Understanding "Bhagavad-gita". Chapter 7
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · 2021
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Invocational prayers and introductory remarks
O Magyanati Mirandasyam, Jyanam Jana Salakayam, Chaksurun Militamy, Tasmaishri Guravenama, Sri Chaitanyama, stapitame butale, swajamrupakadamahyam, Dadisva Padantikam
Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabunitananda Sri Adwaita Gadathara Sri Vasadi Gora Bhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Harehare, Hari Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
He Krishna Karuna Sindho Dina Bandho Jagatpate Gopesha Gopikakanta, Radakanthana mosthe, Taptakanchana Gurangi, Radhe Brindavaneshwari, Vrisabhanu
Suti Devi, Pranamami Haripri, Yon tahya mama vachimamamprasuptam, Sanji Vayada kila shakti daraswadamna, anjamscha hasta charana shravanat vagadim, prananna Mau Bhagavate Purushayatu bim, svasyastuvishwasya kalah prasidatam, dyantu butani sivamitho dia, manashabadram bajatata doksajje, avesya tamatir apyaituh Sri Guru Byonaha.
Aham Angla Basayam Vadishami Mama Sanskrita gyanam attialpamasti, Angla Bashayam Vadami, Kshamyatam.
Dr. Gajendra Panda, Dr. Si Raganatam, all other Vidvams who gathered today for this seventh day of Bhagavad-gītā seminar. I'm extremely honored and humbled to speak in front of all of you.
Dr. Sira Ganatam already explained the essence of the seventh chapter of Bhagavad-gītā jñāna, vijñāna yoga, in a very beautiful amazing way.
He said that I will be the main speaker, but actually I will take little remnants from his speech and I will try to explain something perhaps which he left for me to speak about. He
was speaking very aptly and very importantly that the essence of the seventh adhyāya of Bhagavad-gītā is śaraṇāgati. Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself glorifies jñānī bhakta who is śaraṇāgata.
He doesn't glorify jñānī in a sense as sometimes people translate this word, jñānī means the one who is following the path of jñāna-yoga.
Transition from meditation to devotion
Very clearly he says that real jñānī is ekabhakta, the one who has only one goal and who is nitya yukta, who is constantly engaged, constantly connected with the Lord by the way of meditation upon him, which is only possible through the śaraṇāgati, through this path of Saranagati which Dr. C Ranganatam beautifully explained.
So I will start about the connection from the connection of this seven sadhyāya with the sixth sadhyāya, which is very interesting. Because at the end of the sixth adhyāya, Lord Krishna glorifies yogi.
And he says, Yogi is better than tapasvi, yogi is better than karmi, yogi is better than gyani. And therefore he says, O Arjuna, O Arjuna, you become yogi. Yogi Bhavarjuna.
And then he says, Yogi namapi sarvisam madgate na taratmana. Śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ saṁyuktatamo mataḥ. The best of the yogis. Who is the best of the yogis?
Mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā, the one who always thinks about me, the one who is always coming to me or united with me by the way of meditating upon me, mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā, śraddhāvān, and he is śraddhāvān. He has śraddhā.
So he said this with great conviction that he is the best of yogi. He was explaining in the sixth how to meditate, how to sit on the seat in a secluded place with spine erect and with concentrating one's Dhrishti upon
the nāsikāgre, upon the tip of one's nose. He was explaining all this technique of aṣṭāṅga Yoga, but then he says, Yogi namisarves, you know, the one who always meditates not only by sitting in the secluded place, not only in being in this asana, not only being in the forest, but who always thinks about me. He is the best of yogis.
And without waiting, which is very interesting, without waiting for Arjuna's
question, because usually the new chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, the new adhyāya of Bhagavad-gītā starts with Arjuna's question and then Krishna starts explaining to him.
But in the seventh adhyāya, being so eager to explain about this yoga, Sri Krishna starts this explanation without waiting for Arjuna's question.
He starts with this śrī-bhagavān uvāca: mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ, asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu. with this verse, he starts the explanation of bhakti-yoga.
The six adhyāyas in the middle as the most important treasure between the six first adhyāyas and the six last adhyāyas, six middle adhyāyas explain this treasure of bhakti-yoga, which is the most important message of Bhagavad-gītā.
And the most important essence of Bhakti Yoga or the beginning of Bhakti Yoga which starts with Shraddha with face is this prapati or saranagati.
So as Dr. Siran Ganathan very beautifully explained, the essence of this seven sadhyaya is this.
Role of hearing in spiritual realization
Yes, there are five different subject matters of the seventh sadhyaya, but the most important essence of the seventh sadhyaya is saranagati. And the essence of saranagati, what is the essence of saranagati?
The essence of saranagati uh when someone becomes saranagata. He when surrenders to the Lord, then this ability of thinking about the Lord all the time becomes his nature.
When the mind will become a sakhtamanah, when the mind will become attached to the Lord, Maya Saktamanah Partha. And in this way while listening to me you will become free from doubts.
Some shayatma vinasyati, as Dr. Gajendra Panda mentioned in his introductory speech to this lecture that this is a very important point and ultimately we have to be free from all doubts.
And what is the way to be free from all doubts? Machrinu.
Sila Prabhupada explains his commentary to this seventh Sadhyaya that while starting this seventh sadhyaya, Jnana Vijana Yoga, with this word Machrinu, Tatsrinu, listen to me, listen from me, Shri Krishna actually means that Bhakti Yoga starts from hearing.
Shravanam Kirtanam Vishnah Smaranam Padasvanam, Archanam Vandanam Dasyam, Sakyamat Mani Vedanam. So this is the pass of Bhakti and the Pas of Bhakti starts from Shravanam.
And Krishna here very beautifully says, Tajrinu, you hear, and in this way you will understand me in full, you will understand me.
Asam Shayam Samagrammaam, and you will clear all your doubts. All your doubts will be completely dissipated or destroyed by this process of hearing.
Srila Jiva Gaswami, one of the Acharyas of Gaudiya Sampradaya, very beautifully explains what happens when we hear. He says, Sravanadhvara, kinchit Anubuti Bhavati. When we hear, we not only hear, we get little experience.
Some vijana is coming to us. Not only information.
Sometimes nowadays people think that knowledge means information. But knowledge does not mean information. Knowledge means vijan, the realization, and this realization comes from hearing.
From hearing somebody who is realized and who is speaking, not from his mind, but repeating the words of the Acharyas, repeating faithfully the message of Parampara, as Dr. Siran Ganathan very beautifully showed to us while
explaining the message of Bhagavad Gita, 7th adhyaya of Bhagavad Gita, according to Yamuna acharya and Ramanuja acharya.
When somebody speaks from Prampara, not from the mind, not from the speculation of the mind, but from the message which is given through the chain
of the cyclic succession, then tachrinu, jnana and vijnana will come to his to the persons, to the hearer, to the listener,
not only jnana, but also vijnana, kiñcitānubhūti bhavati. And then of course Dr. Siran Ganatan explained that in the second verse Krishna
Distinction between jnana and vijnana
speaks about jnanam vijnanam, jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānaṁ idaṁ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ, I will explain to you aśeṣataḥ completely without any trace of doubt, without any anything to be explained more, jnana and vijnana.
And of course, jnana and vijnana can be explained in many, many different ways. Our Acharyas say that jnana is the knowledge about this material world, the material knowledge.
And vijnana is the transcendental knowledge, is the knowledge about the Lord who is beyond this world, about the Supreme Lord, Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond this world and who is the source and origin of this world.
So jnanam and vijnanam means you know about the energies of the Lord, you understand that this world is nothing but the energies of the Lord, and the matter is nothing but again manifestation of the energy of the Lord.
And by understanding this jnana, that this is directly the energy of the Lord, you will be able to understand vijnanam. You will be able to have some glimpse of the transcendental knowledge who is the Lord, who is beyond this matter.
Of course, jnanam and vijnanam may also mean something different. Jnanam and vijnanam may mean that jnana is the knowledge which is being explained in the shastra.
And vijnanam is the means to realize this knowledge, is the means to make this knowledge practical and applicable. So again, Krishna basically says here that
it's not enough to have jnana, you have to have vijnana. You have to have realization, you have to have deeper knowledge. It's not enough to know the matter. Dr. Gajendra Panda said that I'm a scientist,
and we know that science in Sanskrit is vijnana, I'm Vijnika. But actually, this is not Vijnan.
In reality, this is not vijyan. The real vijn is the ability to understand the spirit who is in this material world, who also manifests in this material world.
The ability to understand that we are functioning not in a matter, that we are living entities who are placed in this material world, but actually we are spiritual, and our real connection, real purpose in life is to realize spirit, not to realize matter.
All the scientists they are trying to realize matter, but it's not the matter which matters. What matters is God, because He is the main matter. He is the main subject matter of this whole creation.
Rarity of knowing Krishna in truth
And this is exactly what Sri Krishna himself is explaining in the beginning of this chapter.
But then, very interestingly, he says this famous verse that manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye — he says that there are very few people who are trying to achieve perfection.
manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu — out of thousands and thousands and thousands of people — yatatām api siddhaye — hardly anyone is trying to become siddha, trying to understand deeper truth.
But then he says, out of many of these, yatatām api siddhānāṁ — of those who are trying and achieving perfection, yatatām api siddhānāṁ, kaścid vetti māṁ tattvataḥ. Hardly anyone knows me in truth.
Hardly anyone knows me in truth.
It is a very interesting statement by Krishna, and basically it's very intimately and closely related with the subject matter of this chapter because this chapter not only speaks about surrender this chapter not only speaks about Saranagati.
Most importantly, or at least this is a very important and of course Dr. Siren Ganathan he explained this that this chapter also explains the obstacles to surrender. What is the Saranagati Viroda?
What is the impediment for us to surrender?
And Krishna hints on this subject matter of this chapter in the beginning where he says: many people can achieve perfection, many people can have knowledge of the shastra, but hardly anyone knows me.
Why hardly anyone knows me? Because even though it's not difficult to surrender, but because people are internally attached to material energy of the Lord. This attachment is the main impediment.
So, speaking generally, this chapter explains first of all, repeating what Dr. Siran Ganathan has said: that this chapter explains the
energies of the Lord: material energy, spiritual energy, jīva-bhūtaṁ mahā-bāho. He explains aparāyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām. He explains the material energy. In the next verse actually.
Bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca. He explains the origin of both material and spiritual energy, which is He Himself, the Lord.
He will say that everything is is strung on me as the beads are strung on the or as the jewels are strung on the thread or as the pearls are strung on the sutra, sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva. So he will explain this.
He explains material energy, spiritual energy, jīva-bhūtaṁ yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat. He will explain himself as the source of this. He will explain the means how to know him.
And the means how to know him, daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama daivī guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā. mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te.
That only by surrendering, daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī, uh only by surrendering to Him one can achieve knowledge of Him. He explains this Upaya of Saranagati as the means of knowledge of the Supreme Lord.
But very importantly for us, he also explains what is the internal impediment for us to know the Lord is. How difficult it is to know human truth because of our attachment to matter.
And ultimately, the idea behind this is that as soon as we understand, as quickly as we understand that the Lord is the most important matter, and everything else does not matter,
that as soon as we understand this, that He is the most mahat-pūrṇa subject matter in the whole creation, we will have to turn away from the matter.
And we will have to turn our consciousness to him, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. We have to take shelter of him in yoga, in connection with him, by thinking about him.
And the sooner we understand this, the better for us. Otherwise, he will be mūḍhāḥ duṣkṛtinaḥ. We will try to seek pleasures in this material world and ultimately waste this rare chance of human life to understand God.
Material and spiritual energies of Krishna
So that's basically the gist or the subject matter of this chapter, and I will go verse by verse explaining a little bit here and there what is the most important.
Krishna says in the first verse he describes the five main material energies, sorry, eight main material energies. bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakriti rastata. This is bina prakriti.
This is his energy, but it is separated energy. This material energy is called Bina Prakriti because it gives us the facility to separate it and to exploit this matter.
The Lord is not clearly visible in this material world, and in this way, He facilitates our material enjoyment. This This matter is pretending that it's not connected with the Lord. Therefore, it's called Maya.
What is called Maya? What is the definition of Maya? Maya is something which can be measured, which can be exploited, which can be enjoyed by the living entities. But we have to understand that it's actually his energy.
He himself clearly says it, even though it is Binda Prakriti, nevertheless, it's my energy, Mamamaya. He will say about this in the 14th verse, Mama Maya Duratiya, Dai vihiesha, it's divine, it's connected with me.
So, and therefore, in the next verse he says, but there is a higher energy. And he basically directs this statement to us.
He says to us: don't degrade yourself, don't degrade your consciousness by being absorbed in matter.
Your absorption in matter, when you, who belong to the higher energy, absorb your consciousness in matter, you become like matter. And this is the degradation of the consciousness. We have higher purpose in life.
And therefore, we have to think about Him, not about the matter. So, therefore, he says beautifully: That this jiva bhuta, it is for jiva buddha. For the spirit souls, this whole material creation is created by the Lord.
For our facility to give us the chance to enjoy this matter, but at the same time to evolve and to become disillusioned.
As Sri Sukha Deva Gaswamy speaks in the 10th canto of Shimad Bhagavatam, he explains this very beautifully. He says, Matrartham, Bhavartham, Atmanikalpanaycha. Matrarthamcha Bhavarthamcha Atmanikalpanayacha.
This uh world is created uh matrartham for our enjoyment, for our usage of our matra, of our senses, for our interaction with the tanmatras, with the sense objects, matrartham. But not only for this, bhavartham.
This world is actually created for us to evolve through the chain of birth and death, through Punarjanma.
We get different bodies and through these different bodies by following the path of Dharma we gradually evolve our consciousness. And ātmāni akalpanāyatya.
And ultimately we will have to uh become disillusioned in this uh futile attempts to enjoy in this material world, to become happy in this material world, and ultimately we will have to surrender ourselves to God.
Ātmāni kalpanāyaḥ. By giving ourselves completely to the Supreme Lord only we will become happy. So this is the intention abhiprāya of these verses.
And then in the sixth verse he says, etat-yonīni bhūtāni sarvāṇīty upadhāraya, ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayastathā. That all whatever you see is coming from me. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate.
He says, ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayastathā. I am I am the source of this world, but not only the source. Sometimes people say that yeah, God is the creator of this world.
But here he says, no, I'm also the destroyer of this world. Ultimately, this material energy is my energy, and I do whatever I like with the material energy.
Whenever there is a time, I create this world, whenever there is a time, I destroy this world.
But we as the living entities have to understand the real purpose of us being placed in this world, which is ultimately to know God. And to know God means to surrender to God.
Like Dr. Śīraṅganāthan he quoted this verse from Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyaḥ, that only when the Lord is pleased with us, He will reveal Himself to us.
So, when He is pleased to us, when we surrender to Him, and when we think about Him and pray to Him and when we are connected with Him.
And therefore, he stresses this point in the next verse, one of the most important verses of Bhagavad-gītā. I am invisible thread behind everything which we see in this material world.
I am behind everything which is visible. You may not see me, but know that I am the essence of everything which you see. I am the foundation. I am the adhikāraṇa of everything which is seen in this material world.
And if we understand this, we will be able to always relate with the Lord. Actually, the Lord gives us the hint how to be connected with the Lord, by thinking with Him about Him. And how do we think about Him?
Recognizing Krishna behind all creation
By understanding that He is everywhere. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya, he will say in this next verse that I am the essence of rasa. I am the rasa. I am the taste in water. In water, Ipsu, I am rasa.
And we're all looking for rasa. We're all looking for taste. And he will explain that this, he is the quintessence of everything which we see. And by understanding this, we will be able to meditate upon Him.
Śrīla Prabhupāda says that actually this is the gradual way of evolution of the soul because he says even the drunkard who is attached to wine, to the taste of wine, while drinking wine,
he can sing raso 'ham apsu kaunteya. I am the essence of this taste which is there in water. And this is what I am enjoying.
Ultimately, I am enjoying the Lord, and by thinking about Him, he will evolve, and ultimately, He will give up all these futile attempts to become happy through this wine.
He will uh understand that uh why should I actually degrade myself through this activity if I can elevate myself by thinking about the Lord and remembering the Lord. So the Lord says that I am the thread behind everything.
And actually, what the Lord means to say is that I am the connecting power. Because if we take, if we take beads, you know, we don't see the thread. But we see the beads.
But we can know that there is a thread behind the beads because the beads are together. If the thread would not be there, the beads would not be together. They would be scattered all over the place.
They would be completely lost and they will be chaos. We see everywhere there is harmony, there is order, there is law. Why? Because Krishna is behind everything. God is behind everything.
It's so simple, but still, because people are duskṛtina, because people committed so many sinful activities, they cannot understand such simple truths, which Krishna explains for our benefit and for the benefit of everyone who has some brain.
So in the five verses, God Krishna Himself explains that He is the taste of water, He is Pranavaksarva Vedishu, He is the sound om in all the Vedas. Shabdah Kh, I am the sound in the ether.
Porosamrishou, I am the power or talent in the human being, the ability of
do something puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca tejas cāsmi anadulterated odor or smell in earth. And so on so forth, he says, Bidjam Mam Sarva Bhutanam. It's also very important.
He says, I am bīja. Usually we see that little bīja, little seed, when we put it in the earth, when it grows, it disappears. But Krishna says that I am eternal bīja. Even though so much has come from me, so much is
manifested from me, from this bīja, from me. I am still intact. I am not in this.
And then ultimately he says, Dharma Viruda Bhutishu Kamasmi Bharatarsabha I am Kama, I am the desire to enjoy in the living entities, sexual desire actually, which is not against Dharma.
He says, I am everything, I am the essence of everything. And you already somehow or other you already connected with me.
It's just because of illusion, because of māyā, because you are mugdha, because you are mohita, because you're completely bewildered by the influence of material energy. You don't remember about me.
And he uh concludes this section of uh the seventh chapter by saying, yāṁś caivāḥ sāttvikā bhāvā rājasās tāmasāś ca ye, matta eveti tān viddhi na tv ahaṁ te He says everything which you see created from these three guṇas of material nature, sattva, rajas and tamas, everything is actually coming from me, but I am not in them.
This is a very important point that God is everywhere, but He is not there too. He is separate, his existence is separate. That's his mystical power, that's his acintya-śakti.
By his acintya-śakti, he is within everything, but at the same time, he is beyond everything. Therefore, he is called Bhagavān. Therefore, he has this Shadai Shvarya Purna.
By his Shadai Shvarya Purna, his transcendental qualities, which is transrational, which is not logical. It's illogical to say that somebody can be inside and outside of everything.
But the Lord can do it because He has this acintya śakti. He is Bhagavān. Therefore, he is called Bhagavān. And therefore, it's very difficult to understand him by our limited brain.
To understand him, we have to have his mercy. And that's the essence of this chapter.
If we want to have not only jñāna, not only theoretical knowledge, not only the knowledge of this material world, if we want to have Vigyan, the realized knowledge of God, we have to have His mercy. How to get His mercy?
There is only one way to get His mercy, that is surrender.
And he will say about this in this next verse, he says, uh in a certain verse that uh because people are mohitam mohitam nabijanati mama bhyam paramavyayam because they are mohit this word mohit many times will be here in this seventh adhyāya of Bhagavad Gītā.
It's coming from the Sanskrit dhatu moha-vaiśicya. Moha-vaiśicya means you know bewilderment. Mugdha is coming from the same dhatu, moha-vaiśicya, Mohitam. People are bewildered. Why are we bewildered?
Why they are bewildered, because they are completely absorbed or connected or attached to this matter. And therefore he says, you know, the connection between 13th and 14th verse is very interesting.
He says, nobody knows me, Mohitam Nabijanati, Mama Bhyam Paramavyayam. Then the natural question is: how to know you? Does anyone can know you?
Surrendering to overcome material illusion
What is the method to know you? And Krishna says this very important key verse of the seventh chapter of Bhagavad Gītā.
Mama māyā duratyayā mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etām taranti te. He says this energy of mine is very difficult to overcome because it's Daivi. Daivi is coming from Divdhatu. Divdatu means it's variegated, it's it's dazzling. It has such a strong effulgence, it completely attracts our attention.
You know, we can see so many beautiful things in this world. And daivī means it's basically līlā. Daivī means also. It's the Shakti which is Krida Shakti. It's the līlā śakti of the Lord.
And we are attracted to this śakti of the Lord. And therefore, mama māyā duratyayā. The Lord Himself, Krishna Himself says it's very difficult to overcome my energy because it's my energy.
But because it's my energy, mām eva ye prapadyante, māyām etām taranti te, whoever will surrender unto me, I will save you. He will cross over this material nature. He will easily be free from the influence of this material nature.
You know, this material nature is like a dog. You know, when we come to somebody's home and there is a big dog in his courtyard, in his garden, and the dog runs upon us and barks upon us.
We cannot do anything with this dog. But if the master of the dog says, just keep quiet, go
don't bother him, then the dog will... So he says, mām evaiṣa prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. And Śrīla Prabhupāda explains while commenting on this verse, Kṛṣṇa
by saying, mām eva ye prapadyante, he puts finger upon his chest. Mām eva ye prapadyante. Mām means, mom ever means to me and only to me, not to anyone else. Don't try to surrender to anyone else.
Because people they surrender. Sometimes they surrender to doctor, sometimes they surrender to somebody else. But Kṛṣṇa says: no, no, this sir, these kinds of surrender are useless.
Mām eva ya prapadyante. I am the object of surrender. I am the source of everything. You have to surrender to me, and only in this way you will be able to solve all the problems in your life.
And then Kṛṣṇa says: na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ, all these people, duṣkṛtinaḥ, the sinful people, they will never surrender unto me. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ.
Why? Because they are mūḍhās. Because they are bewildered. Because they only know the material nature. They only think, they think I am the matter. And only matter matters.
But the Lord here wants to say, matter doesn't matter. I am the only one who matters.
So he says, this mūḍhās and narādhamās and māyayāpahṛta-jñānās and āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ, this is four kinds of demonic people. Four kinds of people who are attached to matter.
And very beautifully, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, one of the Gauḍīya Ācāryas, he explains that actually the Lord here does not speak. He makes a very beautiful point about this verse.
He says that the Lord here does not speak about ordinary people. The Lord here speaks about people of knowledge, people who
study śāstra. But even though they study śāstra, even though they may know śāstra, they don't know the essence of the śāstra which is God and which is the, uh, surrender to God.
And therefore the mūḍha, the narādhama, the māyā-pahṛta-jñānāḥ. And he says, he specifically says, those people who speculate about Sāṅkhya- yoga, they don't know the Lord. And he says they are māyā-pahṛta-jñānāḥ.
Those people who only think that the Shastras speak about material sacrifice, sacrifice for material benefit, who study Vedas, they may know Veda. They are mūḍha. They are foolish people. They are bewildered.
They don't know the essence of the Vedas. So he specifically says that this is not just ordinary people, even knowledgeable people can belong to this category. Why? Āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ.
This is a very important thing, because what is Asura? Who is Asura? Āsuraḥ, Asura, the one who is very attached to this material existence, to this material life. Asura means life. Asura, asura-taḥ, iti āsurah.
Asura is somebody who is very much attached to this material existence, doesn't know anything behind this matter. And therefore, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ. He becomes duṣkṛtina and... He na prapadyante.
Four categories of pious surrendering souls
He never surrenders to the Lord. But then he says, and it's a very beautiful verse which was already explained a little bit by, uh, Professor Sriranganathan, catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ.
He says, ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha. That there is four kinds of people who are sukṛtina, who are pious people, who are nice people, who actually sukṛti. Sukṛti means they know the essence of the Vedas.
They also study Vedas, but they're not duṣkṛta. They may be kṛti, but they duṣkṛta. They study Vedas, but they don't know the essence of the Vedas because they are too attached to matter.
Sukṛtina, they surrender to the Lord, and they are ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca. The four kinds of ārta, they are in problem. Dr. Gajendra Panda is in front of us. Gajendra Mokṣa Adhyāya is there in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So, Gajendra is the example of this ārta: the one who is in trouble, the one who surrenders to the Lord. We know these beautiful prayers of Gajendra, the elephant who is surrendering to the Lord.
So this is this is Sukritinaha. They surrender because of the sufferings of this material world. And the Lord glorifies them.
The Lord says that even though the motivation may be not hundred percent pure, but still they are Sukritina. They have Sukriti, they have some brain, and therefore they surrender to the Lord.
Or they are Jigyasu, Jigyasu, the sages of the forest of Naimisharanya who are performing this sacrifice, very glorious sacrifice, and Śaunaka Ṛṣi is the representative of them, the Jigyasu.
They want to know the truth, but they may not be specifically interested in the Lord in the beginning.
But the point is that when they surrender, they will ultimately understand that the Lord is the essence of all the desires and only He can fulfill the desires.
And Ārtārthi, Dhruva Mahārāja is the example of Ārtārthi. He wanted to have kingdom which is greater than the kingdom of his father and therefore he surrendered to God.
So these three types, Ārtaḥ, Jijñāsu, and Ārtārthi, and jijñāsavaś ca Ārtārthi, they are sakāma-bhaktas. They have some desire. They want to fulfill their desire by surrendering to the Lord.
But Jñānī ca, Jñānī is niṣkāma-bhakta. And therefore, the Lord Himself glorifies Jñānī. And ultimately, when He says Jñānī, He means bhakta. This is the most important understanding because He says, Teṣām jñānī nitya-yuktaḥ. He is nitya-yukta. He is always engaged in serving me. He is always connected with me by thinking about me.
Ekā bhaktiḥ viśiṣyate. That's His viśeṣa. His viśeṣa, His specialty is ekā-bhakti. Only one goal He has. He doesn't have many other goals. And therefore the Lord glorifies this jñānī because He is one-pointed.
His, His citta is ekāgratā, ekāgratā-citta. Something which Patanjali Muni glorifies very much in his Yoga
Sutras, that somebody comes to this point of ekāgratā, and this is the glorious achievement, only then he can really meditate. Meditation is only possible when you become one-pointed.
When your citta becomes one-pointed and is not bahu-śākhā, is not many branched. In many different ways our consciousness is not dissipated. And therefore, Krishna He glorifies this jnani.
And of course, the very important verse of this chapter which Dr. Siranganathan explains, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante, jñānavān māṁ prapadyate, the one who knows, the one who knows truth.
What is the knowledge the Lord is speaking here? What is this jnana and vijnana? This is the knowledge of the Lord. And therefore, the one who knows the Lord, he is jñānavān. There is nobody else who is jñānavān.
Everyone is mugdha, mūḍha. He is mugdha. He is bewildered. He is mohita. He is not really the knowledgeable person, only one who knows the Lord and surrenders the Lord because knowledge means surrender.
There is no point of saying that I know the Lord and not being surrendered because it means that you don't know the Lord. Knowledge means surrender and surrender means that you know the Lord.
Surrender means that you have this understanding of who is the Lord and how He can fulfill all your desires? And Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. Again Krishna says, rare is the soul.
Sudurlabha, very rare is the soul. Why is this soul very rare? Because most of the people unfortunately attached to matter. Most of the people are completely bewildered by matter, and that's the main problem.
So the Lord explains very beautifully not only the path, the way to know Him, but also the main obstacle. We have to turn away our consciousness from this matter.
Unless and until we turn away our consciousness from this matter, unless and until we understand that there is no happiness in this material world without the Lord, we will remain bewildered, we will remain attached to this material world.
Futility of demigod and impersonal worship
And therefore, Krishna very strongly deprecates such people. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ. They also do surrender, they also do śaraṇāgati, but wrongly, anya-devatā.
And therefore māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ. The jñāna, the buddhi is totally lost, stolen. Hṛta-jñānāḥ. They don't have real knowledge. They don't really have knowledge.
And therefore they actually prakṛti-niyatāḥ svayā, they are not really evolving. It's very important. The essence of our existence in this material world is to evolve, to evolve our consciousness.
But they only follow their own nature, their own karma, prakṛti-niyatāḥ svayā. They only follow the rules which is already there. There is nothing glorious in their surrender.
When we surrender to God, there is a quantitative leap, quantitative change in our life. Like myself. I was born in the family of atheists. My mother was atheist, my father was atheist, my grandmother was atheist, my
grandfather was a scientist. There were all scientists. And here I am sitting in front of you with this Vastra and speaking about God. How is that possible?
Because somehow or other, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and his followers, I surrendered. I'm trying to surrender. I didn't surrender, but I'm trying to surrender. And therefore, I'm not following my nature.
If I would follow my nature, I would probably drink vodka as everyone in Russia do. You know, whatever. I would do something stupid. But I'm not doing this.
I'm only eating prasāda and I'm chanting Hare Krishna, chanting the names of God, chanting mantras, studying Bhagavad-gītā, studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, studying Mahābhārata, day in and day out. Why?
Because of this glorious process of surrender.
And therefore, Krishna in the next few verses he says that ultimately even those people who worship others they don't get anything and even that small paramatma within their heart uh who helps them to worship these other gods.
He says they're so stupid, they don't understand that it's only me who is trying to help them to connect with other gods. And he says, because the antavatu Phalamti Sam, Tadbhavat Alpameda Sam, they Alpameda Saha.
They are not really Buddhiman, they're not really knowledgeable. They don't have real intelligence. They are alpamada saha. Because what they get, they get very ridiculous uh palam antavatu palam tasam. It's it's temporary.
Very så it will be finished. Nothing kan be remain because they are only egre to get this material fruits and therefore they're stupid as the Lord Himself says.
And then very important verse: the 24th verse, we are coming to the end of this chapter. Just a few more minutes, Professor.
So he says very important verse Avyakam Vyaktima Pannam Manyate Mamabudhayaha Parambhava Majananto Mamma Vyayam Anuttam.
He says that Abudeaha, these not intelligent people, the people who don't have enough Buddhi, enough intelligence, they think that from avyaktam. Vyaktim comes. I am Vyakta. I am in front of you. I have form. I am Krishna.
But the people saying that I have come from Aviaktam. And he says, this is foolish idea. Even Madhusuddana Saraswati, the glorious, I mean, and very uh significant representative of this Advaita path.
Commenting on this verse, he glorifies Krishna and he says, he says, Krishna is the who is so foolish to say that he is the uh just a material entity he says he is God he is uh vyakta he is in front of us, he has certain form, he didn't come from a vyakta, he didn't come from impersonal Brahman, he is God Himself.
So that's a very important verse where Krishna says that this is again impediment on a path of surrender. Because surrender means personal God. I cannot surrender to somebody impersonal.
How can I surrender to somebody impersonal? What is the point of surrendering to somebody impersonal? You know, can I surrender to air? Air is impersonal. Can I surrender to water?
What is the meaning of surrendering to water, to surrendering to air, to surrender to somebody impersonal. Surrender means I subjugate my limited will, power, to the higher power. I become adhina. I become surrendered.
I become I follow what he wants me to do. I don't do what I want to do or what I like to do. I do what he wants to do. But he if he is impersonal, how I can surrender to him?
And then Krishna says a few more verses: Naham prakashak Sarvasya Yoga Maya Samavritaha. Muddayam Nabijanati Lokamam Aja Mavya Yam.
You know, people don't know me because I'm covered by this Yoga Maya. This Yoga Maya, this spiritual energy of mine is covering me.
Like in Ishapanishad, it's also says that please remove This dazzling covering which is the hindrance for me to see your face to face. And Krishna says, I'm covered from them. I'm not visible to them.
And therefore, Vedaham. But I know everything. Vedaham Samatita ni vartamana ni charjuna. Nobody knows me, I know everything. I am not in Maya.
All these people they are covered by this Yoga Maya. And therefore they don't surrender to me.
Bewilderment caused by material dualities
And why they are covered in the Yoga Maya by the Yoga Maya. The most one of the most important verses of this chapter is the verse Very, very important verse.
Mohinabharata, Sarva Bhutanam, Bhutani, Sam Moham, Sargayanti Parantapa. Everyone is born in this world is bewildered. How he is bewildered? By which means we are bewildered. Ichcha Dvesha Samutina.
Our bewilderment, the source of our bewilderment is Ichya and Vesha, Raga and Vesha, attachment and hatred. We like something, we don't like something. This is good, this is bad.
This is man, this is woman, this is cold, this is hot. You know, and we are always judging. This is good, this is bad, this is good, this is bad.
And until we stop this judgment, this is good, this is bad, until we stop this foolish idea that something is good and something is bad until we surrender and say everything is good, everything according to the will of God.
Today is very hot, very good, by the supreme W of the Supreme Lord, it is very hot, very good. Today is very cold, now is very cold season, very good. Everything is good, nothing is bad.
This dvanva mocha, this desire to enjoy this material world of dualities, this desire to be in this dualities and to judge, desire to always measure. Miyateana Yayaiti Maya. What is Maya?
This is bewildering energy of the Lord, illusory energy of the Lord. This is the energy which prompts us, which encourages us. Please measure me. Please tell me this is good and this is bad.
And we being stupid, seduced by this energy of Maya, dvandva mohanābhārata. We are born with this. The problem is that we are born with this idea, this is good, this is bad.
Sarvabhūtāni sammoḥaṁ sargayanti. They are from the very birth we have this ingrained in us, good and bad understanding, rāga and dveṣa.
As Patañjali Muni says, avidyā, asmitā, rāgadveṣa and abhiniveśa. This is pañca-kleśa, which we have, five sources of suffering.
Avidya starting with avidyā, but avidyā creates asmitā of the false identity, the false I, ahaṅkāra, and then rāga and dveṣa. And rāga and dveṣa create abhiniveśa, the fear of death, absorption in the material life.
And then the last, there are three more verses. Then the question is: how to surrender? Who can surrender?
Purification through association with devotees
And Krishna answers this question. Very interesting verse which says that only one who finished all his pāpa, all his sins, all his duṣkṛtina, all his sinful activities,
who is completely free, yeṣāṁ tv antagataṁ pāpaṁ, antagataṁ completely finished, eradicated, jñānānāṁ puṇya-karmāṇam, who is doing puṇya karma, only he can bhajante māṁ bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ.
These people they very diligently and very strongly worship the Supreme Lord.
But the question is, and this is the last thing which I will say: how is that possible that by doing material punya we can surrender to the Lord? Material Pyaun is material. and tamas.
And Krishna already says that this is all in the realm of sattva, rajas Puṇya is sāttvik. By doing sāttvik activities, we cannot really surrender to the Lord.
The sāttvik activities, sāttvik puṇya, material puṇya, material charity cannot be the cause of surrendering to the Lord, which is transcendental.
So, what Krishna means here by saying, yeṣāṁ tv antagataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmāṇam, what is this puṇya karma which is the cause of my surrender to the Lord.
And our ācāryas, Śrīla Prabhupāda, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, they explain this point very beautifully. They say this puṇya-karmāṇaṁ is sādhu-saṅga, is the association with bhaktas.
Only this is the real puṇya. When we do something which is pleasing to them, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa he quotes Medinī dictionary of Medini. And he says Punya according to Medini means something which is pleasing.
Pleasing to whom? Pleasing to Bhaktas, pleasing to pure devotees. This sādhu-saṅga with pure devotees can give us the impetus to surrender, and this is the solution to all the problems.
Krishna delineated material energy, spiritual energy, said that he is the source of everything. He said that the only way to understand him is to surrender to him.
And then he said the problem is that everyone is attached to matter. So how to solve this problem? There is only one solution to this problem. There is no other solution to this problem.
Material punya, material charity will not help. The solution to this problem is sadhu sangha.
Sādhu-saṅga, sādhu-saṅga. Sādhu-saṅga sarva-śāstra-kai-lava-mātra, sādhu-saṅga sarva- siddhi-hoi. Just lava-mātra, just very, very short association with sādhus, with those devotees who completely concentrated their consciousness upon the Supreme Lord, can purify our consciousness.
And if we do something which is pleasing to them, they will give us their mercy, their grace, and by their grace we will be able to surrender to the Supreme Lord and our problem will be solved.
So, Baladeva Vidyabhushana, while finishing this chapter, he says ultimately this chapter is about how to surrender to the Lord. And it speaks about four kinds of people who ultimately surrender to the Lord.
Glorifying the devotee who is jñāni, who knows the Lord in reality. And he says actually, there is the fifth type of the pious
people who is mentioned in the 29th verse, jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya, mām āśritya yatanti, those who want to be free from jarā and maraṇa, from the old age and death, they also surrender to the Lord and all these people who surrender to the Lord they will be able to think about Him at the time of death.
And here we come to the eighth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā which explains in detail what does it mean to surrender to the Lord at the time of death, how one will be able to think about Him and to remember about Him at the time of death.
So this is the essence of this seventh
chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, which is called Jñāna-Vijñāna-yoga. The connection, mystical connection with the Lord through jñāna, understanding of His energies and vijñāna, understanding Him, His personality who is the source of all these spiritual and material energies
by surrendering to Him, by śaraṇāgati. Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya varjanam rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā ātma-nikṣepa-kārpaṇye ṣaḍvidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ. Thank you very much. Bahut bahut dhanyavāda.