BHAGAVAD-GITA 13:8-12

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 13:8-12

 

amanitvam adambhitvam

ahimsa ksantir arjavam

acaryopasanam saucam

sthairyam atma-vinigrahah

 

indriyarthesu vairagyam

anahankara eva ca

janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-

duhkha-dosanudarsanam

 

asaktir anabhisvangah

putra-dara-grhadisu

nityam ca sama-cittatvam

istanistopapattisu

 

mayi cananya-yogena

bhaktir avyabhicarini

vivikta-desa-sevitvam

aratir jana-samsadi

 

adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam

tattva-jnanartha-darsanam

etajjnanam iti proktam

ajnanam yad ato 'nyatha

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

amanitvam--humility; adambhitvam--pridelessness; ahimsa--nonviolence;

ksantih--tolerance; ariavam--simplicity; acarya-upasanam--approaching

a bona fide spiritual master; saucam--cleanliness;

sthairyam--steadfastness; atma-vinigrahah--self-control;

indriya-arthesu--in the matter of the senses; vairagyam--renunciation;

anahankarah--being without false egoism; eva--certainly; ca--also;

janma--of birth; mrtyu--death; jara--old age; vyadhi--and disease;

duhkha--of the distress; dosa--the fault; anudarsanam--observing;

asaktih--being without attachment; anabhisvangah--being without

association; putra--for son; dara--wife; grha-adisu--home, etc.;

nityam--constant; ca--also; sama-cittatvam--equilibrium; ista--the

desirable; anista--and undesirable; upapattisu--having obtained;

mayi--unto Me; ca--also; ananya-yogena--by unalloyed devotional

service; bhaktih--devotion; avyabhicarini--without any break;

vivikta--to solitary; desa--places; sevitvam--aspiring; aratih--being

without attachment; jana-samsadi--to people in general;

adhyatma--pertaining to the self; jnana--in knowledge;

nityatvam--constancy; tattva-jnana--of knowledge of the truth;

artha--for the object; darsanam--philosophy; etat--all this;

jnanam--knowledge; iti--thus; proktam--declared; ajnanam--ignorance;

yat--that which; atah--from this; anyatha--other.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity;

approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness;

self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification;

absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old

age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children,

wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant

events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a

solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting

the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the

Absolute Truth--all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this

whatever there may be is ignorance.

 

PURPORT

 

This process of knowledge is sometimes misunderstood by less

intelligent men as being the interaction of the field of activity. But

actually this is the real process of knowledge. If one accepts this

process, then the possibility of approaching the Absolute Truth

exists. This is not the interaction of the twenty-four elements, as

described before. This is actually the means to get out of the

entanglement of those elements. The embodied soul is entrapped by the

body, which is a casing made of the twenty-four elements, and the

process of knowledge as described here is the means to get out of it.

Of all the descriptions of the process of knowledge, the most

important point is described in the first line of the eleventh verse.

Mayi cananya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicarini: the process of knowledge

terminates in unalloyed devotional service to the Lord. So if one does

not approach, or is not able to approach, the transcendental service

of the Lord, then the other nineteen items are of no particular value.

But if one takes to devotional service in full Krsna consciousness,

the other nineteen items automatically develop within him. As stated

in Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.18.12), yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana

sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah. All the good qualities of

knowledge develop in one who has attained the stage of devotional

service. The principle of accepting a spiritual master, as mentioned

in the eighth verse, is essential. Even for one who takes to

devotional service, it is most important. Transcendental life begins

when one accepts a bona fide spiritual master. The Supreme Personality

of Godhead, Sri Krsna, clearly states here that this process of

knowledge is the actual path. Anything speculated beyond this is

nonsense.

 

As for the knowledge outlined here, the items may be analyzed as

follows. Humility means that one should not be anxious to have the

satisfaction of being honored by others. The material conception of

life makes us very eager to receive honor from others, but from the

point of view of a man in perfect knowledge--who knows that he is not

this body--anything, honor or dishonor, pertaining to this body is

useless. One should not be hankering after this material deception.

People are very anxious to be famous for their religion, and

consequently sometimes it is found that without understanding the

principles of religion one enters into some group which is not

actually following religious principles and then wants to advertise

himself as a religious mentor. As for actual advancement in spiritual

science, one should have a test to see how far he is progressing. He

can judge by these items.

 

Nonviolence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the

body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress.

People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of

life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one

elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence.

One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so

that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement.

That is nonviolence.

 

Tolerance means that one should be practiced to bear insult and

dishonor from others. If one is engaged in the advancement of

spiritual knowledge, there will be so many insults and much dishonor

from others. This is expected because material nature is so

constituted. Even a boy like Prahlada, who, only five years old, was

engaged in the cultivation of spiritual knowledge, was endangered when

his father became antagonistic to his devotion. The father tried to

kill him in so many ways, but Prahlada tolerated him. So there may be

many impediments to making advancement in spiritual knowledge, but we

should be tolerant and continue our progress with determination.

 

Simplicity means that without diplomacy one should be so

straightforward that he can disclose the real truth even to an enemy.

As for acceptance of the spiritual master, that is essential, because

without the instruction of a bona fide spiritual master one cannot

progress in the spiritual science. One should approach the spiritual

master with all humility and offer him all services so that he will be

pleased to bestow his blessings upon the disciple. Because a bona fide

spiritual master is a representative of Krsna, if he bestows any

blessings upon his disciple, that will make the disciple immediately

advanced without the disciple's following the regulative principles.

Or, the regulative principles will be easier for one who has served

the spiritual master without reservation.

 

Cleanliness is essential for making advancement in spiritual life.

There are two kinds of cleanliness: external and internal. External

cleanliness means taking a bath, but for internal cleanliness one has

to think of Krsna always and chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna

Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This

process cleans the accumulated dust of past karma from the mind.

 

Steadiness means that one should be very determined to make progress

in spiritual life. Without such determination, one cannot make

tangible progress. And self-control means that one should not accept

anything which is detrimental to the path of spiritual progress. One

should become accustomed to this and reject anything which is against

the path of spiritual progress. This is real renunciation. The senses

are so strong that they are always anxious to have sense

gratification. One should not cater to these demands, which are not

necessary. The senses should only be gratified to keep the body fit so

that one can discharge his duty in advancing in spiritual life. The

most important and uncontrollable sense is the tongue. If one can

control the tongue, then there is every possibility of controlling the

other senses. The function of the tongue is to taste and to vibrate.

Therefore, by systematic regulation, the tongue should always be

engaged in tasting the remnants of foodstuffs offered to Krsna and

chanting Hare Krsna. As far as the eyes are concerned, they should not

be allowed to see anything but the beautiful form of Krsna. That will

control the eyes. Similarly, the ears should be engaged in hearing

about Krsna and the nose in smelling the flowers offered to Krsna.

This is the process of devotional service, and it is understood here

that Bhagavad-gita is simply expounding the science of devotional

service. Devotional service is the main and sole objective.

Unintelligent commentators on the Bhagavad-gita try to divert the mind

of the reader to other subjects, but there is no other subject in

Bhagavad-gita than devotional service.

 

False ego means accepting this body as oneself. When one understands

that he is not his body and is spirit soul, he comes to his real ego.

Ego is there. False ego is condemned, but not real ego. In the Vedic

literature (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 1.4.10) it is said, aham

brahmasmi: I am Brahman, I am spirit. This "I am," the sense of self,

also exists in the liberated stage of self-realization. This sense of

"I am" is ego, but when the sense of "I am" is applied to this false

body it is false ego. When the sense of self is applied to reality,

that is real ego. There are some philosophers who say we should give

up our ego, but we cannot give up our ego, because ego means

identity. We ought, of course, to give up the false identification

with the body.

 

One should try to understand the distress of accepting birth, death,

old age and disease. There are descriptions in various Vedic

literatures of birth. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam the world of the

unborn, the child's stay in the womb of the mother, its suffering,

etc., are all very graphically described. It should be thoroughly

understood that birth is distressful. Because we forget how much

distress we have suffered within the womb of the mother, we do not

make any solution to the repetition of birth and death. Similarly at

the time of death there are all kinds of sufferings, and they are also

mentioned in the authoritative scriptures. These should be discussed.

And as far as disease and old age are concerned, everyone gets

practical experience. No one wants to be diseased, and no one wants to

become old, but there is no avoiding these. Unless we have a

pessimistic view of this material life, considering the distresses of

birth, death, old age and disease, there is no impetus for our making

advancement in spiritual life.

 

As for detachment from children, wife and home, it is not meant that

one should have no feeling for these. They are natural objects of

affection. But when they are not favorable to spiritual progress, then

one should not be attached to them. The best process for making the

home pleasant is Krsna consciousness. If one is in full Krsna

consciousness, he can make his home very happy, because this process

of Krsna consciousness is very easy. One need only chant Hare Krsna,

Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama,

Hare Hare, accept the remnants of foodstuffs offered to Krsna, have

some discussion on books like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, and

engage oneself in Deity worship. These four things will make one

happy. One should train the members of his family in this way. The

family members can sit down morning and evening and chant together

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama,

Rama Rama, Hare Hare. If one can mold his family life in this way to

develop Krsna consciousness, following these four principles, then

there is no need to change from family life to renounced life. But if

it is not congenial, not favorable for spiritual advancement, then

family life should be abandoned. One must sacrifice everything to

realize or serve Krsna, just as Arjuna did. Arjuna did not want to

kill his family members, but when he understood that these family

members were impediments to his Krsna realization, he accepted the

instruction of Krsna and fought and killed them. In all cases, one

should be detached from the happiness and distress of family life,

because in this world one can never be fully happy or fully miserable.

 

Happiness and distress are concomitant factors of material life. One

should learn to tolerate, as advised in Bhagavad-gita. One can never

restrict the coming and going of happiness and distress, so one should

be detached from the materialistic way of life and be automatically

equipoised in both cases. Generally, when we get something desirable

we are very happy, and when we get something undesirable we are

distressed. But if we are actually in the spiritual position these

things will not agitate us. To reach that stage, we have to practice

unbreakable devotional service. Devotional service to Krsna without

deviation means engaging oneself in the nine processes of devotional

service--chanting, hearing, worshiping, offering respect, etc.--as

described in the last verse of the Ninth Chapter. That process should

be followed.

 

Naturally, when one is adapted to the spiritual way of life, he will

not want to mix with materialistic men. That would go against his

grain. One may test himself by seeing how far he is inclined to live

in a solitary place, without unwanted association. Naturally a devotee

has no taste for unnecessary sporting or cinema-going or enjoying some

social function, because he understands that these are simply a waste

of time. There are many research scholars and philosophers who study

sex life or some other subject, but according to Bhagavad-gita such

research work and philosophical speculation have no value. That is

more or less nonsensical. According to Bhagavad-gita, one should make

research, by philosophical discretion, into the nature of the soul.

One should make research to understand the self. That is recommended

here.

 

As far as self-realization is concerned, it is clearly stated here

that bhakti-yoga is especially practical. As soon as there is a

question of devotion, one must consider the relationship between the

Supersoul and the individual soul. The individual soul and the

Supersoul cannot be one, at least not in the bhakti conception, the

devotional conception of life. This service of the individual soul to

the Supreme Soul is eternal, nityam, as it is clearly stated. So

bhakti, or devotional service, is eternal. One should be established

in that philosophical conviction.

 

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11) this is explained. Vadanti tat

tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam. "Those who are actually

knowers of the Absolute Truth know that the Self is realized in three

different phases, as Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan." Bhagavan is the

last word in the realization of the Absolute Truth; therefore one

should reach up to that platform of understanding the Supreme

Personality of Godhead and thus engage in the devotional service of

the Lord. That is the perfection of knowledge.

 

Beginning from practicing humility up to the point of realization of

the Supreme Truth, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, this process

is just like a staircase beginning from the ground floor and going up

to the top floor. Now on this staircase there are so many people who

have reached the first floor, the second or the third floor, etc., but

unless one reaches the top floor, which is the understanding of Krsna,

he is at a lower stage of knowledge. If anyone wants to compete with

God and at the same time make advancement in spiritual knowledge, he

will be frustrated. It is clearly stated that without humility,

understanding is not truly possible. To think oneself God is most

puffed up. Although the living entity is always being kicked by the

stringent laws of material nature, he still thinks, "I am God" because

of ignorance. The beginning of knowledge, therefore, is amanitva,

humility. One should be humble and know that he is subordinate to the

Supreme Lord. Due to rebellion against the Supreme Lord, one becomes

subordinate to material nature. One must know and be convinced of this

truth.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.