Bhagavad-gita 1.1. The Secret of Understanding of Bhagavad-gita
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Абу-Даби · 2016
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Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamaṁ deviṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ tato jayam udīrayet, tato jayam udīrayet. Hare Krishna.
Universal understanding of God in Bhagavad-gita
Mehbahut Kushihu. I'm very happy to be here with you in Avatari Desh. I will not try to speak Hindi because my lecture will be too short I'm really happy to be with all of you and it's a great pleasure for me to be with you Today
we were there in this big masjid, big mosque. And God is one. But people they have different conceptions of God due to their understanding and actually Prabhupada he was very bold
by saying that Bhagavad-gītā gives universal understanding of God, which is non sectarian, which can be accepted by everyone.
If people are broad-minded enough to read Bhagavad-gītā, they will understand the beauty of this conception of God where Kṛṣṇa explains the nature of absolute reality on different levels.
And anyone, whatever faith he belongs to, can really accept Bhagavad-gītā. But there is one secret in Bhagavad-gītā.
And I wanted today with you to discuss this little secret which is revealed immediately in the very beginning.
We really have to understand very clearly why people have so many different understandings, conceptions of God, different ideas about God. And that's also revealed in Bhagavad-gītā itself from the very first verse.
So what I will do now, I will read first verse of Bhagavad-gītā, famous verse: dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yutsavāḥ. And I will read Prabhupāda's purport and I will explain a few points which are important
for us to understand Bhagavad-gītā in general. Dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca: dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yutsavāḥ, māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya. Dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca. What Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: dharmakṣetre
in the place of pilgrimage. In the place of pilgrimage. Kurukshetre. In the place named Kurukshetra. In the place named Kurukshetra. samavetāḥ assembled, s-tava desiring to fight, māmakāḥ my party sons, Pāṇḍavāś
the sons of Pāṇḍu ca and eva certainly. Kim. What? What? Akurvata. Did they do? Did they do? Sanjay. Sañjaya. O Sañjaya.
Translation: Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjay, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra desiring to fight, what did they do?
Bhagavad-gītā is the widely read theistic science summarized in the Gītā-māhātmya, glorification of the Gītā.
There it says that one should read Bhagavad-gītā very scrutinizingly with the help of a person who is a devotee of Sri Krishna and try to understand it without personally motivated interpretations.
The example of clear understanding is there in the Bhagavad-gītā itself, in the way the teaching is understood by Arjuna, who heard the Gītā directly from the Lord.
If someone is fortunate enough to understand the Bhagavad-gītā in the line of disciplic succession without motivated interpretation, then he surpasses all studies of Vedic wisdom and all scriptures of the world.
One will find in the Bhagavad-gītā all that is contained in other scriptures, but the reader will also find things which are not to be found elsewhere. That is the specific standard of the Gītā.
It is the perfect theistic science because it is directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Shri Krishna.
The topics discussed by Dhritarashtra and Sanjay, as described in the Mahābhārata, form the basic principle of this great philosophy.
It is understood that this philosophy evolved in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, which is a sacred place of pilgrimage from time immemorial, from the Vedic age.
It was spoken by the Lord when He was present personally on this planet for the guidance of mankind.
The word dharmakṣetra, a place where religious rituals are performed, is significant because on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, the Supreme Personality of God was present on the side of Arjuna.
Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kurus, was highly doubtful about the possibility of his sons' ultimate victory. In his doubt, he inquired from his secretary Sanjaya, what did they do?
He was confident that both his sons and the sons of his younger brother Pandu were assembled on the field of Kurukshetra for a determined engagement of the war. Still his inquiry is significant.
He did not want a compromise between the cousins and brothers, and he wanted to be sure about the fate of his sons on the battlefield. Because the battle was arranged to be fought at Kurukshetra,
which is mentioned elsewhere in the Vedas as a place of worship, even for the denizens of heaven. Dhritarashtra became very fearful about the influence of the holy place on the outcome of the battle.
He knew very well that this would influence Arjuna and the sons of Pandu favorably, because by nature they were all virtuous.
Sanjaya was a student of Vyasa, and therefore, by the mercy of Vyasa, Sanjaya was able to envision the battlefield of Kurukshetra, even while he was in the room of Dhritarashtra.
And so Dhritarashtra asked him about the situation on the battlefield. Both the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra belonged to the same family. But Dhritarashtra's mind is disclosed herein.
He deliberately claims only his sons as Kurus, and he separated the sons of Pandu from the family heritage.
One can thus understand the specific position of Dhritarashtra in his relationship with his nephews, the sons of Pandu. As in the paddy field, the unnecessary plants are taken out,
so it is expected from the very beginning of these topics that in the religious field of Kurukshetra, where the father of religion Shri Krishna was present, the unwanted plants, like Dhritarashtra's son, Duryodhana, and others would
be wiped out and the thoroughly religious persons headed by Yuthishtira would be established by the Lord.
This is the significance of the words Dharmakshetre and Kurukshetre, apart from their historical and Vedic importance.
Namaḥ oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine Namaste sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaḥ ca kṛpā-sindhuba_eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ Jaya Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu Nityānanda Śrī Advaita Gadādhara Śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Pitfalls of personal motivation in interpretation
ājānulambitabhujau kanakāvadātau saṅkīrtanaika-pitarau kamalāyatākṣau viśvambharau dvija-varau yuga-dharma-pālau vande jagat-priya-karau karuṇāvatārau prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva vīddhy anādī ubhāv api
yantaḥ praviśya mamāvācaṁ imam āsuptaṁ saṁjīvayati akhila-śakti-dharaḥ svadhāmnā So Srila Prabhupada explains in this basically the very first verse of Bhagavad-gītā that Bhagavad-gītā is a very special scripture because it contains all the theistic ideas and more.
The only problem is that we should understand Bhagavad-gītā properly. And that's not an easy thing because people read the same book and they see completely different things.
And Śrīla Prabhupāda specifically explains that this is the crux of the issue: how to read Bhagavad-gītā without personally motivated interpretations.
Usually, people are motivated personally, and we have to really understand this very point: how to put aside our motivations and try to see in reality what Krishna wants to say to us and act accordingly.
So many interpretations are there and you know people we know Mahatma Gandhi he used Bhagavad-gītā to prove that Ahimsa is the way to go.
It's very interesting because practically in every chapter Bhagavad Gita of Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says fight, fight, fight. And then Mahatma Gandhi takes this book and says, no, no, no fight.
So it's really interesting how people read. Once I was with Indian ambassador to Russia. He's a very learned man. He's a diplomat of the highest kaliber.
He was already 60 years old by the time, around 60, so he lived a long life. And he started, we started talking about Bhagavad-gītā.
And he first he wanted to disprove this interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi. He said, you know, this is not the essence of Bhagavad-gītā to stop fighting because in Bhagavad-gītā itself Krishna says you fight.
And I said, yeah, you're right. So what is the essence of Bhagavad-gītā? I say and he said to me, the essence of Bhagavad-gītā is to fight for the motherland. I say, how? How is it the essence?
You know, he said, yeah, because Arjuna is a kshatriya, and Krishna says you fight because you're kshatriya. That's the essence of Bhagavad-gītā.
I I told him, uh don't you know that in the very last verse of Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says, Sarva Dharman Parityajama kamsaranam raja, you give up all these dharmas and you just surrender unto me.
He says, Yeah, he says this in Bhagavad-gītā? Not possible. He said, I will read it again. So what I want to say is that people may read the same book and they will only see what they want to see in the book.
If you want to see Ahimsa, you will see Ahimsa. Because Krishna says, Amanitvam Adam Bitwam, Ahimsa Ksantira It's there in Bhagavad-gītā. So you will only see this, ahiṃsā, nothing else.
If you want to see that you should fight for motherland, you will see that you should fight for motherland. But what is the use if we only see what we want to see?
The real use this book will be useful for us if we try to see what Krishna wants us to see. What Krishna wants to say.
Therefore Śrīla Prabhupāda called his book, his translation and commentary, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Yathā-rūpa.
Hidden meaning of the first chapter
So he's really trying to explain what Krishna wants to say, not his personal motivation.
And in reality, if we read very carefully this first chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, we will see that this is the main point of the first chapter because in the first chapter the method of understanding Bhagavad-gītā is being described indirectly. Sometimes people wonder why do we need such a long first chapter where there is no philosophy?
In the first chapter there is not a single word of philosophy. It's just, you know, some sentimental idea of Arjuna and he says something. Yeah, and uh another, you know, I spoke with another man,
Indian man, and I asked him, can you tell me please what Bhagavad- -gītā is all about? And he says, yeah, in Bhagavad-gītā it is about kula-dharma sanātana, about the eternal family dharma.
Because Arjuna says it in the first chapter, kula-dharma sanātanam, this is eternal dharma, eternal thing. So what I want to explain here is that the first chapter is very important because it shows uh
how you can understand Bhagavad-gītā. It doesn't show it directly, but indirectly through the way of the story.
We have to very clearly understand, and that's what Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in this purport: that most of the meaning of the scripture is not direct.
Like Prabhupāda, he explains: dharma-kṣetre kurukṣetre, what is the meaning? Besides its historical meaning. Yes, there is a geographical place which is called Kurukṣetra. Yes, the war took place there.
But when we start reading this book and when this book starts from the words dharma-kṣetre kurukṣetre, it's not just geographical meanings. There is deeper meanings there.
And to understand this, we really have to listen to somebody who knows this.
Śrīla Prabhupāda also explains a very interesting point that this verse in itself is very strange. Have you ever thought that this verse is very strange?
Dhṛtarāṣṭra is asking: My sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu, who are very eager to fight, came to the place where they are supposed to fight. What did they do there? Isn't it a strange question?
You know, uh would you ask, you know, there are very hungry people who came to the restaurant. What did they do there? It's obvious if they are hungry and they came to the restaurant they will not read newspapers there.
They will eat. Because they are hungry and they came to the restaurant. It's exactly the same question. People who are eager to fight came to the place where they should fight. What did they do?
So Śrīla Prabhupāda is explaining why this doubt is there in the mind of Dhṛtarāṣṭra because he is fearful. He is afraid that because of the influence of this holy place, his sons may become little saging and say, yeah right, let's not fight.
So he doesn't want this. He's afraid of this. So basically this question betrays his fear. But when we just read superficially, we don't see it. We don't understand what's going on in his mind.
Therefore, it's very important for us to really see how Śrīla Prabhupāda is explaining this because as I said most of the scripture is not in direct meaning it's implied meaning.
When they say Dharmakṣetre Kurukṣetre, it's not direct meaning. There is some implication behind this.
Contrasting Duryodhana and Arjuna at Kurukshetra
There is deeper meaning, as I said. So, what I want to explain now is that the very design of the first chapter is very important for us to understand. Because in the first chapter we see two very similar events.
Duryodhana, when Sañjaya will start answering this question of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, we will see.
He first will say Duryodhana, who is army general and the most important figure on the other side, he will go to his guru and he will ask some questions to his guru.
And you know, basically Guru will not answer him anything And bhīṣmadeva will sound his conch, and then the other side. In the other side, exactly the same thing is happening. Arjuna is asking his guru, who is Krishna.
And he also says something to Krishna. Duryodhana says something to his guru, and Arjuna says something to his guru. And Duryodhana's guru doesn't answer Duryodhana. He just stands there without answering.
And Krishna doesn't say anything to Arjuna. We have exactly the same sort of situations. But the implied meaning is very important. The implied meaning, why uh Sanjay is describing this.
He is basically teaching us how to approach Guru because you can only understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is explained by Śrīla Prabhupāda, if you listen to somebody without your motivation, if you put your motivation aside.
And that's exactly what Duryodhana didn't do, and what Arjuna didn't do in the first chapter.
So, this whole first chapter is very important because it teaches us about the qualification of somebody who can understand Bhagavad-gītā and how you should approach your Guru and how you shouldn't approach your Guru.
What is happening in this first chapter of Bhagavad-gītā? When Duryodhana comes to his guru, Dronacharya, It's basically, it's the same, it's the second, second verse of the first chapter.
Dristvatu pandavanikam yudam durioda nastada acharya mupasangamya raja vachavan no mabravit, Pasyan Pasyaitam, Panduputra na Macharya, Mahatim Chemum, Yudam, Drupadaputri na Tavasisya Nadhimahi Dhima Tam.
So, uh Śrīla Prabhupāda will explain in the how Duryodhana goes to his guru. And that's a very common approach to the Guru. Duryodhana goes to the Guru and he starts teaching his guru.
He says, look my dear Guru Maharaj, you see this army. This is your disciple who did it. Basically, he blames his guru. Basically, he says, you're a little stupid.
Because your own disciple, you taught your own disciple he did this, you know, so basically he comes to Guru and starts blaming him. Not very openly in Indian way. You know, when you say something without saying it.
Not like Russians. Russians will say you know. He's you know, he's but basically that's what he says.
He says to his guru, you are not very intelligent, your disciple is much more intelligent, your discipline and you better fight. Basically, uh what Sanjay wants to say is that uh there is no surrender there whatsoever.
There is this personal motivation, it personally motivated uh somebody, disciple, comes to the guru and he basically tries to teach his guru.
As Bharut Trishimva Prabhu said that I'm serving as an initiating spiritual master since 2005. And I have a lot of experience because I have many gurus.
I have one guru, Radhanath Maharaj, but all my disciples they try to teach me one way or another and sometimes it's welcome sometimes it's not so welcome, you know, and it's it's always like this.
You know, if the personal motivation is there, you know, somebody accepts the guru, but uh basically his idea, yes, I accepted the guru.
It basically means if I accepted the guru, now the guru must uh do what I want him to do. Must follow me. You know, because I accepted him, so he must follow me. There is no way.
And you know, it may sound funny, but it's a reality. It's not without a reason that uh Sanjay is describing this because that's a very common attitude. And moreover, what Sanjay is describing
here is that Duryodhana is actually internally very offensive. Externally he is respectful, but internally he is spiteful. He is actually quite how you say he is he he has this pride. I'm better. I know better.
And he uh ultimately he doesn't he doesn't respect his guru. It is said that uh in Mahabharata it is described
that before the battle of Kuruksetra, Duryodhana and Karna came to Duryodhana, and Karna was a good friend of Duryodhana. And Duryodhana started complaining and he said, Karna, you're my only friend. I can only trust you.
Nobody else I can trust. I cannot trust Bhishma. The old man is, first of all, he's too old. Second of all, he loves these Pandavas too much. And Drona, you know, he will never, he loves Arjuna.
And he basically said about all his people that he doesn't trust them.
Necessity of surrender to overcome ignorance
And uh that's that's his attitude. And uh ultimately it means that he will be defeated. Because in the battlefield of Kurukshetra and in the Bhagavad Gita it is explained how we can become victorious in our life.
What is the attitude which will bring victory? And what is the attitude which will ultimately bring defeat?
It is also said in the Srimad Bhagavatam that parabhavas Tavat Aboda Jatam, that all the people who are aboda jatam, who are born in ignorance, who remain ignorant throughout their life, Parabhas, they ultimately will be defeated.
Until they get rid of this ignorance which is there. And you can only get rid of the ignorance through the medium of surrender. When you surrender to a guru and when you surrender ultimately to God.
Without that, you will remain ignorant. And therefore, basically, when Sanjay explains this scene, how Duryodhana goes to his guru, he more or less predicts this guy will be defeated.
But what is even more interesting is that Arjuna doesn't show a very good example either. As I said, exactly the same thing he does. First of all, he orders his guru: "Please put my chariot there. I want to see.
Which is not nice, you know. Of course Krishna is humble, he's his driver, and Krishna knows his mind, and Krishna says, yes, yes, I will show you. But again, the same attitude is there.
He goes to his guru and he says, you do what I want you to do. Show me everything. But there is a big difference. Still, there is a big difference.
Unlike Duryodhana, Arjuna actually surrenders to his guru. He says, "No, Krishna, this is horrible, what a... you know, I'm not going to fight. Don't even, don't even try to do it. And he gives so many reasons.
And he gives the whole philosophical lecture. And I know it very well. When disciples come to me, you know, they start giving me such a nice lecture sometimes. And you have to sit there and listen and listen and listen.
But ultimately, uh why uh why do they speak philosophy? Because they want to prove their point. I don't want to do this and the whole philosophy is there. Oftentimes people do exactly the same thing as Arjuna does.
Because Arjuna says, it is śrūruma. He says, I have heard it from disciplic succession.
And oftentimes people they listen to so many lectures just when the time of the need comes, then they will prove philosophically, very soundly that they don't want to do what they're supposed to do.
That's what philosophy is there for. You know, so many times I heard how people very expertly twisting philosophy just to basically justify what they would do without philosophy. But they would do anyway.
People they think I need philosophy just to justify what I want to do. And therefore they learn philosophy, they have bhakti shastri degree, this degree, that degree.
And Arjuna is very expert. He gives such sound arguments, very nice arguments. We will go to hell, the whole family structure will be destroyed, everything is bad. I am not going to fight.
But there is one, and when he speaks this, Krishna keeps silent. He doesn't say anything. As much as Drona doesn't say anything. Why? Because he's not happy.
You know, if a disciple comes to a guru and speaks and speaks and speaks and guru says, "There is not even time to say something. Because they already know everything. You know, what shall I say?
There is no point for me to say because he's already know, okay, fine, I will keep quiet. And Krishna keeps quiet. But there is one very important difference.
Why ultimately, if it's basically the same, what Duryodhana does to his Guru and what Arjuna does to his guru, why still Krishna ultimately will tell Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, but he will not even try to tell it to Duryodhana.
Duryodhana, there is no point for Duryodhana, there is no chance in the world that Duryodhana will understand Bhagavad-gītā. But Arjuna has chance.
Significance of a non-offensive mindset
What is the difference between the two? Surrenders later. But the difference, yes, ultimately he will surrender. But before that, yeah, he is not offensive. He is not offensive. There is no offense.
He is also, he makes the same mistake, exactly the same mistake. He behaves exactly in the same way, but there is one very important difference. He is not offensive.
He doesn't have this pride: "I'm better than you, I know better. Yes, he says the same thing. So that's a very important lesson for every one of us.
That even if we are personally motivated, even if we are bewildered, and we are bewildered. Let's be very clear about it. We are confused. We are not very clear in our minds. You know, there is a lot of garbage inside.
Because a lot of garbage went in so there's no you know. But uh still one first thing which we should understand we shouldn't be envious, we should not be offensive.
So, this little humility, this little spark of humility is enough for Arjuna to change. What is happening actually in Bhagavad-gītā when we see how the story unfold you know reveals itself, Kṛṣṇa just he doesn't say much.
He says, oh Arjuna, you're just you're just a fool, basically. That's what Krishna says. Arjuna, you're a fool.
And what Arjuna, that we will see in the second chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, in the beginning of the second chapter of Bhagavad-gītā.
And again, to understand this, what's going on in the mind of Arjuna, what's going on in the mind of Krishna? We need to hear from somebody who knows this. Ourselves, we will never understand this.
And because we will never understand this, we will never understand the deeper meaning what is going on.
So what is going on when Krishna just he speaks two verses in the beginning of the second chapter and he says, anaṅrya-juṣṭam-asvargyam akīrtikaram-arjuna.
He says, Arjuna, it doesn't behoove you. It's not befitting of you. You're not behaving like a noble man. Anaṅrya-juṣṭam. Asvargyam, you will never go to the higher plane of existence.
Anaṅrya-juṣṭam, asvargyam, akīrtikaram, you will never get any fame and kutas tvāṁ kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam, where is this where is this dirt? How can this dirt come to you? How you can be so degraded?
So when Arjuna hears this, he again tries Before that, in the first chapter, see, it's very important. In the first chapter, he is full of steam.
You know, he says, no, no way, I know what to do, I'm not going to fight, that's it. I'm sick. I have fever. I went to doctor, he gave me this certificate. I'm not going to do this.
Then Krishna speaks these two piercing verses to him and Arjuna immediately he kind of like before that he was a big balloon of his false ego, big balloon was there. And Krishna. Nothing was there.
And Arjuna just he starts saying something, he still mumbles something. How I can do this, no, how can oh I cannot do this, please.
And then ultimately he says, Sisyastaham Sati Mam Twamp Prapanam, Karpani Dawsa Pahatam Svabal, prechamitvam dharma samudha Chata. He surrenders. But please don't be fooled by Arjuna's surrender. Does he surrender really?
No. He says, yeah, I am your disciple, I am the soul surrender unto you. Please tell me what should I do. And then the next verse he says, but I am not going to fight, oh Govinda. Nayotya itovinder.
He says very clearly, yeah, I'm surrendered soul, but please don't ask me too fight. But still, what I want to say is that even this little spark of humility can save us. That's the saving grace.
And if there is no humility, if there is no real uh humility uh Krishna uh guru uh they do not expect
that our surrender will be real in the beginning you know when somebody comes and says, Guru Maharaj, you know, I vow to you that I will follow this four regulative principles, and Guru Maharaj says, Yes, yes, I know, I know. I know. Till the rest of my life.
And he's he wonders for how long it will last. You know it's not expected. Yeah there will be problems in our spiritual life. And we will do what Arjuna is doing. We will try to justify our actions, our weakness.
Basically, what the first chapter is showing, how we are experts in rationalizing our weaknesses. We are weak, we feel that we are weak, but we are trying to make a very sound defense program. You know. No, I'm not weak.
No, I'm not wrong. They're wrong and he is wrong and this is wrong and you are wrong. I am not wrong. But that's okay, that's fine.
Nobody can uh avoid it completely unless you're very pure and uh very simple hearted. Usually the mind is crooked. Did you notice it? Mind is quite crooked.
Cultivating genuine humility and recognizing ignorance
But still, if there is uh some humility and some doubt, what What is the most important for us is this doubt. Am I really right? If uh I don't have this doubt. If I'm 100% convinced that I'm right,
then please don't come to Bhagavad-gītā class. You will never be able to understand Bhagavad-gītā. Because Bhagavad-gītā starts, the qualification to understand Bhagavad-gītā starts from this little understanding.
I don't know the reality. And the proof for this is that I'm not happy. If I knew the reality, I would be happy. Somebody who knows the reality, he's happy. And that's exactly what Kṛṣṇa will tell Arjuna.
He will tell with his smile, with his famous smile. Krishna is always smiling. It's just it's so impossible to see, you know.
Arjuna is ah Kṛṣṇa is smiling and says, my dear Arjuna, if you are so intelligent, why you're so unhappy. Why you're so miserable? And that's exactly again what is happening with us.
We're trying to prove I'm right, I am right, I am right. I know how to live, I know better. Don't teach me. Don't dare to teach me. Believe it or not, sometimes disciple will say exactly this: who are you to teach me?
I'm your guru. I happen to be your guru. No. No. We don't want. We don't want.
But again, if if we have little doubt that uh and little desire to know the truth, little desire to understand the reality, to come closer to reality, then everything can be ultimately done.
And therefore, Prabhupāda says that's the secret of understanding Bhagavad-gītā. The secret of understanding Bhagavad-gītā: try to put aside your motivated understanding, your motivated concepts.
And try to listen with pure heart, without any interpretations. Because oftentimes, please sometimes notice how you listen. I know it very well. I study myself very well.
You know, somebody is speaking, and you always try to say something against what he says. You always argue with him. Or sometimes you don't argue, but sometimes you just listen and you just wait when he will stop.
For how long it will go on? It's already nine o'clock, my goodness, it's so late.
Essential role of attentive hearing in bhakti
So this is all motivated uh this is our attitude. What is the most important uh qualification for bhakti? Bhakti starts with Shravanam and shravanam should be proper.
If our shravanam is proper, if we are eager to hear, and we are hearing with respectful attitude. Then we will be able to understand something very important in our life. Then our mentality will be changed.
And if we have just come for the ritual and for prasāda, which will be after the lecture, and uh you know we just spend some time listening and we all we already listen so many things and and we wait when he will tell some story.
Because I want to listen to some story because we all this philosophy, we already know this philosophy. It's not going to work. Sravanam is a method of yoga. It's the beginning of bhakti yoga. It's an art.
Therefore, it's very important to learn how to listen. Then even just little, you know, little something may completely save your life.
There are so many stories when people somehow or other, you know, if you listen properly, this is perhaps the last thing which I want to say because it's it's really late and I have to go back to Dubai?
Perhaps the last thing which I want to say is that if we listen properly, with a proper attitude, without filtering, everything which we listen through the through the sift of our ego. Because usually we have this ego.
The more or less the valve of our ego. And you know, the sound comes, but the sound is very distorted when it comes through this ego. Ego is distorting everything.
But what I want to say, what is the sign of the proper listening?
The sign of proper listening, very important, is that if you listen properly If you listen properly uh then uh it will create a very deep impression within your mind.
If the attention is there, if respect is there, if face is there, if you really want eagerness is there to understand what is going on, then the impression will be very deep.
And this deep impression, this deep spiritual impression will give you taste. Because if we analyze properly, our consciousness, we will understand very clearly that our taste is where our deepest and what saṁskāras are.
You know, if somebody has very deep saṁskāra for smoking, he will have taste for smoking. Wherever you have very deep saṁskāras, deep impressions in your mind, in your consciousness, then you will find taste.
Why we don't find taste in chanting sometimes? Because saṁskāras are not deep.
And if we'll make, you know, when people chant rounds every day, you know, for some time, the saṁskāras will become deeper and deeper and deeper. And the taste will become more and more pronounced.
You know, that's the rule, that's a universal principle. If you have very deep saṁskāras for something, you will love it. You will find taste in it.
So, what I want to say, if we listen with a very open heart, very attentively, then it will give a very deep saṁ- skāra in your mind. And this saṁskāra will make sure that you will have spiritual taste.
And the deepest saṁskāra, when you will be dying, at the time of your death, and it will come sooner or later, believe it or not, everyone will have to die.
So at the time of your death, only the deepest saṁskāras will be activated. And if you have deep saṁskāras for spiritual life, for sure you will remember something spiritual. And ultimately you will remember Krishna.
But if you have more deep saṁskāras for anything else, you will remember this. You know, that's you you cannot really uh control your mind in the time of death.
We cannot control our mind even when we are not dying. What to speak about dying? You will not. Sometimes people they have this foolish idea.
Now I know what I should think in the moment of death. I will think about Krishna. Forget it. If you didn't learn how to think about Krishna in this life, then you will not think about Krishna in the time of death.
And in order to think about Krishna in the time of death, you have to make the saṁskāras of your spiritual life as deep as possible, as profound as possible.
And listening is the first instalment on this path. The first step. And you know sometimes it's such a pity. There is a nice lecture and everyone is excited and you know everyone listened and
there are some stories and this. After 15 minutes, you ask somebody what the lecture was about. And they will say it was a very nice lecture, but I don't remember anything. What does it mean?
It means that no saṁskāras left. No impressions. Very superficial. It's just, you know, it didn't really it didn't really go deep. But if we want to achieve something in the spiritual life, we
have to do the practice properly. And it starts from listening. And for that you need humility. Because the pride is as I said the protective wall. Why?
There is no point of telling Bhagavad-gītā to Duryodhana because he will not be able to understand it. Why Arjuna is the proper candidate because he's a little humble.
And because ultimately he surrenders and formally he says, I'm your disciple and surrendered soul to Krishna. He says, Yes, okay. Now listen. You spoke enough. I know what you want to say. Now listen, what I want to say.
And Arjuna starts listening. And he still doesn't understand. And he still argues with Krishna.
But Krishna patiently says, and ultimately, Arjuna will say, naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā. Ultimately, all my illusions are gone, and my memory, I regain my memory.
kariṣye vacanaṁ tava. I will do what you want me to do. I will do whatever you want. So that's the way of spiritual life.
The whole Bhagavad-gītā is actually depicting our spiritual path which starts from completely wrong understanding completely wrong completely wrong ideas goes through some formal or artificial surrender in the beginning, but ultimately can come to
the real culmination of our life when we hear how Krishna Himself tells us, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. And we hear this and we understand, yes, that's what I'm supposed to do. There is nothing else in this life to do. This is what we're supposed to do, and this is the right thing to do, and this will make me happy. So that's a few words which I wanted to share with you about Bhagavad-gītā in general, how we should understand this by taking the example of the first verse of Bhagavad-gītā.
Thank you very much. Okay, maybe there is one or two questions.
Understanding true humility and practical duty
Yes. First, thank you very much. It's a very uh interesting and nice lecture you had taken. And one doubt uh you said there should be a spark of humility, and humility should be there.
But in this material world, other living entities are harassing you and suffering —
Once, Prabhupāda gave a very interesting definition of humility. He said that humility, humility doesn't mean that you allow other people to trample over you. Humility doesn't mean that you become inefficient
or completely unproductive or completely you know that you have all this inferiority complex humility doesn't mean
this humility, as Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that uh the essence of humility is that you're not trying to find protections.
He said, literally, he said: humility means that you know very well that doctors will not protect you, money will not protect you, weapons will not protect you, your friends and relatives will not protect you, the state, Abu Dhabi state will not protect you.
Policemen will not protect you. Who will protect you? Krishna. He says that's the definition of humility. It doesn't mean that you become weak, it doesn't
Arjuna was seemingly humble in the beginning. He says, no, no, I'm not going to fight, I will go and beg. I'm a kshatriya, but yeah, I will just live by begging. Krishna says, you're a fool. You shouldn't do this.
You're a kshatriya, you should fight. But with the proper understanding, humility means you know the reality.
You know God is and you do what you're supposed to do, you perform your duties very boldly, with a proper positive attitude. That's humility. Humility means that ultimately Krishna protects me and I have to surrender to him and do what he wants me to do.
to him and do what he wants me to do. And if other people trample over you, you shouldn't allow this.
In Bhagavad-gītā, in Mahābhārata itself, it's a very important teaching. Krishna says that if people are violating dharma, you shouldn't behave with them in a dharmic way.
If they are adharmic themselves, you shouldn't be dharmic with them. Why India was conquered over uh by all these foreigners?
Because uh Indians didn't understand Bhagavad-gītā and Mahābhārata. In Mahābhārata Krishna says you killed Duryodhana in a dharmic way.
Because he is not deserving. He he he doesn't deserve to be treated as a dharmic person. Because he is aadharma himself. So you shouldn't behave with him in a dharmic way.
In uh in Indian history, we know when the foreigners the foreigners would put a few cows in front of them. In front of their army.
And you know the whole Indian army would retreat themselves and uh the foreigners would win.
Or you know, because uh people from this age they would they would worship their weapons and they would before, before fighting, before taking the weapons, they should worship the weapons.
And for that you have to be clean. So first you have to do ācamana, and then you, you know, only if you're clean you should take this.
So before you have to take a bath. You know, and then all these Mlecchas and Yavanas, they take baths once a month at best, if there is a chance for this. So, and you know, they don't care about this.
And that's how Indians lost, because they were following Dharma very strictly, but you can't follow Dharma with those people who don't follow Dharma. Because it's they can't appreciate this uh in the majority.
We know so many mean stories when people of the Vedic history with a very noble character, they fight with these low-class people. And you can't treat them, you know, you have to do it.
So if somebody is mean to you, you know, you be humble to Krishna and be mean to him. No problem. Thank you.
Purpose of Arjuna's bewildering situation
Yes. Uh thank you for explaining the first words like opening the doors of Gita for us basically.
I would like to be foolish enough to actually go to the end and ask you that after all this discourse that Krishna said on that battle ground. Did Arjuna finally understand it? He became liberated? Oh.
Arjuna was liberated in the beginning. We should not be, we should not think that Arjuna was an illusion or he was not liberated. It's just Krishna made him.
There is, Prabhupada used to say, when the mother-in-law wants to teach her daughter-in-law, she doesn't teach the daughter-in-law directly, she teaches her daughter. Because two daughters, she can be heavy.
But ultimately she wants to teach the daughter-in-law. But she's doing it by teaching the daughter. Because she knows that the daughter will take the heavy treatment.
So Arjuna was from the very beginning totally surrendered to Krishna. But Krishna made him to behave as an ordinary person. But uh that's not for Arjuna. Arjuna didn't need liberation. He's already liberated. That's for us.
Krishna is doing it to give us the clue how we should behave och how we shouldn't behave. So Arjuna, don't worry about Arjuna. Please worry about yourself. That's more important.
And uh and that's for sure because that's the means Krishna gave Bhagavad-gītā uh and anyone who understands Bhagavad-gītā as it is, he will be liberated,
Gita uh and anyone who understands Bhagavad Gita as it is, he will be liberated, no doubt about it. Krishna himself says this. mokṣa-śāstra. Mā śucaḥ, no need to worry. Don't be afraid. Just surrender unto me.
But that's not easy. You know, it's not it's not like this. It it takes some steps and it's some internal cleansing is there and some internal work is there.
But ultimately, uh there is no doubt that if you understand Bhagavad-gītā, you you will be liberated. Okay, I guess we have to finish because it's already late and I still have to go to Dubai.
Again, thank you very much for everything.