Bhagavad-gita 3.22
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Абу-Даби · 2017
Главы
Importance of philosophy in sadhana
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya vāsudevāya. Nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva nāttamaṁ devam sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ tato jayam udīrayet. Hare Krishna. I am very happy to be with you all.
I have been to Abu Dhabi at least three times before. And, uh, it has always been a very nice visit. People here are very interested to hear the
philosophy of Krishna consciousness, which is very important for us because only if we know properly the philosophy, we will be able to practice our sadhana in a proper mood. Sadhana is a very powerful process.
But unfortunately, if our mind is not tuned properly, then while we are performing sadhana we commit offenses.
And offenses, especially offenses against the holy name, first and foremost, is the main impediment in our path of devotional service. Actually, we have to know four things to achieve success in devotional service.
We have to know who we are, we have to know who God is, we have to know this is one thing. We have to know the goal which we want to achieve very clearly. What I want.
Have to be have to have very vivid and clear understanding what is the final result.
We have to know the process, how to achieve this goal from the point where I am now, how to reach the point which I want to reach. This is the third thing which we should know, the process.
And the fourth thing which usually people neglect, we have to understand what are the obstacles on the way. It's in the same way if you're going from one place to another place. It's not enough just to know the route.
It's not enough to be very clear where you are and where you want to reach. This is all necessary.
But also, if on the way the road is completely messed up and you have to reach in time, so you will not be able to reach in time because there are obstacles on the way.
I remember one time we were in Germany and we were going to the airport and it was as usual a very short time. And we wanted to reach the airport in time and we were starting from this point.
And the driver didn't know so much the way, so he used GPS system. And the lady on GPS system would guide us in the proper way. And we would come and the road was blocked. And Lady didn't know this because Lady was a little dummy in the GPS system.
So she was just following as if nothing is wrong with the roads. So and we would drive some some other way, but Lady would bring us again to the same block road. No matter how much she would bring us to the same obstacle.
So it's it's in a way something what is happening with us in our devotional service. If we don't know very clearly what are the obstacles on the way we may work very hard in our sadhana, chant the holy name.
But if at the same time we're not very astute or very attuned to what are the obstacles, it will be difficult. So therefore hearing about Krishna is very important.
Hearing is a sadhana because hearing helps us to realize God directly. Actually, hearing gives us direct experience of God. Sakshatkar. Therefore, hearing is the most important sadhanam.
Recitation of Bhagavad-gita 3.22
But also hearing the philosophy helps us to attune our consciousness in a proper way towards what we are doing.
So I will read a very interesting verse from the third chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Gita, 22nd verse, which actually can tell us a lot about how we should conduct our activities in this world.
Very important and very nice verse from the third chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, which is entitled Karma Yoga.
Na me parta Hasti kartavyam trishu lokesu visu kinchana chana. Anavaptam avaptavam varta Nameparta stikartav, namepartayam, namepatastikartav, Trišuloki Shukin Chanam, Sokasu Kinchanam, Tri Suloki Sukinchana, Chanam. Navaptam avaptajam, Nanawtabtaviam, Varteva Cakarmani Vartevacharmani, namepartikar tavyam partakartavam Tri suloki su kinchana, nanawaptam avaptaviam, varteva chakarmani, karmani, namepartasti kartavyam, trisulokisu kinchanam, chanam Nanavaptam Avaptavam, Vasakcha Karmani, Vatekam.
No mine parta Osana Pritha Osana Pritha Asti Pasti there is kartav prescribe duty prescribe duty treeshu in the tree in the tree lokes Planetary systems Kinchana Any Na Nothing Anavaptamavatam wanted.
Avaptaviam Vaptaviam to be gained. Varte. I'm engaged. Eva. Certainly also karmani in prescribed duty translation Hosan of Pritha, there is no work prescribed for me within all the three planetary systems.
Nor am I in want of anything. Nor have I a need to obtain anything. And yet I am engaged. And yet I am engaged in prescribed duties. In prescribed duties.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in the Vedic literatures as
follows: tamishvaranam paramammahesvaram, Tvatam Paramamcha Devatam, Patimpatinam, paramamparastat vidamadevamesam Vidyate, nat Sama Shabdika Shadrisy, Parasya Shakti, Vividai V shruyate Swabaviki Jyanavala Kriacha.
Two verses, famous verses from Svetashvataru Pani Swat. The Supreme Lord, translation. The Supreme Lord is the controller of all controllers. And He is the greatest of all the diverse planetary leaders.
Everyone is under his control. All entities are delegated with particular power only by the Supreme Lord. They are not supreme themselves.
He is also worshipable by all demigods, and He is the supreme director of all directors. Therefore, He is transcendental to all kinds of material leaders and controllers, and is worshipable by all.
There is no one greater than him, and he is the supreme cause of all causes. He does not possess a bodily form like us, like an ordinary living entity. There is no difference between his body and his soul. He is absolute.
All his senses are transcendental. Any one of his senses can perform the action of any other sense, therefore, no one is greater than him or equal to him.
His potencies are multifarious and thus his deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad.
Since everything is in full opulence of the personality of Godhead and is existing in full truth, there is no duty for the Supreme Personality of Godhead to perform.
One who must receive the results of work has some designated duty, but one who has nothing to achieve within the three planetary systems certainly has no duty.
And yet Lord Krishna is engaged in the battlefield of Kurukshetra as the leader of Kshatriyas because the Kshatriyas are duty-bound to give protection to the distressed.
Although he is above all the regulations of the revealed scriptures, he does not do anything that violates the revealed scriptures. Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Na me pārthāsti kartavyaṁ triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana nānavāptam avāptavyaṁ varta eva ca karmaṇi.
O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for me within all the three planetary systems, nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.
Namaḥ oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine. Namaste sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī- प्रचारिणे निर्विशेष śūnyavādi-pāścātyadeśa-tāriṇe. Vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ.
Jaya Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya Prabhup Nityānanda Śrī-Advaita Gadādhara Śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Sivasa Divora Bhapta Vrinda, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
The vicious circle of result-oriented karma
Mayamalam Bitujokuna Kavadatu Sankirtanaya, Kapita Ruka Malay Taksa, Vishwam Barod, Vija Waru, Yu Gudarma Palu Vandeja Gatriya Karu Kamavatar, Yantah Pradishi Mamawashi, Mamamprasuktum Sanji Vaya de Kila Shakti, Daraxwad Hare Krishna.
So this teaching of Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, this point in his teaching that that one should act in such a way that he would not continue creating karma in this world is very important because there is a vicious circle of karma.
Everyone is engaged in karma and everyone is constantly trying to achieve some results.
They are programmed in such a way, our mind is programmed in such a way that we always want to achieve certain result. And this result-oriented activity is the very cause of karma.
Continuing the circle of karma and in this way continuing being in this circle of birth and death in this material world and this saṁsāra.
We are trying to improve our situation, we are trying to avoid unfavorable circumstances, and in one sense, it's natural. So, what Krishna is trying to explain to us is very unnatural in one sense.
For us, living entities in this world, it's natural to always try to improve our situation and in this way we become dependent on the fruits of our action. And we become bound.
The nature of the bondage, bondage of karma is that we start depending on the results. If results are coming, we are happy. If results are not coming, we are not happy.
And by trying to do by different means and always oriented on results, we're result-oriented living entities.
And Krishna is trying to say, you know, and Krishna, of course, he is God. And he himself says, I have nothing to achieve. And you should do the same.
And the natural answer from us, little living entities, to God would be it's easier for you to say this. You have nothing to achieve, of course. We have a lot to achieve. We need to achieve so many things.
Why should we how come we should follow you? But still Krishna insists. Krishna insists, and this is actually, a very difficult point. We all heard this point many, many times.
You should not be attached to the fruits of our actions. And we say, yes, yes, yes. I know. When I speak and I look in the audience, you know, people always think. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
But you know, as soon as the lecture is over. We still follow the same way, the same route which we are used to. And I mean in one sense again it's very natural.
What Krishna is trying to explain to us is not very natural in one sense. But at the same time, again, as I said, Krishna is adamant. Krishna doesn't budge. He doesn't want to go back.
He says, no, this is what you should do. You should not depend on the fruits of your action. You should just do out of the sense of duty, and look, I am doing like this.
Scarcity mentality versus abundance mentality
But there is a difference, and I will try to explain how to follow Krishna's example. What is the way to really follow Krishna's example? Actually, what Krishna is saying to us, very interestingly what he is saying to us,
he says that there are two types of activities in this world, two completely different modes of action, two completely different moods in which we can perform action. One mode which we all know very well we act
because we want to achieve something because we want to achieve some results. It's a result-oriented action. And ultimately we perform always this duty because we always feel that something is lacking.
That we need something more. That we don't have everything which we like. In other words, we have a desire and a heart.
And uh and this is called uh the modern uh management gurus. I at one point I was studying very carefully Stephen Covey. He is very famous for his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
I gave seminars on this topic. It's an interesting view on the work. So he says: if we want, if we work, if we're motivated because we're lacking something. It is called scarcity mentality.
Ultimately, there is a sense of scarcity or there is some sort of vacuum within our heart. And we want to fill this vacuum by achieving certain material results.
There is this desire within the heart, and I need something, and you know, we work because we need something.
And because we are small, tiny living entity, there is always desire in our heart, and we don't have everything which we would like to have.
So this is one mentality, and Stephen Covey says that there is a completely different mode of action, there is a completely different way to act. He calls it abundance mentality.
When you have abundance within the heart and your work not because you are lacking something but you work because uh because you have too much and
uh actually he says it's interesting uh why I like his way of presenting the proper way of action? Because it's very similar to vedic literature.
Basically, literally, you can translate everything which Stephen Kovic says, and he says, this is the way to achieve success in this material world. And basically he repeats what Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita.
Of course he doesn't say that Krishna said it before him, but he puts his own copyright on it.
But but if you say even if you take this concept of scarcity mentality and abundance mentality, it's exactly what Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita. It's exactly what Krishna says here.
Krishna says here, you have to act out of abundance. Abundance, not out of scarcity. And the second way of action, very important for us to understand, is that because it's very rare and we don't know how it is.
As I said, usually we act because we are lacking something, and this is the motivating factor. This is the impetus for us to work. But there is another way of working.
When we work, not because we want to achieve something and become happy, but because we are happy. It's a completely different way of working.
One is you're not happy, you want to become happy, for that you want to achieve certain results and you work.
Another one, you are happy, and because you are too much happy, like they say in India. In India, they don't say you're happy, they say too much happy. Because you're too much happy. You act.
Because those people who are happy they also act. What do they do? They usually dance.
You know if this is actually example from Madhvācārya. Madhvācārya quotes some Ananda Samhita, I believe, or something like this, some obscure Vedic scripture, and he quotes a verse from Ananta Samhita where he says, which explains why the Lord creates this world.
Because this is actually the puzzle for impersonalists. Impersonalists who say that the cause of this world is Brahman, they cannot understand, they cannot explain why this world is created in the first place.
If Brahman is there, you know what is the what is the reason for him to create this world? Okay, he is there, why create this world.
But Madhvācārya when he explaining exactly this point of creation this world. Why did the Lord create this world? Probably i it would be better without it.
But uh uh Madhvācārya says that it's exactly why he's doing this exactly like the uh drunken drunken man, man who is completely drunk, starts dancing. And b because he has too much bliss in his heart. And he starts singing, you know Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Of course, drunk men usually don't chant Hare Krishna.
But uh this is the point.
The point is that you have to work either because you are unhappy and then it basically means that you want to fulfill your desires and you will be motivated or driven by this scarcity within the heart. Or you can just work because you are too much happy. Because you're completely happy and you work.
God as the causeless cause
And this is what Krishna says here in this verse basically, that this is how I work. I have nothing to achieve. I have no scarcity, I have everything. And it's very important for us to understand
this particular point, God Himself is causeless, as Śrīla Prabhupāda translates here or he elaborates actually on this verses from Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. Prabhupāda says, God is the cause of all causes.
Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam. Anādir ādir govindam sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam. He's the cause of all causes; it means that there is no cause of Him. God by definition is causeless, nothing caused Him.
Sometimes some atheistic people they say, of course, you think there is God and they say yes, we think there is God. And they say, and God created everything. And we say yes, God created everything.
And then they become very happy and they say, and who created God? That is a very foolish argument. Because ultimately there should be causeless cause.
Yes, God is the cause of this creation, but He's causeless Himself. You know, if you say that this world is not created by God, then you basically say that this world is a causeless cause. That this world is causeless.
Something should be causeless. So God is causeless. And if God is causeless, then His activity is also causeless. In other words, he is not motivated by any cause. He doesn't want to achieve.
And He says Himself this in this verse, I have nothing to achieve. So, and why do you work then? Usually, we have nothing to achieve. Like yesterday, I was speaking for a Russian program and I said I was speaking about
Santoṣa, about how one should be satisfied within the heart. And immediately, I didn't even finish speaking about this point that it is very important to be satisfied,
One lady said, but if we are satisfied, we will not do anything. But that's a mistake. If you are satisfied, you will do more. But you will do it in a different way. You will not do it because you're lacking something.
You will do it because you are happy and you want to do something. And you will not exploit anyone? You will only do something good. So that's exactly what Krishna says to us.
He says that I have nothing to achieve, I work, and you learn to work the same way as I am. Not because you are lacking something, but because you are not lacking anything. So the very important question comes to us.
So again, God is causeless, His actions are causeless, we are causal. We are not causeless, right? At least in this material world we have cause and effect. And we are used to this.
And basically this cause and effect means karma. If I continue working in this mood that I want to achieve something, it means that I will be in this karma and I will suffer. I will enjoy the fruits of my action. Sometimes.
Sometimes. But most of the time I will suffer because this is how it is created here. So, and Krishna, He says, why should you work like this?
And of course, when we hear immediately this question, it it seems to be a strange question, and it reminds me a famous episode from the French Revolution from the history of French Revolution.
Before Revolution, before Revolution took place in France, there was this Queen in France. She was the wife of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette. And some of her advisers came to her and said,
Your Majesty, uh, our people are suffering. She said, uh, our people are suffering, how come they're suffering? Uh, they said they don't have bread to eat. She said, really they don't have bread to eat?
Why don't they eat cakes? So this may seem something like this: God says, I have everything, I have nothing to achieve, why don't you do the same? But we're not the same.
The answer would be we have something to achieve, we need something. How can we act in this way?
Connecting with God to stop karma
But listen, behind this, there is a very interesting point which actually Lord wants us to say. This is a deeper point which we have to understand.
In reality, we can act in the same way if we are if we feel connection with God. If we don't feel connection with God, there is no chance in the world for us to act causelessly.
Because we are small, tiny living entities, and there will always be some vacuum within our heart.
So the very important point which Krishna actually wants to say to us is that you will be able to act in this way and break the vicious circle of karma only if you are connected with the causeless cause. Or in other words, only if you are in Krishna consciousness.
And we all know this, and this is a practical experience, that when we feel connected with God, we become satisfied. Because he is satisfied.
And if we think about him and he is the bliss personified, if we think about him and he has everything and uh, you know, if we're really connected by the means of bhakti-yoga with the Lord, we all of a sudden feel that our yoga with the Lord, we all of a sudden feel that our heart is full.
The usual experience is that there is some vacuum in the heart. But if God is there in the heart, then there's no vacuum. Like Sacinandana Maharaja, he gave a beautiful example.
He says the natural place of God is within the heart of living entity.
But when we want to turn away from God, when we drive away God from our heart, then God, if we say God, please go away from our heart, God says yes, I will go away.
And He goes away from our heart, and most of the people they live without God within the heart. But what is created because God leaves the heart, there is some hole. Right? The place where God is.
And because God is unlimited, this hole which is there within the heart is also unlimited.
So no matter how much you try to fill it up, it cannot be filled, it can only be filled by God Himself. Nothing else can fill the heart. So this is exactly what is happening in this material world.
People always feel this want within the heart, this vacuum within the heart. I need this and I need that and I need more and more and more.
There was this famous, famous man in America. He was the most, the richest, richest, by far richest men in the world. It was in the 70s of the 20th century.
And just before a few days before his death. One journalist came to him and said, can you give me your philosophy of life in one word? He said, very easy. My philosophy of life is in one word and this word is more. More.
I want more, more, more. And you know why why do we want more? Because there is emptiness within the heart.
But as I said, every one of us has the practical experience as soon as we feel connection with God. And not always we feel connection with God.
But as as soon as we feel the connection with God through chanting of His holy name, listening Bhagavad-gītā or reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and really being transported into Vṛndāvana, we feel that there is no vacuum in the heart, that I'm I'm happy. I don't want anything.
And there is this fullness of the heart, and you want to act out of this fullness.
We chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare and I know this very well. When I speak about Kṛṣṇa, I feel complete satisfaction within the heart.
Once, very long ago, I decided I love Ayurveda. I really love Ayurveda. I study Ayurveda, I know Ayurveda. And I decided to give a seminar on Ayurveda. And I gave one lecture, second lecture, third lecture, fourth lecture.
By the fifth lecture, I gave a solemn vow that I will never speak about Ayurveda anymore because the feeling in the heart was completely different.
I thought why am I speaking about Ayurveda? You know, I want to speak about Kṛṣṇa, because when I speak about Kṛṣṇa, I feel the connection with Kṛṣṇa. When I feel the connection with Kṛṣṇa, I feel satisfied. When I feel satisfied, I don't need anything. When I don't need anything, I just act out of love.
And that's the exact point which Kṛṣṇa says. Actually, He wants to say, here He says, act out of duty. But in reality, he wants to say it's difficult. And on a certain level of understanding, this is a good understanding.
Act out of duty. And there are some people who act out of duty. But you know, you cannot act out of duty for too long. always want something else. But you can act for the rest of eternity out of love.
And actually that's what Kṛṣṇa wants to say when He says this.
You know, if your heart is full of love, and you're completely happy because your heart is full, and you will achieve this situation if you are connected with God, if you're mentally connected with when your heart is connected with God, then you will just act without depending on the results. Just just just because you are happy.
And we all have this experience. This is an amazing thing. You know, like today we had a lunch in one devotee house in Dubai. And you know, we ate prasāda and husband ate prasāda and then the wife came.
And out of all we were five who ate prasāda and she was the sixth, but she was the happiest one. She didn't eat prasāda. But she she fed prasāda, she gave prasāda, she was so happy and she was just going on and on and on.
Why? Because she was just doing something, you know, out of love and it brought so much satisfaction within the heart. And she was always talking about this. I want to make some garland, you know.
She asked, you know, this lady made a garland and I want to make the same beautiful garland. And she was talking like this.
True meaning of surrendering to Krishna
But again, this is actually the point of Bhagavad-gītā. Sometimes people don't understand, misunderstand Bhagavad-gītā. In Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says, surrender unto me.
And when we hear this surrender unto me, we just imagine some Hitler, some dictator who says, surrender? But we miss this point which Krishna makes in this in this verse.
In the material world, it's not a nice thing to surrender to anyone. Therefore nobody likes to surrender to anyone. Sometimes parents say to children, surrender unto me and children say bye bye. I go my way.
I don't want to surrender unto you. And when we hear this from Krishna, we're also afraid, you know, okay, I'll surrender to him. Otherwise, he will just punish me. No. But Krishna says, why Krishna says surrender unto him?
Because he knows that when we surrender unto him, we feel him, we are connected with him. And the point is that he doesn't need anything from us.
We're afraid to surrender to some material beings because we will be exploited. We all know this. I sometimes have this experience. There is one anyway I don't know if I should say this. No, maybe I shouldn't say this.
But in this material world when people by some means trying to make others dependent on them, they usually want to exploit them. They give something but on condition.
We're all very conditioned and very rarely we act this causelessly on unconditionally, we do something. You know, they usually mean something, they have some calculation in the mind and they want to exploit.
And you know, very often we can see it in our relationship.
But when Krishna says, surrender unto me, he says, when you surrender unto me, because I don't want anything, I actually don't need it. Krishna really doesn't need us to surrender to him.
Believe me, he's happy without us. He's probably more happy without us. You know, what we can give to the to Krishna. He already has everything. We cannot add anything to him. But why does he say this? Because of love.
Because of compassion. Because he wants to make us happy. He says this because he knows that without surrendering unto him, we will not be happy.
Krishna as driver and flute player
And when we say surrender unto me, he basically invites us to dance with him.
Why Krishna, you know, of course here in Bhagavad-gītā he is driving chariot, which is also which is also a very interesting thing, you know, that this is God Himself.
And he is driving chariot for Arjuna. And driver is not a very high position in this world. You know, and here's God who is who is driving chariot for Arjuna. You know, there is one joke.
Very interesting joke, which is very appropriate in this regard. Once Pope from Rome came to America. And of course there was a big big procession and there was a limousine.
And then the Pope he asked, can we drive alone in this limousine without all these guards and everything? And they said, okay, if you want this.
And then when they were driving, the driver was there, and they when they were driving the Pope said listen I really love driving can I drive a little bit because they never allow this to me but I really like the speedy driving.
And the driver says, okay, I can do this if you want.
So the Pope, he you know, he sits in the driver's seat and starts driving the car and he becomes really you know in rajas and he speeds up and he and lo and behold the policeman stops.
Policeman stops the car and you know he goes to the car and uh he looks in the car and then he calls uh his He's chief of police. And he says, I stopped the car, it's a limousine car. And it seems to be a very big car. He said, I don't know who is there in the car, the chief is asking.
He says, I don't know who is there in the car, but the Pope is his driver. Must be something really big, big, if the Pope is his driver. So, so here we see Pope is driving chariot.
Krishna himself, God himself he is driving. It basically means that he doesn't need anything.
You know, there there was this another episode in Mahābhārata when by the end of Mahābhārata war Karna was supposed to be the commander-in-chief and Karna wanted to have a duel, have a battle with Arjuna and he knew that Krishna is the best driver, chariot driver.
So Karna approached Duryodan. And Karna said, I need equal driver as him, because I will not be able to fight with Arjun if I have inferior driver than Arjun.
And there is only one who is as good as Krishna and this is Śalya. And Śalya is uncle of Duryodhana, the brother of Mādri.
So, and Duryodhana and he says you have to go, you are the king and you are the chief here, you have to go to Śalya and you have to tell Śalya that he should become my driver. And Śalya is a big king, big kṣatriya.
And Duryodhana goes to Śalya and says, My dear uncle, can you please become the chariot driver of Karna? And Śalya, he becomes so offended.
He starts saying, you know, who do you think you are? How come I am a big king? How can I drive? And finally he agreed, but the point is that it's very uh humiliating position to be a driver.
You know, you you go to some sheikh and say, Could you drive my car? He will probably put you in prison just for suggesting this. But Krishna is readily agreed. No problem.
He's he's not only driving Arjuna's chariot, he cleans his horses. He takes horse stool, the supreme personality of Godhead is taking care of horse stool and cleaning the horses. Why?
Because of the same reason, because he's full. He doesn't have this false prestige or false ego or whatever. He can just do whatever is necessary.
And but the point which I wanted to say is that actually the original form of Krishna is not parthasarathi Krishna. Pārtha-sārathi Kṛṣṇa is a secondary form of Kṛṣṇa. But original form of Kṛṣṇa is Is oh it's not here.
Anyway, it's with flute, right? Krishna is playing his flute. Why does he play his flute? Who plays the flute? No. Krishna always that that's you know the only thing which Krishna does.
He just dances with some beautiful ladies and he plays the flute. Why? Because he's happy. Why are you not dancing and playing flute because you are not happy? And Krishna wants you to become happy. And he invites me.
When he says sarvān dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, he basically says, give up all this dharma business. And come to me, we will dance together. It's better there. It's much better.
That's basically what he wants to say. He's saying it because he wants us to become happy. And he knows how to make everyone happy, how to make everyone satisfied.
Overcoming desires through spiritual identity
And and basically what he says, there is one more important point which I wanted to tell. You are not tired yet? No So uh what he uh uh actually is explaining here in this third chapter, very important thing,
’cause very soon after a few verses in this third chapter of Bhagavad-gītā an important point or important section will start about the the problem, the main problem which is there, which is desire.
And basically, Krishna says: you should not not out of desire, but in just a few verses he will say Kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ mahāśano mahā-pāpmā viddhy enam iha vairiṇam.
He says uh you know, there is this very powerful force within your heart: lust, karma, desire.
And this is what we try to explain, this last comma desire, uh it's all coming because of our conditioned nature, because we're not full, because we cannot say about ourselves that I have everything, I have nothing to achieve.
So and it's there, it's always there within the heart. And the solution which Krishna gives, actually, the real solution which Krishna gives in Bhagavad-gītā is very important for us, for all of us to understand.
We will eternally be driven by karma, pushed by karma, completely humiliated by kāma. Like there is this beautiful verse which Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
kāmādīnāṃ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśās teṣāṁ jātā mayi na karuṇā na tropā na paśantiḥ.
He says, kāmādīnāṃ, all these enemies which are within my heart, starting with kāma, kāmādīnāṃ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśās teṣāṁ... They will always give me wrong or sinful orders. durnideśaḥ.
They will push me around. They will say, do this, do that. They will actually, they are masters, and they are bad masters because they engage me in a bad war.
And na karuṇā, na tropā na paśantiḥ, and they will do it without any mercy, na karuṇā, without any tropā, without any uh how you say this, uh modesty, not modesty. Uh how you say this? Lajjā? Lajjā or tropā? Shame.
They don't know shame. They have no shame, actually. These masters. They just push me and push me and push me. Na paśantiḥ and they will never satisfy me. This is the nature of kāma, the nature of lust.
Na karuṇā na tropā na paśantiḥ. They will just push me around and force me and humiliate me and do whatever they like with me. And this is the problem which Krishna himself says.
So what is the solution which Bhagavad-gītā gives to us? The solution is very simple. We will have our material desires within the heart unless and until we have our material understanding for who I am.
If I have this material understanding that I am this material body and I am independent and I am separate from God and I have my independence, we will continue having this problem within the heart.
So this problem will be solved and we will be able to act as Krishna wants us to act in this verse without any motivation, out of love, and we will feel complete uh satisfaction within the heart, if we remove this artificial false ego which is there.
And that's exactly what Krishna says in this third chapter. He says that until you have this false understanding that I am this material body. Unless we very clearly understand that I belong to God.
And I am His and He is taking care of me. And he gives me whatever I need. And if he doesn't give me something, it means that I don't need it. Simple.
You know, if if we have this understanding very clearly established, yes, I will never be able to be satisfied by material nature. I will never be able to satisfy all my material desires.
Does any one of you try to satisfy all your material desires? Somebody tried? I tried. Two, three, four, five. Nobody else tried. Okay. Up to you. But I don't believe you. The point is that uh did anyone succeed? No. No, nobody.
Nobody succeeds. Nobody. Sometimes people say it's very difficult to give up material desires. The answer to this uh argument is that it's very difficult to give up material desires. It's very simple.
The answer to this is is it possible uh is it uh it's very difficult to give up material desires, there is no doubt about it. But is it easy to fulfill material desires?
Yeah, it is difficult to give up material desires, but it's imp it is impossible to fulfill material desires. At least to give up material desires is difficult but it's possible. To fulfill material desires is impossible.
So you only have choice between doing something which is impossible or doing something which is difficult but possible. So if you are intelligence, what would you do?
Will you try something impossible or will you try to do something which is possible? So that's what Krishna says. You can give up your material desires.
There's not difficult if you understand that you belong to me and I'm taking care of you.
Like recently Bhakti Chaitanya Maharaj uh was there in Russia and I was listening to his lecture. And he was saying something about this, and he said that people are so afraid, they're afraid that they become old and who will give them pension and how they will maintain themselves.
And he said I said I retired. I went to pension when I was 20 years old. And so far there's no problem. Somehow or other. No problem. Absolutely.
So but anyway the point is that if we understand that we belong to God, and we really understand that's the reality, we belong to God. By nature, we are spiritual being. We're connected with him.
And this very understanding gives you complete complete fulfillment in the heart. Makes you completely, you know, makes you feel completely protected and happy. This alone what to speak about everything else.
And if we do I I if we really develop this understanding which we can only develop through hearing this understanding we will not be able to get just by theoretical studying the book.
But it comes very naturally and very easily by hearing this sense that God is there, that He's taking care of me. That he really wants good to me. He's compassionate. He's really merciful and he is there.
If this feeling is there, that God is there and you know he gave me everything which I need, then it will become very easy for us to act as Krishna wants us to act, out of happiness, not out of scarcity.
And then when we do it, it means that karma is stopped completely. No karma anymore.
But unless we have this feeling within the heart that I need something and I need to achieve this and we will always be like this and we will always create new and new karma and suffer because of this, because of all the problems which are concomitant to karma, which are connected with karma.
And the most important thing is this birth, death, old age and disease. It's the inevitable suffering is this world. But Krishna says, come on, come to me, dance with me. I need some few more partners to dance.
So that's what he wants us to do. That's the point of Bhagavad-gītā.
Purpose of creation in Vedic philosophy
Thank you very much. So maybe some questions and why Krishna created this world because of love. Whatever Krishna does, there is only one reason. This is exactly what is said in this verse of Svetashvatara Upanishad.
Natasya kariam karanam navidyate. For him uh for his kariya there is no karana. For his action there is no cause.
Natasya kariam karanam chavidya te, natat samascha yadikas chadrishya te uh and uh parasy shaktivi vidaroshra te swabadik.
So he doesn't have any other cause than love or happiness within the heart or compassion within the heart, mercy within the heart.
So and if we look at this world from this point of view we will see how how beautifully God created this world.
Everything is so beautiful, everything is so harmonious, and everyone is actually very harmoniously living in this world. There is only one species of life who is not happy in this world. And that's us.
Because we all because our philosophy of life is in one word. What is this word? More. We always have this greed within the heart. And this greed within the heart, it destroys the world.
It's the most distractive factor within the world. But if we don't have this, if we're happy, you know we can live in harmony even in this world. And then we will go to Krishna.
So there is only one reason. If we are to ask why Krishna does what he does, there is only one answer. Because of happiness. Because of love within the heart. Because of mercy.
Everything which he does is only motivated by this factor. Mercy, love, happiness, whatever you call it. It's the same thing. Compassion. I have a question. Yes. I was reading about you and it was written in Russia.
You did experiment with Mahā-mantra, Hare Krishna. So how did you do that experiment and what was the result? The result is that I am sitting here in front. That's the result of this. I guess it was successful experiment.
What did I do? I started chanting. Because see, um when I was introduced to Krishna consciousness, so to speak, it was in Russia, in the Soviet Union at that time, and the Soviet Union was strictly atheistic country.
You couldn't preach anything about God. So one friend of mine who became a devotee before, he very secretly took me to one program which was conducted by the devotees in a hostel, in a student's hostel.
And they were not there was not a single word God during the whole program. It was all about bioenergy and aura and how you can improve your aura and how you can heal somebody, you know, because you have so much aura.
And you know, so much so that there was somebody with toothache and the lady who was speaking, she kind of removed the toothache and and
then she said I have so much power because I chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. And of course she didn't explain who is Hari and what is Krishna and what is Ram and what it is.
She just said this is this is the way to improve your aura. And I said, this is far out. This is very interesting.
I want to improve my aura, so so and I made an experiment, I started chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Rama. And I'm still chanting.
And I don't really know whether my aura improved or not. But I don't care anymore. Any other questions? Anyway, if you want to improve your crystal, But there are better results.
Relative reality versus absolute reality
Ultimately you will achieve love with that, which is the most important. I have a question.
Like, interesting that in the very first śloka of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Prabhupāda says that this material world, though unreal, looks real. What does that mean actually? Um, what is this nirasta-kuhakaṁ? Yes.
Satyam paramdi mahe. Um, we Vaiṣṇava philosophy stresses very much the reality of the world. The world is real, but the reality of this world is relative.
And then the very second verse of this sloka, it is called in the second verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is said, vedyaṁ vāstava-vastu śivadam.
That the subject matter of this book is vāstava vastu. Not just vastu. Vastu is something real. But there is vāstava vastu. The essence of reality. So there is reality and there is reality.
There is absolute reality which is vāstavam vastu and there is reality which is vastu, relative reality.
So and when we say relative reality, you may say also that in comparison to the absolute reality it may not be completely real because it's temporary.
In comparison with something which is non-existent, with non-reality, it's vast, it's substantial. There is some substance in it.
But in comparison with the absolute reality, which is a complete blissful world, where there is no substantial change in quality it's... it's ephemeral, it's not really... it's it's somewhat illusory.
Because, you know, every one of us if we look twenty years back or thirty years back, if we are thirty years old, uh there are so many things which don't exist now. It's still it only exists in your memory.
Does it exist or not? It it doesn't exist anymore. It's temporary. It was there. But it's not there anymore. So it's uh therefore, you know, it's not. it's not vāstavam vastu, it's just vastu.
But there is Vāstavam Vastu, the realm of absolute reality. So that's what it means. And therefore specifically this first shloka of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam said, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi, let us meditate on this supreme reality.
Not just Satyam Dhimahi, but Satyam Param Dhimahi. Which is in the second verse is called vāstavam vastu. atra vedyaṁ śivadam.
And when we know this vāstava vastu, the real reality, God, absolute reality, then śiva-daṁ, it brings auspiciousness within our life. We become happy. Okay, thank you very much.