CATUH-SLOKI GITA (The Four Essential Slokas of Gita 10.08-11)

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CATUH-SLOKI GITA (The Four Essential Slokas of Gita 10.08-11)

Sloka 8

 

aham sarvasya prabhavo / mattah sarvam pravarttate

iti matva bhajante mam / budha bhava-samanvitah

 

I am the source of both mundane and spiritual worlds. Everything emanates from

Me. The wise who know this well, engage in My bhajana with great joy in their

hearts.

 

 

While eplaining His vibhutis (majestic feature), which is characterised by

supreme aisvarya [opulence], Lord krishna says, "I am the original cause and the

source of everything material and spiritual. Inspired by My Antaryami svarupa,

the whole universe engages in work, and by the inspiration coming from My

avataras such as Narada, all become engaged in the sadhana (practice) of bhakti,

jnana, tapasya and karma, etc. and the sadhya (attainment of the respective

goals)". In defining ekantika bhakti-yoga, Sri Bhagavan says, iti matva, "Being

fixed in this type of theistic knowledge and endowed with bhavas such as dasya

and sakhya (servitorship and friendship), those who perform My bhajana are

panditas (those who know the essence of the Vedas)."

 

PRAKASIKA-VRTTI

Sri Krsna is the origin of both mundane and spiritual creations. Such

tattva-jnana is undoubtedly attainable from the instructions and mercy of the

tattva-vit Vaisnavas. Only with the help of such transcendental knowledge

(tattva-jnana), can the thoughts of sadhus become fixed in suddha bhakti to Sri

Krsna. One cannot acquire pure tattva-jnana by receiving instruction that has

come from modern concocted commentaries which are devoid of bhakti, by hearing

from bewildered so-called gurus who are bereft of tattva-jnana, or by receiving

the instructions of so-called bhaktas. This is also confirmed in

Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.7.50),

 

aham brahma a sarvas ca / jagatah karanam param

atmesvara upadrasta / svayam-drg avisesanah

 

"Lord Visnu replied, 'Brahma, Siva and I are the supreme cause of the material

manifestation. I am the Supersoul and the self-sufficient witness. But in one

sense we are non-different because everything rests in Me'."

The Varaha Purana also states,

 

narayanah paro devas / tasmaj jatas caturmukhah

tasmad rudro 'bhavad devah / sa ca sarva-jnatam gatah

 

"Sri Narayana is the Supreme Lord and from Him alone Brahma, Rudra, etc., are

born. Narayana is omniscient." This Narayana is the vaibhava-vilasa of Krsna.

Elsewhere in the Vedas, Krsna is also described as the son of Devaki, brahmanyo

devaki putrah (Narayana Upanisad 4).

 

Sloka 9

 

mac-citta mad-gata-prana / bodhayantah parasparam

kathayantas ca mam nityam / tusyanti ca ramanti ca

 

Those whose minds are absorbed in Me and whose lives are wholeheartedly devoted

to My service, derive great satisfaction and bliss from constantly enlightening

one another about My tattva and performing kirtana of My nama, rupa, guna and

lila.

 

 

"By My mercy, only ananya bhaktas attain buddhi-yoga and although tattva-jnana,

which is enriched by the above-mentioned characteristics is difficult to

conceive, they attain it. Mac-citta refers to those whose minds are attracted to

tasting the sweetness of My nama, rupa, guna and lila. Mad-gata-prana refers to

those who cannot maintain their lives without Me, just as a person cannot

maintain his life without food. Bodhayantah means that such people enlighten

each other about the svarupa and tattva of bhakti and with great affection

contribute to one another's spiritual progress. Mam means, "I am a great ocean

of the sweetest rupa, guna and lila. They attain bliss while describing and

loudly chanting about My sweet rupa, guna and so on." In this way, sravanam,

kirtanam and smaranam are superior to all other processes of bhakti. Ananya

bhaktas only attain satisfaction and bliss by performing this type of bhakti.

This is the secret. In other words, they also attain satisfaction during

sadhana-dasa, as they perform unobstructed bhajana. During sadhya dasa, they

enjoy with Krsna within their mind by remembering their perfect state. Sri

Bhagavan's above statements describe raganuga bhakti only.

 

PRAKASIKA-VRTTI

In the present sloka, Sri Krsna is explaining the nature of His ananya bhaktas

and their practice of bhakti. Here, the word mad-gata-prana means, "My bhaktas

are unable to maintain their lives without Me, just as fish canot remain alive

without water." If a fish comes out of the water on to the beach with a desire

to achieve happiness, it will certainly die immediately. In the same way, the

jivas who are averse to Sri Hari are as good as dead, even while in these

bodies.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura quotes Krsna as saying, "The character of those whose

minds are exclusively devoted is as follows. By completely offering their minds

and lives unto Me, they mutually exchange their bhavas and remain engaged in

glorifying My lilas and so forth. In this way, by sravanam and kirtanam they

attain the happiness of bhakti. In their sadhya stage, that is, after attaining

pure prema, which is accessible only through raga-marga [the path of raga, or

spontaneous attachment], they experience the pleasure of enjoying with Me within

vraja rasa, culminating in the bhava of madhura-rasa [amourous love]."

 

 

Sloka 10

 

tesam satata-yuktanam / bhajatam priti-purvakam

dadami buddhi-yogam tam / yena mam upayanti te

Upon those who perform bhajana to Me with love, yearning for My eternal

association, I bestow the transcendental knowledge by which they can come to Me.

 

BHAVANUVADA

"So, they attain satisfaction and bliss. According to Your statement, Your

bhaktas attain supreme bliss only by performing bhakti to You. It is therefore

clear that they are beyond the gunas. But how do they get direct realization of

You and from whom do they learn the process to achieve it?" Aniticpating this

question from Arjuna, Sri Bhagavan speaks this sloka beginning with the word

tesam. "I, Myself inspire all of the natural tendencies within the hearts of

those who desire My eternal association so that they achieve this. This

buddhi-yoga cannot be achieved by individual effort or obtained from someone. It

is bestowed by Me alone and only such loving bhaktas are qualified to receive

it. After being blessed with this buddhi-yoga, they achieve Me."

 

PRAKASIKA-VRTTI

This sloka explains how ananya bhaktas attain direct realization of Sri Krsna.

Krsna says, "To those who continuously perform My bhajana with love, I Myself

grant buddhi-yoga by which they easily attain direct realization of Me." It is

also said in Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.28.41),

 

saksad bhagavatoktena / guruna harina nrpa

visuddha-jnana-dipena / sphurata visvato-mukham

 

"O King, as the guru of Malayadhvaja, Bhagavan Himself illuminated his heart

with the light of knowledge." This is also explained in Vedanta-sutra (3.8.48):

visesanugrhas ca. "One can only see Krsna by His mercy."

 

Sloka 11

 

tesam evanukampartham / aham ajnana-jam tamah

nasayamy atma-bhava-stho / jnana-dipena bhasvata

 

Only out of compassion for these ananya bhaktas do I, dwelling within the core

of their hearts, destroy the darkness of samsara, born of ignorance, with the

blazing lamp of transcendental knowledge.

 

 

Arjuna may aks, "Surely, You cannot be achieve by a person who has not acquired

real knowledge (vidya-vrtti). That is why one will endeavour for vidya." In

response, Sri Bhagavan says, "No, No. I am explaining how I only bless My ananya

bhaktas, not yogis or others. I Myself am always enthusiastic to give My mercy

to them so they need not undergo any anxiety to achieve it. Entering the core of

their intelligence (atma-bhava-sthah), I dispel the darkness of their hearts

with the lamp of knowledge (jnana-dipena). That jnana which enlightens one about

Me is not sattvic; it is nirguna. And because this jnana is born from bhakti it

is special, even within the category of nirguna-jnana. Only with the lamp of

this particular jnana do I destroy the darkness in their hearts. Therefore, why

should they endeavour for this? For those who are exclusively devoted to Me, I

carry their maintenance and their requirements." In accordance with this

statement of Gita (9.22), Sri Bhagavan accerpts the burden of satisfying all of

the material and spiritual needs of his ananya bhaktas.

 

The above four slokas of Gita are famous as the essence of Bhagavad-gita. They

are all-auspicious and dispel the jiva's misery, which is born of ignorance.

 

PRAKASIKA-VRTTI

Although jnanis and yogis try to attain knowledge by the power of their own

intelligence, they remain unsuccessful. Only the ananya bhaktas of Sri Krsna who

take exclusive shelter of Him can easily attain knowledge of Him, by His mercy.

And since the bhaktas cannot maintain their lives without Krsna, they are the

supreme object of His mercy. Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana quotes Krsna as saying,

"Being pleased by their ekantika bhava, I bestow upon them complete mercy and

also inspire their intelligence, just as I care for their yoga and ksema. The

full responsibility for their maintenance is solely Mine. They do not need to

endeavour for anything."

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura quotes Krsna as saying, "In this way, ignorance

cannot remain within those who engage in the process of bhakti-yoga. Some think

that only those who try to search after tad-vastu (the Absolute Reality) by

sequentially eliminating that which is atat (non-real), according to the

principle of negation (neti-neti), attain true knowledge, and that those who

simply cultivate the process of bhakti are unable to attain such rare jnana. O

Arjuna, the basic idea is that the insignificant jiva can never attain real

tattva-jnana merely on the strength of his own intelligence. No matter how much

he deliberates, he can never achieve even a particle of pure jnana. But if I

bless him, then even an insignificant jiva can easily acquire complete and

thorough transcendental knowledge by the influence of My acintya-sakti. Simply

by dwelling within the hearts of My ananya bhaktas, I easily enlighten them with

the lamp of transcendental knowlege. By special mercy, I become situated in

their hearts and completely destroy the darkness born of ignorance which arises

from mundane association. It is the right of the jiva to acquire that pure

knowlege which appears only by the process of bhakti-yoga, not by reasoning."

 

Just as the essence of Srimad-Bhagavatam is contained within four slokas

(2.9.31-34) spoken directly by Bhagavan Sri Krsna to Brahma, in the same way,

the above four slokas are the essence of Bhagavad-gita (10.8-11). Hence, they

are popularly known as catuh-sloki Gita. The essence of Gita as decribed in

these four slokas is bhakti. Sri Krsna is personally explaining the nature of

ananya bhakti to Arjuna. When the sadhaka takes shelter of ananya bhakti, Sri

Krsna bestows His mercy upon him so that he can easily cross the ocean of

material existence and become eligible to enter His rasamayi bhakti (bhakti

characterized by five primary mellows) in the land of Vraja.