BHAGAVAD-GITA 18:71

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 18:71

 

sraddhavan anasuyas ca

srnuyad api yo narah

so 'pi muktah subhal lokan

prapnuyat punya-karmanam

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

sraddha-van--faithful; anasuyah--not envious; ca--and; srnuyat--does

hear; api--certainly; yah--who; narah--a man; sah--he; api--also;

muktah--being liberated; subhan--the auspicious; lokan--planets;

prapnuyat--he attains; punya-karmanam--of the pious.

 

TRANSLATION

 

And one who listens with faith and without envy becomes free from

sinful reactions and attains to the auspicious planets where the pious

dwell.

 

PURPORT

 

In the sixty-seventh verse of this chapter, the Lord explicitly

forbade the Gita's being spoken to those who are envious of the Lord.

In other words, Bhagavad-gita is for the devotees only. But it so

happens that sometimes a devotee of the Lord will hold open class, and

in that class not all the students are expected to be devotees. Why do

such persons hold open class? It is explained here that although not

everyone is a devotee, still there are many men who are not envious of

Krsna. They have faith in Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

If such persons hear from a bona fide devotee about the Lord, the

result is that they become at once free from all sinful reactions and

after that attain to the planetary system where all righteous persons

are situated. Therefore simply by hearing Bhagavad-gita, even a person

who does not try to be a pure devotee attains the result of righteous

activities. Thus a pure devotee of the Lord gives everyone a chance to

become free from all sinful reactions and to become a devotee of the

Lord.

 

Generally those who are free from sinful reactions, those who are

righteous, very easily take to Krsna consciousness. The word

punya-karmanam is very significant here. This refers to the

performance of great sacrifices, like the asvamedha-yajna, mentioned

in the Vedic literature. Those who are righteous in performing

devotional service but who are not pure can attain the planetary

system of the polestar, or Dhruvaloka, where Dhruva Maharaja is

presiding. He is a great devotee of the Lord, and he has a special

planet, which is called the polestar.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.