Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 13.8–12

Prabhupāda: So we have been discussing for the last few days about the process of knowledge. So we have discussed already amānitvam, humbleness. Amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā [Bg 13.8], ahiṁsā, nonviolence.

[Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.]

So ahiṁsā, kṣāntiḥ, tolerance, ārjavam, simplicity. These things we have already discussed. Now another important thing is ācāryopāsanam. If you want to make progress, then you have to approach ācārya. Just like if you want to be educated, you go to school, you go to college, you go to university, similarly, if you want to be advanced in knowledge...

Knowledge means not this material knowledge. Actual knowledge is to advance in spiritual knowledge. Just in this Bhagavad-gītā the beginning of knowledge was instructed by Kṛṣṅa, that "I am not this body." Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā [Bg 2.13].

[As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.]

"I am encaged in this body. I am not this body." Unfortunately, at the present moment, this is accepted knowledge, bodily concept, "I am..." "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṅa," "I am kṣatriya." This is going on. Actually the knowledge begins when one understands, "I am not American," "I am not Indian," "I am not brāhmaṅa," "I am not kṣatriya." Then what you are? Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānu-dāsa [Cc Madhya 13.80]:

[I am not a brāhmaṅa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a vaiśya or a śūdra. Nor am I a brahmacārī, a householder, a vānaprastha or a sannyāsī. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the maintainer of the gopīs. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance.’]

"I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṅa, the provider of the gopīs," gopī-bhartuḥ. That is my real identification. Not this body.

So to understand this knowledge one has to approach ācārya. Ācārya means one who knows the purpose of Vedic literature, śāstra, āśṛṅoti yaḥ śāstram, and practices and teaches his disciple. He knows. Ācārya means knows. One who knows the purpose of Vedic literature, he practices in his life, and he teaches his disciple, he is called ācārya. So ācārya upāsanam. Before worshiping the Lord... Just like here Kṛṣṅa said in the beginning ācāryopāsanam, and in the middle he says, mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṅī. So before engaging yourself in devotional service to the Lord, you must first of all worship ācārya, ācāryopāsanam.

One cannot become a devotee personally. Just like some rascals say, "What is the use of accepting guru?" Of course, they have got very bad experience. But who is ācārya? Ācārya means one who has received the Vedic knowledge through the paramparā system. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg 4.2].

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

He is ācārya. Ācārya cannot be manufactured, self-made. No. He must come down from the disciplic succession. He is ācārya. You have to approach such ācārya who is coming in disciplic succession. Ācāryavan puruṣo veda. One who is under the shelter of ācārya, he knows things. So Kṛṣṅa recommends also here that if you actually want to become in knowledge, if you want to have real knowledge, then you must worship ācārya. Ācāryopāsanam. This is Vedic system. Tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

It is not that "If I like, I can go to a guru; if I don't like, I can learn the books at home and learn everything." No, that is not possible. Practically... Just like if you purchase some medical book and study at home, and if you begin to practice, you will be called a quack. You will not be recognized by the government. You will not get the practitioner's registration. You will not. Unless you have passed through the medical college, your medical examination, you will not be accepted, even if you say that "I have read all the books." Similarly, if you simply think that "I have read..." As we see generally, "Oh, I have read Bhagavad-gītā hundred times." But you ask him what is Kṛṣṅa, he cannot say. Because he has not approached the ācārya. This is the difficulty. He may..., he might have read Bhagavad-gītā a thousand times, but he will not understand a single word, because he has not approached.

Therefore Vedic literature says, tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

Abhigacchet. This word is used when the sense is "you must." This is vidhi-lin form of verb, gacchet, abhigacchet. You must. There is no excuse. You cannot learn. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21].

[Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.]

If you want to know uttamam subject matter... Ut, ut means udgatam, transcending. Tamam means this material world. This material world is tama, darkness. But if you are interested in the matter which is transcendental to this material world, that means spiritual world, then tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, you must surrender to a guru. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. Not ordinary jijñāsuḥ. Just like we go to the market, "What is the rate of this share?" "What is the rate of rice?" "What is the rate of dāl?" Not that kind of jij... Brahma jijñāsuḥ. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This human life is meant for inquiring about Brahman, not this rice, dāl, share market. No.

So jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam, what is the highest perfection of life, he requires to approach a guru. It is not a fashion. It is not a fashion, that "I have made my guru, such-and-such svāmī." But what you have learned? You cannot learn, because you are not at all jijñāsuḥ. You do not know how to inquire, neither the guru you have met, he does know how to reply. Such kind of guru and disciple will not help. The disciple must be also serious to understand about the spiritual subject matter. That is knowledge, brahma-jijñāsā. One who is inquisitive to know about the Absolute Truth, he requires to approach a guru. That is jñāna.

Jnana means brahma-jñāna. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is jñāna. And if "I am American," that is not jñāna. That is ajñāna. "I am Indian," "I am brāhmaṅa," "I am this," "I am that," "I am black," "I am white," "I am fat," "I am thin," these are all ajñāna, ignorance. You are neither fat nor thin nor black nor white nor American, but you are spirit soul. You have to know that. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am spirit soul. I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa." That is knowledge. And for this knowledge you must approach, ācāryopāsanam.

Śaucam, cleanliness. That is very essential. This morning I was talking with Tamāla Kṛṣṅa Gosvāmī about. Cleanliness is... As soon as you give up cleanliness, you become mleccha and yavana. Mleccha, yavana, these two names have come into Vedic śāstras, "one who is unclean." Why there was always misunderstanding between the Hindus and the Muslim? I am talking of practical life. Because the Muslims were very unclean, and the Hindus are supposed... Now Hindus are less than Muslim, less than Muslim, and still they are claiming śaucam. They are most unclean at the present moment, so deteriorated. Publicly it is being advertised, "Here is beef shop. Come on." Equality. Equality by eating beef, drinking wine. Now this is coming. Śaucam. Śaucam, cleanliness. "Cleanliness is next to godliness." You must take twice bath at least. It is required. And in tropical countries like India, there is no difficulty taking bath three times. Of course, if your body does not permit... But that is śaucam, to clean. Śaucam. Śaucaṁ bāhyābhyantaram.

apavitraḥ pavitro vā sarvāvasthāṁ gato 'pi vā yaḥ smaret puṅḍarīkākṣaṁ sa bāhyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ [Garuḍa Purāṅa]

The brāhmaṅa is called therefore śuci. He is always clean, taking three times bath, cloth washed, mouth, hands, legs, all clean, with tilaka. That is brāhmaṅa. Śaucam. This is externally. And internally you have to become also śaucam. Bāhyābhyantaram. Bahya mean externally you have to cleanse yourself with water, soap or earth. And internally you have to be cleansed by chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra. Ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

Because if you remain unclean within the heart, simply by washing your external body and cleansing your cloth, that is not complete cleanliness. That may be called hygienic, but real cleanliness is internally and externally. Yaḥ smaret puṅḍarīkākṣaṁ sa bāhyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ.

So you have to cleansed yourself externally and internally. By remembering, yaḥ smaret puṅḍarīkākṣam, the lotus-eyed Kṛṣṅa, if you always think, that is śuci. And in Bengali there is a word, poetry, muci haya śuci haya yadi kṛṣṅa bhaje. If one is Kṛṣṅa conscious, even if he is born in a cobbler's family, muci... In India there are two things, muci and śuci. Śuci means perfect brāhmaṅa, and muci means cobbler, the shoemaker. So muci haya śuci haya yadi kṛṣṅa bhaje. If one becomes Kṛṣṅa conscious, even if he is born in the family of a muci, camāra, he can become a brāhmaṅa. And śuci haya muci haya yadi kṛṣṅa tyaje: and if he gives up Kṛṣṅa, even if he's born in a brāhmaṅa family, he becomes a muci.

Muci means the skin expert. If he is simply busy, "I am this skin, brāhmaṅa skin..." Your behavior? "No, that doesn't matter." So that means skin expert. Just like muci knows how to distinguish whether it is cow's skin or goat's skin or this skin. No. One must be Kṛṣṅa conscious. Then he is cleansed. Sa bāhyābhyantaraṁ śuciḥ. Yaḥ smaret puṅḍarīkākṣam. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

One who is always thinking of Kṛṣṅa—Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa Kṛṣṅa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma—he is śuci. He is no more muci. Muci haya śuci haya yadi kṛṣṅa bhaje.

Sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ. Controlling the senses, ātma-vinigrahaḥ. That is called svāmī, gosvāmī. If you can control your senses... Vāco-vegaṁ krodha-vegam. If you can control your force of talking nonsense... Because generally we talk nonsense. So if you can control your talking of nonsense things, then you will become controller of talking. Vāco-vegaṁ krodha-vegam. Naturally, because we are generally affected with rajas-tamo-guṅa, raja-guṅa especially and tamo-guṅa, we become angry all of a sudden. So we have to control that. Vāco-vegaṁ krodha-vegaṁ manaso-vegam. Mind is very restless. So you have to control the mind. You cannot allow the mind to do anything and everything, but it must be controlled. Sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ.

Indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam. Indriyārtheṣu. For the matter of sense gratification you have to practice vairāgya. Indriya. Our all the indriyas—eyes, tongue, nose—they are very much, I mean to say, affected or attracted. Eyes, always attracted by beauty: "I want to see very beautiful thing." But you can control the eyes when you practice to see the beautiful feature of Lord Kṛṣṅa and Rādhārāṅī. Therefore the Deity should be very nicely decorated so layman like us may be attracted by the beauty of Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa. Gradually, he will forget to see any other beauty. This is the practice of indriyārtheṣu. Indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam.

Actually, the whole life is meant for understanding vairāgya, renouncement. Human life is not meant for becoming more and more attached to the material enjoyment. Human life is meant for tapasya, vairāgya. Here it is said, vairāgyam, anahaṅkāra, and false prestige, false identification: "Oh, I am this. I must do this." That is... In the beginning it is taught, amānitvam, anahaṅkāram [Bg 13.9].

And then janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam. We are very much busy to make solution of the problems of life—political problems, economical problems, social problems. They are also problem. But real problem is janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi, that you have to take birth, you have to die, and when you are in life, you have to suffer from diseases, jarā-vyadhi, and you have to become old.

Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha. These are really problems. But who knows that these are the real problems? They have taken it, accepted it.

Kṛṣṅa says, "This is knowledge." If you are scientifically advanced how to stop death, how to stop birth, how to stop old age, how to stop disease, then you should know that you have advanced in science. Otherwise what is this? If you have made a horseless carriage, motorcar, that is not advancement. It is advancement, but it is not the solution of the problem. The solution of problem is, human life, is to how to stop death.

Therefore śāstra says that nobody should become guru, nobody should become father, nobody should become husband—in this way there is a list—na mocayed yaḥ samupetya mṛtyum, if one cannot help his student or his son or his subordinate to stop death. Actually this is the problem. Na mocayed yaḥ samupetya mṛtyum. We are under the clutches of death. "It is as sure as death." So this human life is meant for stopping this death. But if you don't see that this is the problem, that is ajñāna. That is ignorance. If you don't accept this is the problem, if you simply think, "My problem is how to eat, how to sleep, how to have sex life, how to defend..." These problems are already solved, even by the birds and the beasts. These are not the problem. They are already set up. Real problem is here:

janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam [Bg 13.9].

Another problem is asaktiḥ. We are very much attached to our so-called home, so-called wife, children. And here is..., jñāna means that asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ. Asaktir. You should, therefore, at a certain age, according to Vedic civilization, one is forced to give up this attachment. Naturally, one is attached to wife, children, home. But Vedic civilization says, that is all right from... Up to fifty years, you can remain attached. But pañcāṣordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet: after your fiftieth year, you must give up your family life. Vanaṁ vrajet. Go to the forest for tapasya. That was the system. Here at the present moment, everywhere, all over the world, when he is going to die, still he is attached to his political life, social life, family life. That is not knowledge. That is ignorance. You must be detached. Vairāgyam. Anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ. Putra-dārā-gṛhādiṣu, family life. Putra means children. Dārā means wife. Gṛha means home. Putra-dārā-gṛhādiṣu. Asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ. Nityaṁ ca sama-cittatvam iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu.

In this way you have to be situated on the devotional service. Devotional service is not sentiment. Just like Kṛṣṅa, after describing so many stages of advancement of knowledge, then He says, mayi ca ananya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṅī. Ananya-yogena, always... Yoga means linking up. Always linking up with Kṛṣṅa. Mayi. Kṛṣṅa says mayi, "Unto Me, Kṛṣṅa." Mayi ca ananya-yogena bhakti-yogena. So you can be attached with Kṛṣṅa if you are dovetailed in the service of Kṛṣṅa, not casually, but constantly. Mayi ca ananya-yogena bhakti-yogena avyabhicāriṅī. Acyabhicāriṅī means without break; always, constantly.

Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛdha-vratāḥ [Bg 9.14],

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

in another place Kṛṣṅa says. Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām, "always glorifying Me." This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. Always we have to glorify Kṛṣṅa. We should go, meet people, preach, and glorify Kṛṣṅa. We beg for Kṛṣṅa. We print books for Kṛṣṅa. We distribute book for Kṛṣṅa. We type for Kṛṣṅa. We eat for Kṛṣṅa. We sleep for Kṛṣṅa. So everything should be dovetailed with Kṛṣṅa. That is called ananya-yogena, without any break, constantly, twenty-four hours in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Avyabhicāriṅī.

Vivikta-deśa-sevitvam aratir jana-saṁsadi [Bg 13.11]. Aratir jana-saṁsadi: not very much attached with general public, because they are not Kṛṣṅa conscious. We can meet them as far as possible, as far as required. Not that we have to sit down and talk all nonsense with these general people. No. Aratir jana-samsadi, and vivikta-deśa-sevitvam [Bg 13.11]. Naturally, we shall be inclined to avoid such company. But preaching work, we have to go—not to associate with him, but to give your association to him. That should be the principle. Because you have learned something about devotional service, you should give your experience to such person, but not to accept their behavior. If you keep this in view, then you will be preacher. And if you become victimized by his association, then you are doomed. You should give him the opportunity of your association, whatever you know, whatever you have learned about bhakti-yoga. When you go to meet a person, you should try to inform him, "This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. You also take to it." As Caitanya Mahāprabhu..., yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa-upadeśa' [Cc Madhya 7.128].

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa-upadeśa'. This is real business.

Adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvam. Spiritual knowledge, that is eternal knowledge. It will not break. If you learn spiritual knowledge, a little of it in this life, svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt, then you will be saved from the greatest danger. Tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam. If you want to become philosopher, then you philosophize for understanding the tattva-jñāna. And what is tattva-jñāna?

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11]

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

That is tattva-jñāna, truth. What is that truth? Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti: to understand about Brahman, to understand about Paramātmā, to understand about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is tattva-jñāna.

So if you want to become philosopher, then philosophically you try to understand what is brahma-tattva, what is paramātmā-tattva, what is bhagavān-tattva. Etaj jñānam, this is jñāna, not these degrees, M.A., Ph.D. These are all decoration of the dead body. If you do not understand what is the value of life, you do not understand what is tattva, what is Brahman, what is Paramātmā, what is God; if you do not become cleansed, if you do not become a devotee, as they are stated; if you have no ācārya, you have no guru, then you are in darkness, Kṛṣṅa concludes here. Etaj jñānam, "All these items described, this is jñānam." Iti proktam. It is accepted, proktam. Ajñānam yad ato 'nyathā: "And just any other thing except these..., besides these things, they are ajñānam."

So you compare. You call any educated person. Just like I told you several times that that Professor Kotovsky, big man in Russia, he says that "There is no life. After finishing this body, everything is finished." Just see how much ajñānam. He does not know.

So the whole world is going on under ajñānam. If they accept this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, there is chance of having jñānam. Otherwise, they remain in ajñānam.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [end]