Jayanti » 01 янв 2021, 15:25
TEXT 25
I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-māyā]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.
PURPORT
A person can perceive God if he is spiritually developed, for others God will be hidden. Many people saw Kṛṣṇa when He was on earth, but few people understood His position. While we are in the body, we can also see God through knowledge and devotion. When a person sees God through love and sincere, cultivated desire, this is a real vision. Sometimes mystics can rise to the spiritual level, but in the absence of qualification, they may consider the demigods as God or perceive God as one of the demigods. As we have read above, sometimes they may perceive God as an emanation of Brahman.
The Tattvavādī consider Viṣṇu to be God, and Kṛṣṇa is considered only an incarnation of Viṣṇu. God exists mainly in greatness for them; they do not know God in other aspects or consider these aspects as secondary. There are categories of devotees who deify Rādhārāṇī as God, but She is not God and She has no independence. Thus, some direct perception or meditation may not be fruitful without knowledge. Therefore, it is so important that a person goes from the bottom to top, not trying to jump over, to skip something. Such a consistent ascent is very reliable and it is one of the main precepts.
We cannot just fall in love with Kṛṣṇa. This is not so that person comes and he is told, "This is bhakti, one must love." Such approach is materialism, māyā. In the beginning, we have nothing to offer God from this sphere. Some material sentiments are not that love - God does not enjoy material feelings, material bodies. This is not bhakti, this is karma-yoga - the offer of material possessions. Such feelings may be the beginning of devotion, but it would be wrong to think of them as true love for God. There are methods when against the background of a general religious, purifying practice, the faithful mainly cultivate feelings for God, puṣṭi-mārga for example. But the point is not even that this is not our sampradāya - first of all, such methods have their defects, and secondly, the purpose of Lord Caitanya's coming is different.
We need to understand that spiritual life is a science, it is not just a desire to get liberation or spiritual perception in any way. There are many varieties of everything in religion, and when God comes, they all get nourished or sometimes start parallel to the main teaching, which is why knowledge is so important. Knowledge is a guiding thread, the basis of everything; even a theoretical knowledge is. A person should understand why something is so and not in another way, why Kṛṣṇa and not Viṣṇu, for what all the precepts are needed, and so on. There is an answer to all of that, nothing is introduced with no reason. Spiritual life is a science with hundreds and thousands of different contexts - all of these forms the spiritual being, the spiritual world. Love for God is a concrete relationship, a person come back and there will be no more problems in his life; nevertheless, these millions of subtleties form the spiritual world, in some ways it is even greater beauty than direct spiritual beauties.
Therefore, in the beginning, a person must form a theoretical basis of knowledge in his consciousness, which will always guide him. So over time, he will come to the goal. Any feelings directed towards God are good, nevertheless we come to Him when the feelings are sufficiently purified. External purity is good, purity of actions is also good, but inner purity is more important than that, and it is more difficult to achieve it. It is achieved by positive practice, renunciation of the fruits of labor and sensual life, replacing them with devotion to God and the development of knowledge. It is needed "knowledge and following" – "knowledge and feelings". If there is a lot of knowledge and a little following then one need to add following. If there are many feelings and no knowledge then one need to actively study. A person should not do what he likes, but what is prescribed. If a person is weak, he should be helped to become stronger; if a person is arrogant, he should become quieter; quiet persons should not to be timid, but to learn to go forward.
Efforts, sādhana should uplift, make a person purposeful. Even if sādhana is not successful, it must mobilize. So from the arising desire to come to God, from the falls and ascents, out of constancy, and out of impulse, we move higher. God is the highest goal; it is not cheap and not easy; a person must gradually surrender himself, make spiritual life his essence and not just daily duties. A person can develop even if half of everything goes wrong. A lot of things may not work out, but one's desire and efforts are important.
A certain inaccessibility of God makes the goal of reaching God sublime, intensifies the feelings, so there is no need to regret that such inaccessibility exists. The inaccessibility of God makes everything exalted, and the ascent to the top is glorious. This ascent has a taste, it makes everything intense, mature. This entire path is absolute, and at the end we give Him our feelings, bring a blossoming flower with hundreds of shades of our feelings for Him.
When we are concerned materially, our understanding is of the same quality. Spiritual life is not a stall in a store where you have to run and quickly choose a product, and it is not a departing train that you need to have time to jump on. Spiritual life is cultivated, perfected, matured and then we will see God in all His beauty, which is inaccessible to those who are in ignorance, because for ignorant people He is always hidden.
It is also an important point that God speaks here about His creative potency of yoga-māyā. The first context for this statement is that material creation (mahā-māyā) in the highest sense is a part of an even higher energy - yoga-māyā. And the second context is that part of the spiritual world is also created by yoga-māyā and hides the original Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The spiritual creation of yoga-māyā can be achieved only by devotion or love, but love alone is not enough to attain God Himself; and here He says that without intelligence, it is impossible to perceive or see Him.
It is obvious that God contains in Himself an infinite harmony of qualities and if a person does not have intelligence, he has no chance to understand God in His entirety. The answer is that each soul, as an atomic expansion of God, is endowed with sufficient intelligence for gradual development, and the absence of intelligence and bias towards feelings (or dominance of the speculative mind) speaks of the practitioner's impurity. Why does a person have no intelligence? The reason is always the same: absorption in matter or in oneself. Materialists talk about love of God, but look around: the whole creation is filled with laws and harmony. Materialists perceive the love of God as personal sense happiness, and their desire to immerse themselves in love echoes the desire of Māyāvādīs to merge with the happiness of the eternal Brahman. One part of materialists want the eternal happiness of immersion in Brahman, the other part of materialists want to merge in the embrace of spiritual love for personal happiness, which is a form of spiritual illusion or yoga-māyā. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa says here that He does not appear to unintelligent persons, because both types of māyā or illusion are created for those who do not have sufficient interest in Him.
TEXT 26
O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows.
PURPORT
This is a description of the greatness of God. Nobody knows God completely because nobody can fully comprehend Him. God is infinite and it takes infinite consciousness to understand or know Him completely; we do not have such consciousness. However, an endless process of cognition and an endless exchange of feelings with Him is possible for us. God is the supreme sovereign and supreme incognito, He has all the qualities to the fullest extent, as well as the mystery of the supreme greatness.
Arjuna will later see the universal form and will be shocked. Those who realize the greatness of God manifest all the qualities of a spiritually developed person described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Nothing already disturbs their equilibrium, because against the background of the greatness of God, any happens are nothing. Such mystics derive unlimited happiness from God-realization. The most perfect of them go through the material world with a preaching about God. We are still materialists, we are influenced by many things, but we preach at the direction of a great soul. We do not need to imitate stability, we just need to develop the God consciousness. Spiritual qualities come in an incomprehensible way. We do not see ourselves well, we do not see both good and bad in ourselves; we ourselves cannot “develop” anything, we must only diligently follow.
"Me no one knows." This is the supreme greatness of God, but this also includes a certain loneliness, therefore He divided Himself in order to be eternally happy by exchanging feelings with His expansions and souls. And after He united again for eternal loneliness, but already the loneliness of love in separation. There are souls close to Him; these souls are completely in His power, they do not ask for anything, they only cognize Him and love Him. They do not ask Him for any personal status or reciprocity, so they are the most sincere and unselfish. God is happiest with them because there is no admixture of selfishness in such a relationship. But there are those who have shared with Him His loneliness of love, and in this sense they have become one with Him in such a feeling of love.
“He is lonely and we cannot comfort Him. He looks but does not see us. His gaze passes through me, He tries to see someone else. He speaks something so softly. His eyes are open wide. Thousands of doubts wander in His soul, giving rise to many feelings. And He says something in the hope of any reciprocity. But no answer comes."
Lord Caitanya came to feel such love and gave to us, to undeveloped inhabitants of this darkest age, the opportunity to touch with it. Perhaps this choice is not accidental, because externally we are similar to Him by the lack of chances to see God. The night, the darkness of this world and the darkness of this age, the eclipse of everything, increase His feeling of loneliness and His overwhelming love.
TEXT 27
O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conquerer of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.
PURPORT
Addictions and dislikes arise from the structure of a particular body. Mystical yogīs bring the body to perfection when it does not react to any kind of duality. Generally, we do not need such asceticism. On the other hand, a certain steadfastness in duality helps in life and in preaching.
Birth in the material world is terrible. Having been born, the child for a long time, being defenseless from all points of view, has an undeveloped consciousness and this is a dangerous situation if he leaves the body. A person must go through birth, growth, training, pass through thousands of risks, so that later when consciousness is more developed, to meet religion and in religion avoid dozens of errors. The chances of something mature are very small without knowledge, determination, intelligence. Nevertheless, religion still flourishes, because it is the only real good in the material world.
Virtually the only friend and helper of the soul in the material world is God, and the true spiritual master. Ordinary friends, even if they are friendly, cannot help anything significant. The faithful or devotees are also helpers, but in serious, difficult situations, usually only those who are above us can help. A difficult situation is a situation of mortal danger, but a much more difficult situation is preaching in the material world where, in addition to the fact that there is a risk, a lot of intelligence and inner strength is required. Some real preaching is always unsafe; the danger comes from materialists of all levels, and from materialists in religion too - there are enough people full of envy everywhere. Now preachers are not persecuted in the streets, because such great devotees as Christ and others have passed in front of us; thanks to them some kind of culture has been created in society, they have nurtured it by sacrificing themselves.
We walk around the material world giving away the most valuable things for free, but people for the most part have no interest in spiritual life and begin to catch on often when it's too late. People have time for all sorts of little things, but most of them try to "push" God further, including by formal religiosity. Therefore, many troubles fall on society due to the growing desire for material happiness and, accordingly, growing dissatisfaction. Now there are problems everywhere in the world and every year they will become more and more. Generations change; each next generation, having appeared in the already changed state of the world and society, does not see this constant degradation, so modern civilization goes to its inevitable catastrophe, after which it will begin to rethink everything. People could avoid disaster, but, alas, most often they follow religion only through force or through sufferings.
TEXT 28
Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.
PURPORT
A person accumulates piety for many lifetimes, that is, he performs a religious duty before he shows an interest in God. We see this practically: there are many people in the world engaged in general religiosity who, at the same time, have no interest in spiritual science and, accordingly, in God. Nevertheless, such religiosity plus the accompanying sufferings of birth and death can gradually form a person's determination to know God and engage in spiritual activities. Such a person is born and already as a teenager understands the meaninglessness of material life. Just as children naturally have questions about God, so the adolescent crisis is the result of past life memories. Growing up, a person instinctively feels that he actually has no prospects in life. Now such crises, unfortunately, are often negative in nature instead of healthy nihilism or the search for truth.
Those who have practiced in the past retain all the skills and memories of everything they have realized; they again begin to search for religion and find it. Thus, each lifetime their practice becomes more and more serious until the moment when they begin to realize God and go beyond birth and death. But a person can accept the spiritual process and finish everything in one lifetime. At the same time, it is difficult to name any more precise criteria for whether a person will receive liberation or not than those given in the Bhagavad-gītā. We need to take spiritual practice seriously and rejoice in everything that gives us the impulse to practice and deepen our spiritual life further and further.
TEXT 29
Intelligent persons who are endeavoring for liberation from old age and death take refuge in Me in devotional service. They are actually Brahman because they entirely know everything about transcendental and fruitive activities.
PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:
Birth, death, old age and diseases affect this material body, but not the spiritual body. There is no birth, death, old age and disease for the spiritual body, so one who attains a spiritual body, becomes one of the associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engages in eternal devotional service, is really liberated. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: I am spirit. It is said that one should understand that he is Brahman-spirit soul. This Brahman conception of life is also in devotional service, as described in this verse. The pure devotees are transcendentally situated on the Brahman platform, and they know everything about transcendental and material activities.
Four kinds of impure devotees who engage themselves in the transcendental service of the Lord achieve their respective goals, and by the grace of the Supreme Lord, when they are fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, they actually enjoy spiritual association with the Supreme Lord. But those who are worshipers of demigods never reach the Supreme Lord in His supreme planet. Even the less intelligent Brahman-realized persons cannot reach the supreme planet of Kṛṣṇa known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. Only persons who perform activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (mām āśritya) are actually entitled to be called Brahman, because they are actually endeavoring to reach the Kṛṣṇa planet. Such persons have no misgivings about Kṛṣṇa, and thus they are factually Brahman.
Those who are engaged in worshiping the form or arcā of the Lord or who are engaged in meditation on the Lord simply for liberation from material bondage, also know, by the grace of the Lord, the purports of Brahman, adhibhūta, etc., as explained by the Lord in the next chapter.
TEXT 30
Those who know Me as the Supreme Lord, as the governing principle of the material manifestation, who know Me as the one underlying all the demigods and as the one sustaining all sacrifices, can, with steadfast mind, understand and know Me even at the time of death.
PURPORT
Those who understand the existence of God and understand that God rules everything, never stray from the spiritual path. Gradually realizing himself and the nature of God, a person becomes more and more stable in spiritual life. Devotional service is always, in a sense, a challenge to the whole world. All material nature implies opposition to God and forgetfulness of Him, therefore a devotee should be determined and develop knowledge. Looking at the forms and structure of the material world, a person can realize God in different hypostasis and think about Him. The most effective way to maintain and develop God consciousness is to speak in an acceptable form about Him to other people. When we do not forget Him, then He especially does not forget us. It is worth avoid fanaticism and show more intelligence in the preaching; even a few sentences about spiritual science can sanctify both us and the interlocutor.
It is not worth to talk about what we do not know, it is easier and better to honestly admit ignorance. Also, there is no point in portray any of our own exalted position or knowledge of any esoteric aspects. Preaching is absolute, so talking about any aspect of God brings absolute spiritual benefit. While people are in the body, we need to stimulate them to spiritual life. Preaching is sometimes a kind of coercion of others, but if one do everything with intelligence and kindly, in most cases such a preaching is a positive process. On the other hand, when someone gets annoyed, there is nothing to worry about. Some difficulties are generally good because they help the devotee to become steadfast. Thus, during a lifetime, a person can become spiritually mature and continue to remember God even at the time of death.