The Real Sense of Bhagavad-gita
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · 2014
Chapters
Reading Bhagavad-gita texts sixty-three and sixty-four
Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter 18, The Perfection of Renunciation, Texts 63 and 64. Ititegana Makyatam Guhyad Guhyataram Mayam Vimrisya Dasena Yatechasitatakuru Translation.
Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully and then do what you wish to do.
The Lord has already explained to Arjuna the knowledge of Brahma Buddha. One who is in the Brahma Buddha condition is joyful. He is never he never laments nor does he desire anything.
That is due to confidential knowledge. Krishna also discloses knowledge of the super soul. This is also Brahman knowledge, knowledge of Brahman, but it is superior.
Here the words yat'hāsi tathā kuru, as you like, you may act, indicate that God does not interfere with the little independence of the living entity.
In the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord has explained in all respects how one can elevate his living condition. The best advice imparted to Arjuna is to surrender unto the super soul seated within his heart.
By right discrimination one should agree to act according to the order of the super soul that will help one become situated constantly in Krishna consciousness. The highest perfectional stage of human life.
Arjuna is being directly ordered by this personality of Godhead to fight, surrender to the supreme personality of what of Godhead is in the best interest of the living entities. It is not for the interest of the supreme.
Before surrendering, one is free to deliberate on this subject as far as the intelligent goes. That is the best way to accept the instruction of the Supreme Personality of God.
Such instruction comes as though through the spiritual master, the bona fide representative of Krishna. Text Sixty-four. Paramambachaha. Ishtosime Dridhamiti Tatovakshami Tehitam.
Because you are my very dear friend, I am speaking to you my supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all, hear this from me, for it is for your benefit.
The Lord has given Arjuna knowledge that is confidential, knowledge of Brahman and still more confidential knowledge of the super soul within everyone's heart.
And now he is giving the most confidential part of knowledge, just surrender unto the supreme personality of Godhead. At the end of the ninth chapter he has said Manmanah, just always think of me.
The same instruction is repeated here to stress the essence of the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā. This essence is not understood by a common man but by one who is actually very dear to Krishna, a pure devotee of Krishna.
This is the most important instruction of all Vedic literature. What Krishna is saying in this connection is the most essential part of knowledge, and it should be carried out not only by
Arjuna, but by all living entities.
Purpose behind Krishna's instructions to Arjuna
Mahyana Timirandasya, Janam Jana Salakaya, Chaksurun Militamy, Tai Shri Gura Venahan, Nam Vishnu Padaya, Krishna prestaya Butale, Srimate Bhtivedanta Swami Nami. Namaste Saraswati Deve, Gauravani Pracharine, Nirvisasundavadi, Paschatyadesarini, Vanchakalpatarubieschakripasindhubcha, Patitanam Pavanebyo, Vaishnavyo Namonamahat, Jaishri Krishna Chaitanya Prabunitananda, Sriadwaita Gadatara Srivasadi Gaura Bhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Ajanulambita Bujoka Nakavadatu Sankirtanaika Pitaroka Malay Taksa Vishwambaro Dijavaru Yuga Dharma Palu Van De Jagat Priya Karu Karunavatar Yun tahishya Mamabachimam Prasuptam Sanji Vayata Kila Shakti Darah Swadamna Anyam Shahastacharanashravanatva Gadim Prananamo bhagavate purusha tubiam Hare Krishna.
This is a great honor for me to speak in front of all of you and on the order of uh Bhaktivinod Maharaj and his uh associates, I will try to speak on these two verses at the very end of Bhagavad-gītā.
Krishna is finishing his instructions to Arjuna. He has told everything. He has told very essential things His Bhagavad-gītā, Song of God, is the manifestation of His mercy. From His very heart, He is speaking.
He is speaking practically with the tears in his eyes. He's so eager to give this knowledge to everyone. he knows that the best recipient for this knowledge is Arjuna because he is his friend.
He actually doesn't want to teach Arjun. Arjuna, his eternal associate, his friend. He doesn't need to be taught. Arjuna knows everything. He's speaking to Arjuna. But actually he wants to speak to us.
He's speaking to Arjuna according to the logic that if you want to teach somebody you shouldn't speak directly to him because if you speak directly to him by pointing out some deficiencies or false, he will not accept it. He will reject it due to false ego. His ahaṅkāra will make him reject this knowledge.
Therefore, Krishna has chosen the best recipient, his friend. He knows that his friend will accept this knowledge. And for us, it will be easier to accept because He is teaching Arjuna, not us. Arjuna is in māyā. Right?
Arjuna is not in māyā. Arjuna is in perfect consciousness. But Krishna has created this situation so that we can understand what we have to do.
But you know, by teaching Arjuna, he is doing it in a very uh gentle way and you know oftentimes
we sit with each other and we say, "Yes, Arjuna is in māyā, he doesn't understand this and he doesn't understand that." Arjuna isn't, you know, the āt mā, buddhi, you know, he feels that he thinks that he is his body.
Arjuna doesn't think he is his body. It's us who are in ignorance. It's us who are in Maya. And Krishna is saying this through Arjun. And actually, here, very essential point in the whole discourse
Common misinterpretations of the Bhagavad-gita
because uh he is saying a very important thing he said I have told you everything now you do whatever you like.
I don't know if Chandramouli Maharaj told you the story. I told him the story and he told me that he will tell this on his lecture. But anyway, it's a nice story, I will tell it again.
You know, once Prabhupāda was giving Bhagavad-gītā discourse in Mumbai. And he was speaking very strongly and after the lecture, one Indian man
came to Prabhupāda and he said, "Swamiji, thank you very much. It was such a nice lecture. Bhagavad-gītā is my favorite book. But there is one verse which I like the most. This is my favorite verse.
Prabhupāda, "Which verse?" He said, "Where Krishna says, 'Well, now I told you everything, now you do whatever you like. So, oftentimes you know, the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā is misused, and Krishna knows this.
Actually, at the end of Bhagavad-gītā, when he finishes all instructions, he will say to Arjuna: Don't disclose this knowledge to everyone and anyone. They will misuse this knowledge. They will only create offenses.
And oftentimes people don't understand Bhagavad-gītā. Most of the times, people don't understand Bhagavad-gītā.
What Krishna wants to say, he doesn't want to say, do whatever you like, he is very clearly saying that please think about it very carefully.
He says that uh please uh vimṛśya tat-śeṣeṇa vimṛśya tat-śeṣeṇa vimṛśya means by deliberating, thinking very deeply, aśeṣeṇa, so that you will understand everything. That's the main point of this verse.
You please don't follow mechanically. Don't become a blind believer because blind faith will not help you ultimately. Blind faith will not make your practice proper. You may do something because everyone is doing it.
Everyone is coming for Sunday feast. Okay, let me also come. Everyone is jumping, let me also jump. Everyone is taking this, you know, little caraṇāmṛta, okay, let me also take.
Most of the people, they don't understand why they're doing what they're doing. They don't feel anything at heart. Therefore, Krishna here in this verse emphasizes this point.
I told you everything, this is my mercy, but please, please, he is pleading toward Arjuna. Please don't follow it blindly. Please take it to heart. Think again and again and again.
Actually, according to the Vedic tradition, Vedic custom. Every book has to be studied three times, at least three times. Because we have manodoṣa. Manodoṣa means our mind is deficient.
We have so many so many problems in our mind. We are inattentive.
We're sitting in the class and we're listening and then all of a sudden our mind goes somewhere else and in a few minutes later uh it goes back and you know tries to hear what's going on but there's no connection.
And then we think you know this lecturer he's very illogical. You know, he's saying something which is really disconnected and disjointed. So many times people say that there is no logic in Bhagavad-gītā.
Krishna has perfect no logic.
But people don't understand this logic because they are not really uh you know they don't have mind to understand this. They're not attentive enough. They don't listen properly. And as a matter of fact, not only they don't listen properly, they
Essence of the supreme confidential knowledge
are also interpreted in the wrong way. So many times people read Bhagavad-gītā and they don't understandtez the essence of Bhagavad-gītā, although it's so clear.
Here, Krishna will repeat the essence of Bhagavad-gītā in just two verses. For anyone who is dull enough not to understand it.
He will say, you know, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī mām namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo 'si me sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva He will say this is the essence of Bhagavad-gītā.
People, believe it or not, they don't know that this is the most important verses in Bhagavad-gītā. Krishna says, this is the most important.
Krishna says, guhyatamam. This is the most secret, the most important thing I'm going to tell you. Nobody knows it. I recently, a few years back, I spoke with Indian ambassador to Russia. He is a very knowledgeable man.
He is a diplomat. He has been all over the world. He has traveling in many countries, he is brāhmaṇa by birth, he's from high birth, from high background, brāhmaṇical background.
You know, and we started speaking about Bhagavad-gītā. And he started saying his understanding of Bhagavad-gītā. And he he was actually against Gandhi.
He said Gandhi he spoiled everything because Gandhi said that you know ahiṁsā, non-violence is the essence of Bhagavad-gītā. And he was rightly saying, I was actually very pleased in my heart when I heard
this, when he was saying, you know, how the Bhagavad-gītā, the essence of Bhagavad-gītā, can be non-violence if uh in Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says again and again and again and again, fight. It's amazing, you know.
And this is the people who read Bhagavad-gītā again and again and again, and what they understand, they understand what they want to understand.
Not what Krishna wants to say, but what they want to hear, what they want to understand. But listen, that was not the end of the story.
I spoke with him about this and I asked him what in your opinion is the essence of Bhagavad-gītā? He said, in my opinion, the essence of Bhagavad-gītā is to fight for our country.
You know Gandhi was saying Ahimsa not fight you know, here he comes, fight for the right cause. I said, well, that's good. Because I I couldn't say that's wrong. I had to be a little diplomatic.
I'm speaking with a diplomat, so I have to be also a little diplomatic. So I said, yeah, that's good.
You know, she said, you know, the essence of Bhagavad-gītā, fulfill your kṣatriya duty, your kṣatriya, just do your kshatriya duty and fight.
And I said, that's good, but ultimately Krishna says at the end of Bhagavad-gītā, the most important verse in the very end, because at the end you say something which is important, it's logical, right?
He said, yes, he agreed. At the end he says, Sarvadharmān parityajya māṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. I asked him, how is it possible that you know doing your duty
doing your dharma can be the essence of Bhagavad-gītā? If at the end of Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says, just reject all your duties and surrender unto me. Listen what he said to me. He became very surprised.
He said, Krishna says this? I don't believe it. I will check. You know this this is what it is. This is going on. People they read Bhagavad-gītā, they study Bhagavad-gītā. But they don't understand what Krishna wants to say.
Why? Because they only want to hear what they want to hear. They have their own preconceived ideas and they want to force these ideas into Krishna. But Krishna knows this. He knows this perfectly well.
Therefore, He says, in the second verse which we read, he says, I am your Ishta. He's saying very in a very beautiful way he is saying.
Śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaha iṣṭo 'si me dṛḍham iti. Because I am your iṣṭa, I am your desired goal. You will understand this sarva-guhyatamaṁ. Sarva-guhyatamaṁ. He said, buyach. Again I will repeat this.
Again I will say what I want to say. I will say to you the essence of what I want to say. I have the hope in you that you will understand what I want to say. Ah why? Because I'm your goal.
The problem is that people have so many other goals. They really don't care about God. They can't care less about God. They have their own goals.
You know, so many goals are there, so many purposes of life, so many meanings of life, so many desires are there. And Krishna is not their Isha, he is not their friend, he is not the goal of their endeavors.
Pitfalls of biased and distorted commentaries
Therefore, they don't understand the essence of Bhagavad-gītā. And therefore, it is so important to listen to Bhagavad-gītā as it is.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, in the very beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, he explains there are so many editions of Bhagavad-gītā, not only in America, in India too. But then he says shocking things.
As far as I'm concerned, none of these translations, none of these editions is explicit what Krishna wants to speak.
Everyone is trying to distort the meaning of Bhagavad-gītā and somehow rather you know put there his own opinion, his own conception, his own understanding.
And this is a pity, and that's why the whole country of India, the glorious country of India, glorious Bharata Varsha, is in such a pitiable condition. Just on the way here I saw very nice advertisement. Suguna.
And I thought Suguna there must be something very satvik. You know, guna means you know suguna means and of course Sugune was chicken. What is Sugune about chicken? I don't know. What is sugune about eating chicken?
I don't know. But it's yes, suguna. You know people are forgetting their culture. They're killing animals, they're killing cows. You know.
Chin Mai Goranga was telling me on the way that so many cows are being killed here and in Kerala especially in India. In this very land where you know everyone understands that it's wrong.
Everyone understands that you cannot kill your mother, still they do it. And this is this is called misuse of knowledge.
Actually, Krishna warns Arjuna: don't disclose this knowledge to those who will pervert this knowledge. The problem here, what we have, is that everyone thinks he knows Bhagavad-gītā.
Why ISKCON is successful in other countries? Of course, ISKCON is very successful in India, extremely successful in India, but in one sense it's more difficult to preach to Indians. Why?
Because in India everyone thinks he knows Bhagavad-gītā. Everyone you know because they they heard Lataman Geshkar saying Yada Yada Hidarmasya Glanir Once I tell you another story.
Once I was speaking with one uh minister in India. I mean, Member of Parliament. Very nice member of Parliament. Very, you know, influential member of Parliament uh and um uh and uh it was at the time when uh in Russia, some
people, some crazy people wanted to ban Bhagavad-gītā because Bhagavad-gītā is terrorist book or something like this. There was this there was this attempt.
So we were in India at that time and we were trying to instigate some people to protect Bhagavad-gītā. And I was speaking with this lady, uh, she's
a very nice lady, and she said Bhagavad-gītā is the most is is the book, uh should be the only book for India, or everyone in India should know this book, and I agreed to this. I was very happy to hear this.
And then she said, because in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that Bhagavad Gita is for Indians. I said uh can you please remind me where exactly Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā that Bhagavad-gītā is for Indian.
She said, oh you don't know. Yada Yada Hidharmasya Glanir Bhavati Bharata. He says Bharata. I said oh yeah, you're right. Doesn't mean Bharata India.
You know, she just heard this Lataman Gershkar saying, Yada Yadai Dharmasya. Uh uh that's a problem, that's a big problem because everyone thinks he knows what Bhagavad-gītā is all about.
But at the same time it's such a problem because if you ask people what Bhagavad-gītā is all about, you will hear the wildest ideas in the world. I heard somebody saying, you know, what is what Bhagavad-gītā is all about?
Somebody was quoting, Kula Dharma Sanatana. The eternal family tradition. This is the essence of Bhagavad-gītā. Arjun says this in the first chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. Kulodharma sanatana.
You know so many, so many ideas are there. Nobody reads Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Yathā-rūpam. So Prabhupada was lamenting so much. Prabhupada was actually he was crying in Vṛndāvana.
Old man was coming to Delhi in the very hot summer. Having no money to distribute few magazines just to give people to remind people what Vedic culture is all about.
He says here very clearly, Prabhupada says this very clearly that this very one verse, only one verse, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru. mām evaiṣyati satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo 'si me.
This is the essence of Bhagavad-gītā. This is the essence of all the Vedas. You don't need to study all the Vedas. You don't need to study all the Upaniṣads. Even if you try it, you will only get confused.
So many people tried it already. Don't do it. You know, so many people they study this Upanishad and that Upanishad. And ultimately they don't understand anything. Why?
Required qualifications for receiving Vedic knowledge
Because they don't do it properly. You know, the Vedic culture, the beauty of Vedic culture is not only it's the greatest knowledge, it's not only the greatest knowledge. With this knowledge, there are two more things.
There is this knowledge, but there is also a qualification of the recipient of this knowledge. It's not enough to give the knowledge.
It's also very important to describe who can understand this knowledge, who is really capable of understanding this knowledge.
Because if anyone and everyone will claim that I understand this knowledge, it will only bring the ruination of knowledge and it will only finish the knowledge. And that's exactly what is happening.
So in Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa will very clearly say at the very end of eighteenth chapter. What are the qualifications to understand Bhagavad-gītā?
And the most important qualification: one should not be envious, one should not be envious of God. One should accept that God is there and God is speaking directly to us. You know, He gives four qualifications.
He says the first qualification: one should control his senses; the second qualification one should be somewhat devotional. The third qualification, uh, one uh should
uh do some service, not only say that I'm a bhakta, yes. I'm coming to Sunday feast and eating Sunday feast. No. One should do— one should render some service.
And the fourth, the most important qualification, they're going— uh, you know, one more important than another the most important qualification one should accept the personality of God yet one should accept Krishna one should not be envying him who he thinks he is to speak to me.
I also know everything. You know so so the three things are there, the knowledge is there, the qualification to understand this knowledge is there. And the system how to understand this knowledge.
And this is the most important. You know, the process how you can really understand this knowledge. You cannot just take the book and read the book and think you will understand by reading the book. No, it's not enough.
You will misinterpret this and you will distort the knowledge and ultimately you will you will only be confused by reading the book.
So therefore, Krishna says in the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśne sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ. You know, you should surrender to Guru. You cannot understand this knowledge without surrendering to Guru.
Śrīla Prabhupāda says this in the Purport here: that you know ultimately you have to surrender to Guru because Guru is the representative of God and surrender to God is the essence of Bhagavad Gita.
This is Charama Sloka, Sarvadarvan Parityaja, according to Sri Vaishnavas, who are very prominent in Tamil Nadu. Sri Vaishnavas they say this is the Charamashloka of Bhagavad Gita. And Charamashloka of the whole Vedas.
Sarvadharman Parityajam Mamikam Saranam Raja, take shelter unto me, be prapanna, do prapati, surrender unto me. So this is the third very important thing.
You know you cannot understand the knowledge the knowledge is there the guru is there once uh one Indian man approached Srila Prabhupada and said, Swami G, I want to learn Vedas, but I cannot I cannot find a guru. There is no gurus. It's Kali Yug.
You know, I was looking for so many gurus, but nobody is qualified. Prabhupada looked at him very sternly and he said, you know, gurus are there, there is no proper śiṣyas. The teachers are there.
Disciples is the most rare thing. Therefore, in Bhagavad Gita there's three things are described: the knowledge, the qualification of a disciple, and the process.
How even if one is qualified, one still has to go through the process surrendering himself, rendering the service, paying abeisances, asking questions. Without this, you will not be able to understand the essence, and without understanding the essence, you will not be able to apply this knowledge in your life. You will know some slogans.
You will and will speak sometimes about this. But when it comes to action, you will not do according to the instruction of Krishna. And ultimately, it will not help you. It will not save you.
Ultimately, you will not love Krishna and you will not place Krishna as the most important goal of your life. You will say yeah yeah Krishna yeah Krishna is nice and Ganesh is also very nice. You know.
Yeah, no doubt about it. Ganesh is very nice. We don't argue with this. Ganesh is nice. Everyone is nice.
Surrendering individual will for ultimate benefit
But Kṛṣṇa is God, is Śrī Bhagavān, and He's a vacya. He's speaking to us. He wants us to do. He doesn't want us to do as we want.
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the purport of the first verse is that Kṛṣṇa wants us to do as he wants. But he doesn't say directly. But he is sure if we think properly and if we go through the proper process.
If we surrender to Guru, if we ask the questions, if we really apply our intelligence, then we will understand that this is the best for us. What Prabhupada is explaining is that this is in our interest.
Krishna doesn't need it. Krishna is happy. Whether we surrender or not, it doesn't bother Him. You know, he's he's happy. He's not so concerned. He doesn't have problems. He's in Vaikuṇṭha.
Vaikuṇṭha is the place where there's no problems. It's us who have problems. This world is kunta.
This world is, you know, so many so many impediments are there, so many difficulties are there, and it's becoming more and more difficult.
You know, there's so many difficulties at every step, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadam na teṣām. natesham. It's you know danger and every step it is set in Bhagavatam. It's a difficult world.
So Krishna wants us to solve our problems. For that, we have to act as He wants, not as we wanna. But for that, but we cannot do it blindly. For that, we have to really apply and use our intelligence.
And when we use our intelligence and when we go through the proper process, then this knowledge will be revealed to us by Krishna's grace. Ultimately we cannot understand it ourselves. It's the most confidential knowledge.
It sounds easy. It really sounds easy. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. Everyone can learn this sloka.
You know, everyone can pass Bhakti-shastri exam, Bhakti-vaibhava exam, Bhakti-vedanta exam, but remain a Mayavadi. You know he has so many bhakti degrees. But at heart he's still impersonalist.
He doesn't believe that God is there. You know, I know so many people. I recently listened to a lecture. Guru Maharaj, Sridhar Swami Maharaj, was telling how he was preaching in America in the universities.
They were preaching in the universities, and you know, they would come to a professor and say, We want to speak about some nice philosophy, some nice religion, some nice Vedic culture, this and that.
And so in one university they were trying to arrange some lectures, engagements for the students. With some professors.
And the professor says, yes, we are very interested, we are ready to do it. But first, according to the policy of our university, you have to go through the dean of the religious department. If he gives his okay, then we will be very happy to accept you.
So Srila Radhanath Maharaj says we went to this dean of the religious department and he happened to be an ordained priest. Christian priest.
And he's a scholar of Christianity, and he's very famous. And he's being invited in all the churches and parishes and conferences, and he speaks so strongly. So they started debating, and you know, he started the debate.
You know, I I will not allow this. I will not allow you to speak to my students or to any students in this university because I don't believe that your God is God.
And you know, Radhanath Maharaj started speaking with him, debating with him back and forth, back and forth, and you know they didn't finish on the first day. He came on the second day. You know, it's a long story, but to make it short you know they were speaking and speaking and
speaking and speaking and ultimately this man who is ordained priest, the dean of religious department, the devout Christian, preacher of Christianity. He said, you know, after long discussion, many many hours of discussion,
he said, Okay, I want to say to you something which I never told anyone in my life. Actually, I don't believe in God. There is no God. Radhanath Maharaj said, by the way, his family, his surname, his second
name, his family was Professor Mae V. So Radhanath Maharaj said maybe God is there. He said, no, there is no God. No, maybe. Not even maybe, there is no God, you know this is what it is. This is this is going on.
People are preaching, people are studying, people are uh doing this but you know ultimately they don't have faith.
They don't understand what's going on and and therefore Krishna what he wants to say, he says, please think again and again and again. I told you everything.
If you think, if you apply your intelligence very clearly, you will understand what you have to do. And you will be able to apply this. And actually, it's the mercy of God.
I started, I I I told this little story is that uh we can believe in God and not only believe in God but really act according to His desire not according to our petty wishes not according to our you know speculations. We can only believe in God and act according to his desire if there is some mercy of God.
Receiving mercy through guru and Vaishnavas
And there will, therefore, we have to surrender to Guru. Therefore, we have to render service. Therefore, we have to be in this Vaishnava Sangha. And we have to behave properly to invoke the blessings of all the Vaishnavas.
Without blessings of Guru, without blessings of Vaishnavas, without serving to Guru and Vaishnavas, nobody will be able to understand the message of Bhagavad-gītā. It's not an easy thing.
Krishna says it's Sarva Guhya Tamam. It's the secret of all secrets. It sounds simple, but to really realize this, that God is there, that God is in your
heart, that God is watching you, that God knows all your real inner thoughts, that God knows everything. This is not so easy. And to be Krishna conscious 24 hours a day, jaṭ-cintā. It's not easy.
To be always to always think that Krishna is there and I have to do something for him and I'm his. I don't belong to myself. I'm his. I'm śeṣa. He is śeṣī. I am śeṣa. I am a little tiny part of him.
I am aṁśa. He is aṁśī. He is the whole. That's very difficult to understand. And it's very difficult to really act accordingly. Man-manā bhava, to think about Krishna all the time, it's not easy.
Therefore, uh it's very important to uh understand this properly, to think again and again and again. But not only this. It's even more important to do what our Guru Maharaj
wants us to do, to do what our āsata-vaiṣṇavas want us to do, and what Srila Prabhupada wants us to do.
It's within our ultimate benefit, uh, as Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the purport to this verse, to do what Krishna wants to do. But we don't know what Krishna wants from us to do. We can speculate so many things.
But we very clearly know what our guru wants us to do. We very clearly know what Srila Prabhupada wants us to do. And if we want to understand this knowledge, we have to do what they want us to do.
And this will be the way to understand this most secret knowledge. And what they want us to do, they want us to preach.
They want us to distribute this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Because Prabhupada made so many precautions, so much, so much carefully he wrote this book, so that anyone who reads this book will understand the essential message of Bhagavad-gītā.
I said before, it may sound a little contradictory because I said before you cannot
understand the message of Bhagavad-gītā by reading the book. Yes, you cannot understand the message of Bhagavad-gītā by reading just verses of Bhagavad- -gītā. By reading Prabhupada's explanations, you can understand.
You know, I have so many examples of this when people read Bhagavad Gita with explanations of Srila Prabhupada, and they could understand the very essence of what he has to say, and you know, practically surrender on the spot to Krishna. It's amazing.
I want to tell you a little story from Russia from our experience in preaching in Russia. Once we had this Prabhupada December Marathon, when we were distributing books,
and one lady wrote a letter, thanking letter to the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, to the publishing house. Thanking again and again. It was a long, long letter.
She was saying, you know, this book is the most beautiful book I have ever read. And then she writes something which really touched my heart.
He writes at the end of this letter, you know, I read this book again and again and again, but I cannot read for too long. Why? Because whenever I started reading, I started crying, and
then she says, sometimes my relatives ask me, mother, why are you crying?
And she said, I cannot say to them because they cannot understand this, but I can say to you, I am crying while reading this Bhagavad-gītā because every word which is written there is truth.
And while reading this, I understand this is truth. This is this is this is the real essence. There is no lie, there is no hypocrisy, there is no distortion. This is something true.
Power of sincere tears and devotional feeling
And she said, therefore I'm crying all the time. We know this little story when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was traveling here in
the south when he was in Srirangam, he saw this illiterate brāhmaṇa who cannot really read the Bhagavad-gītā? But he was just looking at the picture when Krishna is driving Arjuna, and he was crying.
And Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, you are the best knower of the Bhagavad-gītā because you know the essence of the Bhagavad-gītā. You read the Bhagavad-gītā, you look at the Bhagavad-gītā, you think about the Bhagavad- gītā, and you cry.
This simple lady from a Russian village, from some little town in Russia, she understood the essence of the Bhagavad-gītā without being an initiated disciple, without doing so many things, you know, just by reading Prabhupada's books.
Prabhupada's books are amazing. He very proudly but very rightly called this Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Because the sincerity of Prabhupāda is totally out of question. It's not questionable.
Everyone who is in his right mind can understand how sincere the purpose of Prabhupada was. Only somebody who is very sincere can give up everything, can give up Vṛndāvana and go to the West with 40 rupees in his pocket.
If I ask you, you know, and this is, uh, 69 old man with forty rupees in his pocket goes for ten days in a cargo ship to America to completely unknown land without even knowing what he's going to eat.
Prabhupāda, after a few months, he said, when I was planning when I was planning my trip to America. I didn't know whether I will find vegetarian food here. So I was mentally preparing myself to eat meat. In America.
Prabhupāda was saying this. Somebody who never in his life was was even even touched meat.
He was ready to do this in 69 years to completely unknown country without anyone who knows him, without anyone who can support him with forty rupees.
You know I believe that most of us sitting here is younger than sixty nine years old. And you're younger. You know, if I ask you, would you be ready to go to America? I'm sure everyone would say yes.
If I ask you would you be ready to go to America with 40 rupees? Okay, take hundred rupees, no problem. Take five hundred rupees and try it. No friends, no supporters, no relatives, nobody, zero.
Don't know anything about this land. He goes there. Why? The only reason is that he wants to help. He wants to give this knowledge. This is the utmost surrender, utmost sincerity,
utmost manifestation of the last verses of Bhagavad-gītā: man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. mad bhakto mam yaji mam na maskuru sarvadarman paritya jahama kam sara nam raja.
These two verses. Śrīla Prabhupāda is the living manifestation of these two verses. And here he says it's within our interest to do what Krishna wants. And here I say that we don't know what Krishna wants us to do.
Or even if we know, we will not be able to apply it immediately. But we definitely know what Srila Prabhupada wants us to do. And if we do this, it will be within our interest.
And he wants us to distribute his books, to preach, To read his book again and again and again, to try to understand what he wants to say, to try to understand the essence, to apply the intelligence,
to try to understand that Śrīla Prabhupāda is not just saying Bhagavad-gītā Yathārūpam. He really is giving Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. He really does not change anything. Try to understand this again and again and again.
Get convinced. Get hundred percent convinced and surrender. And ultimately, your life will be successful, your life will be sublime, you become happy. And you will make everyone else happy.
Practical application of teachings in Kali-yuga
This is the simple recipe, the simple method which Prabhupāda gives to us. And he's practically begging all of us, please do it. It's within our interest. It will be good for us, we will become happy.
If we do it, if we really understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, and if we try to tell others, you know, Vedic culture is the most glorious culture by far. There is no other culture in the world.
Which can even close, come close to this culture. But now it's disappearing from the surface of the earth. And we can only save it through this essential, most essential, most simple message.
You know, the more Kali Yuga progresses, the more simpler the message becomes. In the beginning, when people were really intelligent and were really understanding
deeply and were able to comprehend knowledge, you know, whether was so chaotic and they could understand and make sense and apply Vedas. Now people cannot apply Vedas, that's, that's clear, but they cannot even apply Bhagavad-gītā.
So don't even try to apply Bhagavad-gītā, just try to apply these two verses. And if you don't understand these two verses, just try to follow what Prabhupāda wants to do.
And if you don't understand what Prabhupāda wants to do, go to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and ask him and do what he wants you to do. And that will be good enough. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
I guess I already spoke too much, so probably we have to finish now. Thank you very much.