Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita

[Guest guest]

" Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita "

68/11/23 Los Angeles, Bhagavad-gita 2.8-12listen

Prabhupada: Somebody come read Bhagavad-gita. You will read? Come on. Our publication by Macmillan Company, Bhagavad-gita, is out.

Devotee: Where shall I read from?Prabhupada: Introduction.

Devotee: This is the introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is.nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale

srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine " The Bhagavad-gita is also known as the Gitopanisad. It is the essence of the Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upanisads in Vedic literature. There are many commentaries on the Bhagavad-gita, and the necessity for another should be explained in the following basis. An American lady asked me to recommend an English edition of the Bhagavad-gita which she could read. I was unable to do so in good conscience. Of course there are many translations, but of those I have seen, not only in America but those also in India, none can be said to be authoritative, because in almost every one of them the author has expressed his personal opinion through the commentaries without touching the spirit of the Bhagavad-gita as it is. The spirit of the Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Gita itself. It is like this: If we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the directions written on the label of the bottle. We cannot take the medicine according to our own directions or the directions of a friend not in knowledge of this medicine. We must follow the directions on the label or the directions of our physician. The Bhagavad-gita also should be accepted as it is directly by the speaker Himself. The speaker is Lord Sri Krsna. He is mentioned on every page as the Supreme Personality of Godhead or Bhagavan. Bhagavan sometimes means any powerful person or demigod, but here it means Krsna. "

Prabhupada: Most of you must have read some editions of Bhagavad-gita. I will give you instances. One of the English translations, commentaries by Dr. Radhakrishnan, in the Ninth Chapter the Lord says,

man-mana bhava mad-bhaktomad-yaji mam namaskurumam evaisyasi kaunteyaasamsaya...

The Lord says that " You, you just always remain thinking of Me. " That means always remain in Krsna consciousness. Simply this Krsna consciousness means some way or other you have to think of Krsna always. Some way or other you just engage yourself in some activities so that it can remind you about Krsna. That is the process. Therefore those who are elevated devotees, they, in everything, they remember Krsna. That is the perfection. (Bengali) Here is a light. A perfect devotee sees the light, not the light as it is, but he sees some relationship with Krsna or Krsna in the light. This is stated in the Bhagavad-gita also, that prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. Krsna says that " I am the taste of the water. " Now the..., when you are thirsty you want water. You feel some nice taste in the water by which your thirst is satisfied, " Yes, now I am satisfied. " So Krsna says, " I am that taste. " Similarly He says prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh: " The light in the sun, in the moon, that I amthat light. " In this way He has described. So when one is highly elevated in Krsna consciousness, in everything, in every action and every phenomenon he will see only Krsna. That is the perfection of Krsna consciousness.

So that is being taught in the Ninth Chapter, and in this verse, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto, " Always think of Me, " this is the sum and substance of all spiritual advancement. What is that? Smartavyam satato visnuh. One should always be absorbed in the thought of Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is called samadhi. That is perfection of yoga. The yoga system is the practice of the most lower class of men. I mean to say spiritually, not materially. Because their mind is so much distracted from here and there, they have to concentrate the mind by practice and focus the mind on Visnu. That is the yoga perfection, real. Now they are manufacturing so many other things, but the real yoga practice is this, that you have to draw your attention from everything and focus the same on Visnu form. That is yoga system. Dhyanavasthita manasa pasyanti yam yoginah. This is the definition of yogi. They are in meditation, dhyanavasthita. Dhyanavasthita means meditation. So those who are yogis... You have heard so much about meditation -- there is very popular word in your country -- and what is that meditation? The meditation is to focus the mind on the form of Visnu. Dhyanavasthita manasa pasyanti yam yoginah.

So this instruction you will find in the Ninth Chapter, man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah [bg. 9.34], " Always think of Me. " That is the perfection of life, always thinking of Visnu. But one commentator, very big commentator, he says, " This meditation is not up to Krsna. " Just see. Krsna says " Just meditate upon Me, " in the Bhagavad-gita, and the commentator says, " It is not up to Krsna. " In this way, in similar way or a different way, every commentary on Bhagavad-gita so far published I have seen, their business is how to divert one's attention from Krsna, although in the Bhagavad-gita the main factor is Krsna. That is mentioned here. What is that? Read on. This Bhagavad-gita has come. Yes.

Devotee: The last sentence was, " Bhagavan sometimes mean any, any, means any powerful person or demigod, but here it means Krsna. This is confirmed by all the great... "

Prabhupada: Now this bhagavan, you have heard, many times I have explained, bhaga. Bhaga means opulence. There are six kinds of opulences. What is that? Wealth, and then influence, strength, reputation and knowledge, beauty and renunciation. Is it not six? If a man is wealthy, very rich, just like in your country Rockefeller, Ford, there are many rich men in your, the..., your country is very rich. So if one is very rich he is called opulent. If a man is very reputed, famous man, he is also opulent. If a man is very influential, he is also opulent. If a man is very strong... Now the strong man, formerly strong men had request, ahh, respect. All the kings, they were respected on their personal strength. They used to..., they had to fight with the opponents. So that is also opulence. Then beauty. A very beautiful man or woman, that is also opulence. And wise, very learned, wise man, that is also opulence -- scientist, philosopher, mathematician. So they are also opulent. And renouncer. Renouncer, that one who give up everything, he has everything in his possession, but he disposes himself, that is called renunciation. Just like king, Maharaja Bharata, under whose name India is called Bharata-varsa. He was the emperor of the world, but at the age of twenty-four years only he gave up everything -- his young wife, young children. Lord Buddha, Lord Buddha was prince, but very young boy, at the age of twenty years or something like that, he gave up everything, his father's kingdom. This is called renunciation. At the present moment (chuckles) hardly there is any sense of renunciation, but formerly there were many kings, many princes who renounced everything for spiritual advancement. So these six principles are called bhaga.

So these six principles are there. Just like we are minute part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Fragment, very small fragment. So every one of us have got some money according to our capacity. Every one of us has got some strength or some reputation or some beauty or some knowledge. Comparatively it may be that your position may be greater than me or other's position may be greater than you, that not all of us on the same level. There are comparative positions. So bhagavan means you go on searching. When you find a person that nobody is richer than Him, nobody is stronger than Him, nobody is richer than Him, nobody is reputed than Him, nobody is wiser than him, nobody is beautiful, more beautiful than Him, and nobody is renouncer than Him, He is Bhagavan, He is God.

So all these you will find in Krsna. That is the significance of Krsna. When Krsna was present on this material world so nobody could excel Him in any of these opulences. Nobody. So far richness is concerned, He exhibited His richness with His (indistinct). He married 16,108 wives, and each wife had a palace, and the palace did not require light. It was bedecked with valuable jewels, so at night the light from the jewels will illuminate the rooms. Can you imagine such house? (laughter) And not only that, that He married 16,000 wives and He was apart from them, no. With each wife He was present. With some wife He is talking, with some wife He is playing, with some wife He is looking after the children. In this way Narada travelled all the houses, all the palaces, he saw Krsna is there engaged. This is called opulence. So far power is concerned, there were so many fights with Krsna, nobody could conquer. So far beauty is concerned, you know Krsna's beauty, even from the picture. And the, all the gopis, in Vrndaana... Krsna at the age of fifteen, sixteenth year, naturally at that time boys are very beautiful, any, any man even. So He was so beautiful that they, all the gopis prayed to Yogamaya. Everyone prayed, " My dear mother, please give me Krsna as my husband. " So this is, but (indistinct) significance is the, that the day they prayed the next day there was... Perhaps you know that Krsna's vastranam-lila. Vastranam-lila means... In India still there are places in Punjab when girls and women take bath they keep their clothings in the river, I mean to say, not in the bathroom. In the rivers, they keep their clothings on the shore, on the bank, and they dip into the water completely naked. So that place is completely separate for the women. No man can go there. That is the system still somewhere. They will take bath fully and they will come and again dress. And woman, woman, they are all naked, there was no shame. They, no man and no boy can go there. This vastranam-lila was that Krsna stealthily went there and tookup all their clothes, and got up on a tree, (laughter) (laughs) with the clothings. And they cannot come out of the water. " Krsna, You are very naughty. Give us our clothes. Give us our clothes. " That was vastranam-lila.(laughter) The purpose was the, the people interpret in a different way, but the purpose is very significant. Only devotees can understand that all these girls, day before, they prayed to Yogamaya that, everyone prayed, that " Let us have Krsna as our husband. " Now Krsna was at that time only 15, 16 years, no older. In India still the boys of 15, 16 years, they are not married. At least he must be 20, 22 years. And girls are married between 12 to 16 years. That is the Vedic system. Neither it was possible for Krsna to marry all the girls, but they all prayed. So how to fulfil their desire? That was vastranam-lila. The vastranam-lila means that according to any human civilization, system, a woman can become naked only before husband. So Krsna fulfilled that, that " You are naked, I am before you,so I am your husband. " That's all. Wholesale acceptance. That was the purpose. But the nonsense people they differently, differently interpret.

So Krsna's opulence, beauty, strength, and so far wisdom, at least you can test. Now the wisdom, see preliminary wisdom only. Preliminary talks on spiritual matter is discussed in this Bhagavad-gita. And this book is still read, even after five thousand years, all over the world. Just see His wisdom. That is a test. Big scholars, big religionists, philosophers, they are bewildered still about Bhagavad-gita. Therefore there are so many interpretations. But this, what is this Bhagavad-gita? Bhagavad-gita is the A B C D of spiritual knowledge. It is not very high depth of spiritual knowledge. High depth of spiritual knowledge is in the Srimad Bhagavatam. This is only entrance. Just like children are taught a b c d., or first book of knowledge. It is only the first book of knowledge. And what is that first book of knowledge? The first book of knowledge teaches from the very beginning that you are not this body. That is the beginning of knowledge, spiritual knowledge. And the whole world, great philosophers, the geat politicians... Now yesterday the boys gave me one paper. There is discussion about Transcendental Meditation. There was publication of our activities also, and some others are... So the so-called Transcendental Meditation they are discussing on the mind. And the Bhagavad-gita, mind is immediately rejected as matter. So Transcendental Meditation, they're on the platform of the mind. Just see. And the Bhagavad-gita says that mind is external nature only.

indriyani parany ahurindriyebhyah param manahmanasas tu para buddhiryo buddheh paratas tu sah

In the gross material concept of life we are under the impression that " I am this body. " Therefore we are concerned with the senses. If our senses are gratified, we think we are now satisfied. So this is the gross type of existence, I mean to say, existence of ignorance. Illusion. Maya. When one is under the thought that " I am this, " this is illusion. Illusion means you accept something, something is presented as reality, and you accept it. Just like the example is given water in the desert. Mirage. There is no water, but a, an animal is hankering, is running after water in the desert. That is practical, that due to sunshine there is a reflection, it appears in the desert. Sometimes you might have seen -- not here, in India we have seen several times -- that exactly there is a vast water, and it is reflecting, the reflection. That is called mirage. There is not a drop of water, but the animal, when he is thirsty he..., it thinks that " There is water. " He jumps into the desert and the water is going ahead, going ahed, and he is running after it and then dying. So this illusion, that " I am this body. " So we are after this sense gratification. Body means the senses. So that is mirage, illusion. Just like the animal is running after water in the desert.

So even this yoga system, the hatha yoga system, that is also based on this illusion. They are trying to put this water under certain exercise and thinking that they are elevating themselves in spirit. But Bhagavad-gita, in the beginning, says that you are not this body, neither this mind. This is the beginning of Bhagavad-gita, and that is a b c d. Any person who does not know that I am not this body he has no even a-b-c-d knowledge of spiritual kingdom. If one is attracted with this bodily function or mind, mental function, he is outside the spiritual purview altogether. He rejected immediately. That test is in the Bhagavad-gita. These people, the so-called yogis, so-called karmis... Karmis means the ordinary worker, those who are running in the street with motor car, this way and that way, very busy. You see. What are they? They are karmis. Karmis means under the bodily concept. They are thinking that comfort of this body and sense gratification is the end of life. That is karmi. If they have got very nice apartment, a nice wife and good bank balance and a very nice dress, oh, there is perfection. That's all. That is karmi. And jnani means that when they are confused. Just like there are a section of people in your country, they have seen enough of this material affair, happiness, or they are searching after something wrongly. But actually those who are intelligent, they don't remain confused. Actually they want to see " What is my actual position. " They are called jnani, man of knowledge