple to a higher rasa, but there is no special need for this either for the spiritual master or for the disciple. If we are going to raise someone higher, then raise to the highest level - to the vipralambha-bhāva of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but we already are busy with this.

TEXT 55

The Blessed Lord said: O Pārtha, when a man gives up all varieties of sense desire which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness.

PURPORT
Purification of desires occurs as follows: when we are engaged in positive spiritual activities, there is simply no place for negative activities. Sometimes we can restrain, slow down some desires, this is a help; but it can not be the main method, and this way it is impossible to get rid of desires or suppress them. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says here: "... when his mind finds satisfaction in the [eternal] self alone", or in other words: if he fixates in the positive, everything else goes away, disappears.

In some cases externally it may seems that spiritually advanced people are not free from desires, but in such situation some deviations are not considered seriously. So, basically it is not so important how pure or unpure someone is, it is important how busy person in the mission and what is his spiritual understanding. Also material desires or inclinations can be simply used for God. For example, if a man is inclined to communication with girls, he can preach to them. In this case the minus sign turns into a plus sign. If a person really has a priority on God, then everything will go in a positive way; but if a person has a priority on materialism and he justifies himself by referring to the scripture, then this will not help him. In any case, whether there is material desires or not, one can chant the holy name and correctly preach according to one's level. "Akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā."

TEXT 56

One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.

PURPORT
The entire Bhagavad-gītā is important for devotees or the faithful of all levels because in the material world it will be difficult to maintain spiritual consciousness and actively preach without a certain steadfastness. Ideally, the less a person falls under the influence of material duality the more effective he will be. Because devotees are engaged in preaching, they look more active or even emotional than calm. Nevertheless, they are imperturbable because they are not affected by the duality of the material world, fame, and dishonor; they are not looking for honor, they are looking for how to tell others about God. When a person preaches, he will inevitably face both neglect and insults, he may also meet the glorification of himself - all this becomes habitual over time; the faithful does not pay attention to either the first or the second, but he gives all the glory to God because he understands well his own position. In some ways, insults are even favorable because they allow person to keep in good shape and, just like criticism, it always carries information about the thoughts of a particular person or about public opinion, which can be used for preaching.

Materialists and materialistic leaders do not like to preach (and as ye go, preach and they persecute you), they prefer when they are only glorified, so they try to take a higher position in society and prohibit all kinds of criticism. This is a bit funny because this is how they drown themselves deservedly getting a lot of problems, losing their qualifications, and connection with reality. Almost any church this is a such type priest (guru) surrounded by “loving” him admirers, but those who do not love him will be quickly put in their place or harrassed. That is why the preaching of such priests and gurus is greatly disconnected from life and ineffective. There is no sin in gathering followers around oneself, but one need to look at the world in a more appropriate way.

Being in this position, they become very inert and helpless, and they receive a hail of reactions from the people they teach. They try to avoid problems falling on them while continuing to occupy a high position, but in this case it is impossible to get rid of reactions; it is necessary either to leave the post or to conduct a real preach. When any person puts himself above others, he automatically receives part of the bad fate of these people. This rule is clearly valid even in the material world, for example, if someone is a boss, he receives part of the sins of his subordinates. The same even more take place in a spiritual organization: any post implies responsibility, so as soon as a person has taken any position, even if only in words, responsibility comes – God sees everything as it is, and not as someone wants to represent for himself or for Him.

If a person says, "I keep a vow of celibacy," and does not keep such a vow, he will be responsible for it. It is impossible to deceive God, and constantly deceiving a person collects a lot of problems on his head. The material world is created just for those who want to deceive, this is not news; however, the law of justice is established here and it is established not by us, we are only describe the situation.

However, there will be no reactions when a person really acts for God. Actually the first half of the second chapter explains this situation. We take on some business because God wants it, but not out of our own selfish interests, we understand that all this is His property and we are not trying to appropriate a single penny from there; we understand that we are responsible to Him and to the people whom He has entrusted to us, and we do everything conscientiously, using all our intelligence. And without using of all intelligence nothing will work at all - there will always be a sect or sectarian thinking and activity at the end. If we accept everything by virtue of God's desire, then there are no personal motives, and therefore also no attachment, and there is no reaction for the same reason. Being in such a consciousness, person can perform activities in huge volumes and not experience any worries because this is not his idea and not his property. But when a person uses a scripture or position in religion for himself, he will consciously or unconsciously get bogged down in the reactions very thoroughly. In general, it is better not to touch the property of God or a pure devotee; all such things happen out of stupidity and from the desire for personal glory, from ignorance, and the desire for senseless comfort.

Another important point in this verse is freedom from fear. Timid or suspicious people often experience a lot of anxiety and fear of doing something wrong, such anxiety and fear are also undesirable in spiritual life. A person cannot lose or gain everything only by one act; spiritual life is painstaking daily work, purification takes years, intelligence develops over the years - this is a long way and one can calmly practice. Everyone here is sinful to varying degrees. Actually people do not even remotely understand what they are sinful in and how much, thay will found out later. As for an anger: it can be used in some cases in preaching, directing it to the materialists - anger is a good thing in this sense. Of course, one shouldn't be constantly angry, but sometimes it happens.

TEXT 57

He who is without attachment, who does not rejoice when he obtains good, nor lament when he obtains evil, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge.

PURPORT
When a devotee acts for God, he is not attached to the result, although, in fact our result is the spread of knowledge, we do not really need money or any other acquisitions. So what a bad result could be in this situation? The result is always good. Whether someone like it or not, he somehow came into contact with God, so the result is always positive. Perfect knowledge is when a person can see God in everything - in politics, in economics, in any area of life - these all are really His creation.

[Jayanti]

TEXT 58

One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws his limbs within the shell, is to be understood as truly situated in knowledge.

PURPORT
When a person preaches, sensual objects no longer touch him, he does not come into contact with it because the spiritual uplift exceeds the material temptations. Bhakti-yoga method is overwhelmingly positive and mostly does not require mechanical control of senses, although some kind of mechanical control or limitation is useful as an addition. Or another variant: when the faithful uses everything for God, in this case everything also acquires a positive character. Mystical yoga method is that person takes the senses away from objects, and thus gradually feels his spiritual nature. Mystic yoga is like the filigree grinding of a detail, while devotional service is like the blow of a hammer that immediately removes all unwanted things. Although mystical yoga is not recommended for this time, nevertheless any effort in the spiritual direction is always favorable.

TEXT 59

The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.

PURPORT
Since a devotee is completely occupied with the problems of God, he does not have much time for anything else and has no interest in everything else. Just like as the owner of an enterprise is engaged in business activities and engrossed in them, a devotee is engaged in the philosophy and practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And since the preaching of the spiritual message is quite a difficult task, the preacher does not need to additionally engage in one or another control of himself. God is magnificent, the spiritual life is full of dynamic – all this is exciting and engrossing. Such a devotee is not too care about his own health or family, but because he is trying for the Supreme Personality, all his secondary activities are going well and he does not need to waste time on them. Materialists in religion and outside of religion are mainly busy with their own problems, constantly enduring difficulties and failures in them. Such people have no understanding of the power of God, therefore their life is very dull and stingy in all respects. Many of the materialists, including outwardly religious materialists, do not like devotees because they secretly envy their real freedom and happiness; this envy is a reflection of their envy of God.

TEXT 60

The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.

PURPORT
Brahmanas, priests, monks, sannyāsīis, hermits, those who practice mystic yoga, and others need perfect control of the senses, according to their status. However, for example, Arjuna is a warrior and Kṛṣṇa does not require him to perform any ascetic feats, on the contrary, He tells him: "Fight for Me," that means do your usual work, but for God. Kṛṣṇa does not tell Arjuna to start fulfilling any vows, God does not demand anything impossible from him; similarly, in most cases, the impossible is not required from others. The secret is that by doing work for God, one is elevated spiritually, and thus the senses automatically become engaged and satisfied.

In fact, neither sannyāsa (monasticism) nor smārta-brahmanism (scrupulous observance of all rituals) are required as such. Monasticism in the form of withdrawal from the world, both in Vaishnavism and in Christianity, is a side path. Jesus Christ never called to renounce, on the contrary, He called to go into the world, so such monasticism is artificial, and in general there is no particular need for it. The same applies to the practice of solitary bābājī (constantly chanting the Holy name). All this is a sign of weakness, not spiritual development. When a person is a materialist, it seems to him that the main method is a mechanical exit from the world. "Left the world" and consequently became outside of materialism" – this is naive logic, and so it is not possible to solve problems, either personal or social. Arjuna tries to do the same on the battlefield, but God does not recommend doing this anywhere, and in most cases such renunciation will end in a fall.

Any religion encourages people to limit themselves in sensual life: in meat-eating, in illegal sexual relations, in gambling, fraud and in taking intoxication. However, without fulfilling the main condition - knowledge of God and love for God - all these restrictions do not play a significant role, since they are secondary. However, as we develop spiritually, we should also try to follow these restrictions and, despite possible deviations, we should still continue our spiritual practice.

As far as Sannyas is concerned, a person can accept the status of a sannyāsī in order to increase the time for preaching in the world. No family, no children, no personal money - all this makes a person easy-going. In the other case, there is no special need for sannyas, just as there is no need for artificial control of the senses – what would such control do? The jñānīs and yogis control the sexual impulse all their lives, and in the end they may become aware of Brahman (the Holy Spirit) or the Supersoul. When a devotee goes out on the street with a sermon, with books, the same thing and much more a devotee will receive much faster, and it will be easier to control himself than being in solitude, when a person is in one place fighting off his own desires, so that in the end, at best he will only get personal liberation. If a person preaches widely, he benefits many people, and the grace of God is easily poured on him. This is how he gets liberation himself and helps others get liberated, this is what the Bible and the Bhagavad-gītā talk about.

We have many examples of famous Christian monks, but their asceticism did not bring understanding to the Church.
If you read the New Testament, there is no indication of such a life, so when a person does not follow the instructions of Jesus Christ, the result is small. Of course, the asceticism of these monks inspires people to spiritual life, or monasteries often become historical centers of preaching, but as I have already written, following the instructions of Christ would give much greater fruit. The monks assiduously controlled their feelings, but due to a lack of understanding, the church weakened and almost the entire western society became atheistic. In the end, from idleness, some monks gave rise to many materialistic sciences.

TEXT 61

One who restrains his senses and fixes his consciousness upon Me is known as a man of steady intelligence.

PURPORT
One way or another, any type of renunciation must lead to the knowledge of God and the development of love for Him. When a person perceives God, love for Him arises naturally. In fact, whoever perceives God cannot avoid loveing Him; but people have gone to the material world so as not to see Him and not know anything about Him, they even distort religion, removing comprehension from there in order to close themselves off from God again. Therefore, in order to return to God, we need to make efforts and do regular practice by studying the holy scriptures, chanting the holy name of God, and fulfilling the instructions of God given in the holy scripture. At first, a person makes efforts to this, but if he is lucky and he reaches spontaneous love, then all this will happen naturally. However, those who have achieved spontaneous love cannot help but preach, they will not remain silent looking at this dying world, and they will not be able to remain silent from the feelings for God that overwhelm them.

[Jayanti]

TEXT 62

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.

PURPORT
Kṛṣṇa says "contemplating" here, and Śrīla Prabhupāda tactfully makes it clear in the commentary that this is about sexual attachment. The sexual nature of a man and a woman is different: a man is agitated by the appearance of a girl, and for a girl are important attention and comfort. The desire for comfort is basically a women's nature, and since the world now is dominated by women more and more, comfort and convenience have come to the fore. Men love to contemplate women, and women love to contemplate themselves, they instinctively crave attention from men, so girls spend a lot of effort and money on their appearance.
Lust is not only sexual desire, lust is any type of pleasure that a person wants to get for himself. In general, everything that a person does for his personal happiness or the happiness of his loved ones, all this is included in the concept of lust. Individual egoism grows to the egoism of the family and further to the egoism of the nation and humanity, and since the egoistic happiness of one person always contradicts the egoism of everyone else, the world is filled with discord. So, lust turns into anger, people quarrel: they fight in families and fight at the state level, because everyone wants to defend their interests.

However, the solution to the problem is not to sign peace treaties or persuade each other to be compliant, but to create a God-centered society. God is the only object of universal love, and God is the only case when the interests of each and every one can be harmonious with each other. God is also the owner of this universe, and all world processes can become favorable when society gives its due to Him. In the highest sense, God does not need anything, but He is somewhat concerned for us that we are in such an unpleasant situation. Giving Him our recognition and respect is not only polite, but also consistent with the general state of affairs. Although He does not need anything, we urgently need it, both individually and as a whole society. There is nothing shameful to express our recognition and our love to Him because we are souls dear to Him.

Sometimes people say that there are many religions, but they are of little use, or that religions themselves wage religious wars and strife. On the one hand, this is true, religions are often too materialistic; on the other hand, look how the level of wars and violence has grown in the modern world, when states one after another become secular, and religion is weakening. Even a useless religion unites people beyond nationalities and other criteria, and even a weak religion restrains society from streams of desire which will inevitably develop into conflicts.

TEXT 63

From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool.

PURPORT
This refers to spiritual memory, or at least common sense. For example, any sane person understands that death is inevitable, so it is simply stupid to spend whole life on material arrangement. But when a person is consumed by the pursuit of personal happiness, and especially when he seized by anxiety, irritation or anger, in this case he loses the ability to think sanely, or loses his mind. Such a person, absorbed by false aspirations, leads an active material life and remains under the influence of matter.

TEXT 64

One who can control his senses by practicing the regulated principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord and thus become free from all attachment and aversion.

PURPORT
Whether a person can control his feelings or not, he should always strive to do so. When a person can control his feelings, he is exalted and receives the grace of God; when a person cannot control his feelings, but repents and regrets it, through such feelings of repentance he also develops spiritually and can also receive God's blessing. Since only few people can control their feelings, or people control their feelings for the sake of control itself or for the sake of some benefits, then everyone should have an element of remorse and worries, otherwise a person does something wrong. Perfect brahmavādis and those who have attained God in greatness should understand that there are even higher realms of spiritual existence, so there is no need to be complacent.

TEXT 65

For one who is so situated in the Divine consciousness, the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such a happy state, one's intelligence soon becomes steady.

PURPORT
Love for God is very natural, it is similar to how we love our children or how we love our parents, only the feelings for God are endless. The love of God is unbroken; if God is our Father, then he is our eternal Father, and once we have restored our relationship with Him, we will never be apart and never grieve. God is always in His Kingdom where there are an infinite number of planets. God is attractive - all-attractive - and His world is full of flowers and happiness, and the mountains are made of spiritual gold, and the roads are made of precious stones. Why there are gold or jewelry? It's just beautiful. Of course, there it has no price, since there are no prices at all because of the unlimited existence. A world where there are an infinite number of life forms and no aggression, where there are majestic palaces and huts of saints, where residents move on ships and can fly without ships. There is also food, but it does not exist for the maintenance of the body but simply for pleasure.

Because God is happy, everything there radiates kindness and happiness. He creates living beings to have someone to travel with, communicate with, live with, and be happy together. And just as a young Prince sometimes wants to play with other children without royal honors, so God sometimes does not manifest Himself in the role of God, and enged in interesting things, He "forgets" that He is God. Certainly, there are also His manifestations of power, and infinite planets where He rules as a Lord in an infinite number of His own forms, while He is remaining the One, indivisible, remaining one Person, the Absolute. All the planets have their own style, like it is here. As I already wrote, somewhere everything is mostly made of gold, on other planets everything is mostly made of precious stones. Where there is a lot of gold, plants can also be gold, and, for example, on the emerald planet emerald trees grow. Where there is a lot of gold, plants can also be gold, and, for example, on the emerald planet emerald trees grow. There are planets where there are a lot of wheat or some other plants, there are planets where there is little vegetation, or planets where there are a lot of clouds, and everything consists of clouds.

God is everything, therefore He manifests all varieties of qualities. Here, on Earth, we basically see the same thing: wherever we look - in the air, in water, on land - there are huge variety of forms and types of life; and there also is the same, but in an even larger scale; the fundamental difference is the fact that everything is temporary here, but everything is eternal there.

I understand that some people will say that this is fairy tale, but all these are desires of people – after all, doesn't everyone wants to be unlimited in anything? Neither in time, nor in space, nor in power, nor in knowledge, nor in wealth? Isn't that what we do here day and night? If there are no spiritual world and its wonders, then why is everyone looking for all of that here? Why are jewels so expensive and why do we make so many mechanisms, often putting ourselves at risk? Why people, trying to find or create all of these here, are deny the reality of the existence of what they are strive for? Everyone strives for this because it is natural - freedom, beauty, and happiness are natural for the soul. And is it wise to reject the diversity of the spiritual world, seeing the diversity of the material world?

[Jayanti]

TEXT 66

One who is not in transcendental consciousness can have neither a controlled mind nor steady intelligence, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?

PURPORT by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:
Unless one is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no possibility of peace. So it is confirmed in the Fifth Chapter (5.29) that when one understands that Kṛṣṇa is the only enjoyer of all the good results of sacrifice and penance, and that He is the proprietor of all universal manifestations, that He is the real friend of all living entities, then only can one have real peace. Therefore, if one is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there cannot be a final goal for the mind. Disturbance is due to want of an ultimate goal, and when one is certain that Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer, proprietor and friend of everyone and everything, then one can, with a steady mind, bring about peace. Therefore, one who is engaged without a relationship with Kṛṣṇa is certainly always in distress and is without peace, however much one may make a show of peace and spiritual advancement in life. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a self-manifested peaceful condition which can be achieved only in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

TEXT 67

As a boat on the water is swept away by a strong wind, even one of the senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man's intelligence.

PURPORT
In many verses God actually explains how difficult it is to restrain feelings mechanically. Why do people often take the harder path and avoid the easier one? Why is recluse or mystical yoga popular? The answer is that there is simply more selfishness in such things, so it looks more interesting from our materialistic position. People find it attractive to leave all the worries and troubles, retire and "completely purely" to serve God. So they rather poetise themselves than God. However, leaving some concerns, they fall into other concerns and work in the same way, but already at the temple or monastery. It must be said to the credit of Christians that they openly advise no one to do this, and this is true, firstly, since it is difficult to work almost without any remuneration, and secondly, problems are added due to the fact that a person is deprived of the habitual setting. Such a life develops outward humility, but in general does not correspond to true humility, since true humility is following the instructions of Jesus Christ and preaching to the world, as He said, "on the roofs." Notice, He doesn't even say to preach in temples, no, "on the roofs" - in crowded places.

And how great is the difference between His instructions and what happens - it's just the opposite. Why? Because from the material point of view, monasticism and hermitism are more attractive. Paradoxically, but monastics retain more of the worldly in themselves than if they went out to preach. When one simply chant the holy name, there is no need for knowledge, there is no need to think about others - "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." A person from beginning to end is busy with himself, and he is busy not even with the desire to love God, but with his personal salvation. I understand that they will object to me that monks pray for the whole world, for all sinners, but to return to God or not is an individual decision, and until a person himself makes such a decision and starts acting accordingly, his chances of rising are very small. Jesus Christ does not said anywhere that He will save everyone in a row, He sets a number of conditions and also gives instructions for action. Therefore, to receive the blessings of Jesus Christ, one must follow His teachings. The same applies to Vaishnavism – Vaishnavas are also monks or serve in temples, and have all the same motives. And we have one God, and the deviations are the same all over the world.

The situation is approximately the same for those who retire in a hermit, but their load is even greater, because through spiritual practice feelings are purified and become strong and, of course, it becomes more difficult to restrain them without having any communication. In general, the classic retirement to a hermit (vānaprastha - forest life) should be gradual and in old age. Then, after many years of such practice, the hermit must return to the world and become an itinerant preacher. Everyone used to do that. In the present age, the age of Kali, this practice is prohibited for widespread use.

Therefore, such practices are difficult, they do not recommended by the scripture, do not correspond to the basic instruction, but this kind of renunciation also exists. Well, those who are weak, materialistic, or not humble may try to continue this.

I would also like to say about women's monasteries. The general idea is that if a girl has some kind of opportunity to marry a good man or just live in the world, then it is better to stay in the world. Ideally, all women should be married, and if there are not enough men, then some men may take several wives under their own responsibility. Polygamy is a natural system and does not contradict any of the world's scriptures. Having several wives for a man is not an increase in sensual happiness, but rather a greater burden on him. However, polygamous marriage has its positive aspects: if the relationship in the family is good, such a marriage will be two or three times stronger than an ordinary couple, girls can also be well purified, plus the position of a man will be more stable when he is supported by several wives, rather than one. But marriage is a very individual matter, so it is rather a description of the desired, but how it will be in reality - for everyone in different ways. One way or another, now almost everyone lives in polygamous families, but in the form of divorces and betrayals, therefore, it is better to have several wives than to divorce, abandon children or cheat. This is all written about the position and well-being of women.

TEXT 68

Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence.

TEXT 69

What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.

PURPORT
God, devotional service, and spiritual life are always in opposition to the entire material world. If people's desire is their personal happiness, then our desire is God's happiness. In the material world everyone strives to acquire as much material property as possible, while the transcendentalist, on the contrary, tries to get rid of unnecessary property. In the material world people want to have everything in their possession, they reject God, they declare that he does not exist, that everything was created by chance and therefore everything is the property of humanity, that in progressive development they will gradually become gods and take over the entire universe. At the same time, devotees, or the faithful, say that everything is God's property and everything belongs to Him. Therefore, preaching always goes in opposition to the material world. If religion begins to win somewhere, then materialism tries to strongly resist its strengthening, in every possible way leveling religion and knowledge about God, since this is the main idea and function of materialism, or Satan.

[Jayanti]

TEXT 70

A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.

PURPORT
The highest emotions of spiritual life are the mood of separation of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Lord Caitanya came to this age of Kali to teach everyone knowledge, love, and chanting of the holy names. For more than half of His life, He preached and traveled, and then, in renunciation, He lived on the shore of the ocean. The ocean is a huge mass of water, just as the mood of pure love, it is deep and unshakable, it can neither be changed nor moved. There are huge currents inside the ocean - these are various emotions of love for God - but outwardly the ocean is still motionless. Sometimes a storm breaks out on the ocean and gigantic waves roll over it, just like the feelings a devotee has for God. Sometimes it is even despair, but still it is the highest love, the peak of love. The rivers flow into the ocean are all the devotees who have come to share this feeling, and there are so many of them that they also resemble the ocean. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's love.

TEXT 71

A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego—he alone can attain real peace.

PURPORT
At the beginning, we have no particular desire to serve God. In general, the idea of service in the material world is not popular, everyone wants, on the contrary, to dominate, and to be served and honored. There is a constant struggle for the struggle for supremacy in all spheres of life, and when we talk about service, from the point of view of materialists it looks like something pathetic. What service if he is already almost God? Here he has a car, an apartment, and a lot of money and connections. However, everyone in the material world is forced to serve, from the worker to the president. Working and serving for a long time, sometimes a person can afford to relax and temporarily take the position of enjoyer, "master" for others. Since the position of the master is unnatural for the soul, then in order to maintain this position, a lot of effort and money is spent, and still the person inevitably falls and loses everything. The soul cannot dominate, and the sooner a person understands this, the less consequences of such "domination" he will receive.

Therefore, at the beginning we have no any desire, and God for us is something distant and hazy. Then a person develops knowledge; and by developing knowledge the feelings of a person are increasingly directed towards God and become stronger. Then the devotee realizes the greatness of God - now God is no longer some unknown principle for him, the devotee begins to admire Him and, accordingly, forgets about himself; further the devotees' understanding of God and emotions towards God become even stronger. Sometimes a beginner devotee rises to the stage of God consciousness very quickly (I am writing this to show what the power and greatness of the holy name is), but then he will still go through all the necessary phases of the spiritual path, since skills in this area are still needed. It will also be relevant the Bhagavad-gītā or other scriptures that emphasize the knowledge of the greatness of God; moreover, the knowledge of the greatness will be much more relevant for him than knowledge about rasas (knowledge about relationships with God and examples of these relationships), since such a devotee does not need rasa training. The science of rasas is a some academic summary and a perfect spiritual example for everyone. In some cases, this is an aid in meditation. Personal relationships are personal, and no scripture regulates this area, and it is impossible to regulate them in any way. I write this as some remark towards the "rasikas", that for those who are already in spontaneous relationships, the writings of this topic are practically irrelevant, while the Gītā is in demand in any of the phases of spiritual life.

Thus, whether one has risen quickly or slowly, the process of learning is always necessary and one must tune in for years and decades; and then when the devotee sees the truth of the process, he calms down and finds satisfaction in the gradual cultivation of knowledge. Also, realizing himself and God, a person, accordingly, becomes indifferent to sensual life.

TEXT 72

That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered. Being so situated, even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God.

PURPORT
In the purport to this verse Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: "One can attain Kṛṣṇa consciousness or divine life at once, within a second-or one may not attain such a state of life even after millions of births. It is only a matter of understanding and accepting the fact."

Thus one should devote one's entire life to the study of spiritual science, and also devote all one's activities to God, and then person will become truly happy. Whether we achieve spiritual development quickly or slowly, there is no other way. The faithful must learn patience and firmness - these are important qualities from all points of view. Although the principle of karma-yoga looks like a preliminary one, it is actually a very important principle and one of the main ones, since striving for fruits is in fact the main contamination of the material world. Until a person truly renounces the desire for material results, he will constantly have problems and worries. The best thing is to regulate all activities and relationships so that they go their own way and at least do not interfere.

On the other hand, mostly only preaching can make a significant difference. Pious deeds and a pure life provide some support, but overall they have little effect. A person can observe the principles, profess some kind of Vedism, but this does not occupy his consciousness too much, and by and large, spiritual life is transcendental, including to piety. Of course, piety creates some culture in society, also it gives rise to good fashion, but in general, it does not change much for the person himself and for the whole society. Even assuming that such a life will lead one to liberation, from the point of view of devotional service it is far from spiritual feelings and effective activities.

For example, we can look at countries where intoxication, adultery are prohibited, where criticism of religion is prohibited, where even a high level of material life is all wonderful, but we can ask ourselves: is there a consciousness of God there? Will it possible that they persecute others, infidels, because of such religiosity? Or an example of how it happened with the "righteous" people who were supposed to meet the Messiaḥ, the Jesus Christ, but they killed him instead. Likewise, communities: there are entire cities of Mormons; does their piety change anything in the world? They may have built a whole city and walk around smiling at each other, and even give money for free; but what does it change spiritually for them and for everyone? Won't they have to smile in the material world for another million years? They might be doing it in paradise, but still.

Piety is a dharma, some religious duty; devotional service is much higher, and that is why God gives teachings on the battlefield to emphasize this. He could tell the Gītā anywhere: walking in the surrounding woods or in His palace, He could take any occasion and any situation, but He chose the battle. From the point of view of classical culture, ethics and morals, the place of battle, let's say, is not very suitable for conversations. But, preaching spiritual knowledge, God radically changed the mood of Arjuna, and in the same way preaching radically changes everything in the world and in human life.

[Jayanti]

Chapter 3. Karma-yoga

TEXT 1

Arjuna said: O Janārdana, O Keśava, why do You urge me to engage in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?

PURPORT
Arjuna says that if it is necessary to renounce fruits and develop intelligence, then what is the point of this battle? But renunciation of fruits does not mean renunciation of the activity itself. The same applies to renunciation of the world: such renunciation is not a departure from the world, but a qualitative change in activity and consciousness in the world. Matter is also a hidden spirit, and when we use it for God, it takes on a spiritual quality. However, activities directed by God are even higher. For example, some saint, living in renunciation and trusting in God, becomes spiritualized so much that even his body acquires a spiritual quality and does not succumb to decay; but another saint, preaching at the direction of God, can spiritualize the whole world. Both of these activities are spiritual and glorious, but actions at the direction of God are much higher.

Arjuna is still upset, and he does not yet understand the whole plan of God. Arjuna plays the role of an ordinary person here, so that everyone can be taught by his example. This is the standard situation where people do not understand the difference between renouncing activities and renouncing the fruits of activities. It is necessary to renounce attachment to the results of actions, not to actions. For the average person, religion is always associated with retirement from the world, just as Arjuna here wants to get away from the battle. A person thinks that he will get rid of problems by leaving the whole problem situation, but getting rid of problems is not avoiding them, but using the situation for God. Kṛṣṇa explains these principles to Arjuna in order to later explain to him the even higher principle of devotional service.

TEXT 2

My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively what is most beneficial for me.

TEXT 3

The Blessed Lord said: O sinless Arjuna, I have already explained that there are two classes of men who realize the Self. Some are inclined to understand Him by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others are inclined to know Him by devotional work.

PURPORT
Both analytical study of the world and devotional service to God lead to the same goal - to knowledge of God. Knowing only one's “Self” is a more impersonal position, but we, or our “Self”, are eternal and connected with God. Cognition of one's "Self" is more accessible for beginners, just as the principles of karma-yoga are closer to them. Materialism is popular in the material world, so everything that is closer to matter seems most attractive to people. Therefore, the gradation of spiritual life begins with the most materialistic things such as, for example, some rituals for gaining money, health or family life, temple worship; then there is follows karma-yoga or the dedication of the fruits of work to God; and when a person is to some extent purified of fate (karma), his mind and consciousness become clearer and a craving for knowledge awakens in him, so he passes to the level of jñāna-yoga. People are not inclined to study scripture because of karmic reactions and because of absorption in material activities; this is also the reason for the lack of intelligence. Accordingly, when a person begins to develop knowledge, his knowledge first has a theoretical character, but it already gives him direction in spiritual life. When knowledge becomes mature, a person reaches the level of Eternity, and at this level he understands his difference from the mind and body. A person realizes that his mind and he himself are two different categories, and that the mind itself does not have the necessary quality for spiritual development. However, the mind can be immersed in the spiritual, drowned in it - this will already be the third type of yoga - mystic yoga. Thus, after passing the stage of reflection, the faithful comes to the principle of meditation - concentration on God. If a person is focused (dhyāna) on God, all kinds of knowledge will also be manifested, although ordinary people do not understand how without reflecting one can get knowledge. In such meditation, the person already realizes that God is the essence of everything, that He is present everywhere - this is the realization of the Supersoul; and next comes the awareness of the greatness of God.

In general any religion begins with the point of realizing the greatness of God, however, all the stages described are necessarily present in each of the religions. Sometimes Christians think that meditation is "from Satan", but meditation is a technical term for a state of mind, and for example, their "mental prayer" is a variant of the same meditation. So, Christians and others should finish all such childish behaviour when they declare themselves to be the highest truth and everyone else - "from the devil." Aren't you ashamed of your ignorance? Of course, it is necessary to preserve your own confession; it's not good if people in the confession begin to profess everything, but this is achieved by simpler and more reasonable means. You will not lose anything if you recogniz others as also professing the truth; Hindus recognize Christianity, but their confessions stand as they stood and do not lose anything because of this. Religion is protected by knowledge, intelligence, and not by some demonic ideas that Satan is all around except for ourselves.

Therefore, any person in any religion or outside of religion always follows the same path, and he simply cannot technically develop in another way, this is impossible. Kṛṣṇa describes the one path of religiosity for everyone, and just like all people have hearing, in the same way, the principle of the structure of the body, mind, and intelligence is the same for everyone throughout the universe. Therefore, in order for a person to realize God, he needs to: (1) get rid of the pressure on him from the material situation and fate, (2) begin to develop knowledge, (3) understand that the Holy Spirit, God is everywhere, or realize the greatness of God. Any religion immediately presents us with greatness, but all these points are inevitable in the development and practice of the faithful. Most often the situation is like follows: recognizing the greatness of God to some extent and going to church, a person is mainly busy with his personal problems - this is the standard portrait of a materialist parishioner of any denomination. Accordingly, in order to change the situation, it is necessary to fulfill point number one, but what if there is no knowledge in the denomination and all the priests are at the same level as the parishioners? So it turns out that people look at us and do not want such a religion, and it turns out that there are no reasonable people in religion and that religion is not interesting to anyone.

Thus, the various yoga methods are only stepping stones on the path to devotional service to God. And devotional service, or love of God, is the eternal life and activities of the soul in the spiritual world. Of course, such practice sometimes looks somewhat technical here, or we have to make efforts (sādhana), but in the spiritual world the soul simply lives happily, exchanging feelings with the Supreme Lord or feeling happiness from communicating with Him.

Since in the text of the Bhagavad-gītā there is a twofold spelling of "self" - in the form of a capital letter and in the form of a lowercase letter - let's make some clarification. In texts where the capital "Self" is written, Brahman is meant as a universal global phenomenon. The lowercase "self" more indicates a local personality. Nevertheless, the small "self" of the person is identical to the big "Self" of Brahman, therefore the use of the lowercase or uppercase "Self" depends on the context of the verse or commentary.

TEXT 4

Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection.

PURPORT
Just look how many explanations Kṛṣṇa has given about renunciation. Why? Because every materialist thinks that by mechanically renouncing the world, he will get rid of problems and achieve spiritual perfection. But again it says here: if you just stop acting, the fate will remain the same. One thinks, "I take actions, therefore the consequences come. So, if I stop the activity, there will be no consequences." This is a formal and naive logic, if only because inaction is also an activity, and often the consequences of inaction are quite destructive. Even after the cessation of physical activity, the mind of a person continues to work as before, and going to a forest or monastery, a person seems to leave the world, but he carries with him all his attachments. Practitioners completely stop the mind in mystical yoga, but even this may not always help. Let's read further what God says about this.