Prabhupada Class on Bhakti Yoga: Bhagavad-gita 7.3 -- Vrindavan Aug 9, 1974

The following is a class on the Bhagavad Gita as it is. Seventh chapter, text number three, given by His Divine Grace, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, recorded on the 9th of August, 1974, in Vrindavan, India. Translation.

Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows me in truth. manuṣyānāṁ śahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatāṁ api siddhānāṁ kaścid māṁ dṛtti tatha To understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, not superficially, but in fact, that we can understand, as Kṛṣṇa says in the beginning of this chapter, mayy āśakta-manā-prārtha-yogaṁ yuñjal mad-āśrayaḥ aśaṁsāṁ samagraṁ mām yathā jñāsyasi tacchino How Kṛṣṇa is Truth, the Absolute Truth, although the Absolute Truth is described in three phases in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is described, vadanti tattvata-vidas tattvam. This tattva, here it is said, tattvat. The truth, absolute truth, is called tattva.

So vadanti tat-tattva-vidas tattvam. Tattva-vid. Vid means knowledge. Vetti-vid-vid-jñāne.

One who has got complete knowledge, he's called vid, tattva-vid. So tattva-vid, they ascertain the tattva, the truth, in three ways. Vadanti tat-tattva-vidas tattvam yad jñānam adhyayam. So knowledge of the truth is non-dual.

Absolute means non-dual. No relative. Absolute. Ad-daya-jñānam.

So what is that ad-daya-jñānam? Brahmeti, paramātmeti, bhagavāniti, sadyati. So to approach Kṛṣṇa, to understand, one has to go through the Brahmagyāna, Brahmeti, then Paramātmā, Paramātmājñāna, then Kṛṣṇajñāna. Brahmeti, Paramātmājñāna, bhagavānīti, śraddhate.

So generally those who are inquiring about the absolute truth, They come to the point of brahmagya, brahmagya. Then if one makes further advance, then he can understand parmatmagya. Parmatmagya means the all-pervasive personality of Godhead, localized aspect. īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe vajjuna-tiṣṭhā. That is Paramātmājnā.

First of all, Brahmagyāna, then Paramātmājnā, then Bhagavad-gīnā, bhagavān iti śabdhati. That Bhagavān is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇaṣṭu bhagavān sayam aśad yasya samagyasya vīryasya yasasa śrīya jñāna vairāgya-śraiva-bhaga-iti-svarāṅgari. One who has complete in possession, all wealth, aiśadya, samagraṣya, all, samagraṣya, one of the items of becoming Bhagavān.

Nowadays there are so many Bhagavāns, so-called Bhagavān, but this is the first state, aiśadyaś ca samagraṣya, whether you possess all the wealth. Oh, who can say so? That a person is living by begging and he's claiming to become Bhagavan. That is not the definition of Bhagavan.

Bhagavan must possess all the wealth, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tavasāṁ sarva-loka-maheṣaḥ . I am the proprietor of all the planetary system, all the lokas, all the universes. Actually that is the fact.

So one who is begging for his livelihood, he is claiming, I am Bhagavan. Just see. They do not know what is Bhagavan. These rascals who unnecessarily, unceremoniously claiming to become Bhagavan, they do not know what is Bhagavan.

Bhagavan is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā, This is one of the description of Bhagavad-gītā. Govinda. Kṛṣṇa is Govinda. So Govinda Adipurisam, he is the original primeval Lord. Īśvara-parama-kṛṣṇa-sacchid-ānanda-vigraha-anādhi-rādhi-govinda-sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇa.

So this Bhagavān, there are expansion of Bhagavān. Adyaita-acchitya-anādhi-ananta-rūpam. Bhagavān has got unlimited number of expansion. It is stated just like you cannot count in the river how many waves are flowing.

Similarly, you cannot count even how many expansions are there of Bhagavān. So one of the expansions of Bhagavān is Mahā-Viṣṇu, yasya hi kalā-viśeṣa. Viṣṇu mahān śayaya yasya kalā-viśeṣa. Kalā-viśeṣa means, kalā means part of the expansion.

Not direct expansion, but part of the expansion. That is called kalā. Aṁśa kalā. Aṁśa means direct expansion, and kalā means expansion of the aṁśa.

So the Mahā-Viṣṇu is described as kalā viśeṣa, an expansion of the aṁśa, secondary. And what is that Mahā-viṣṇu? Now yasyaika-niśya-śruta-kāla-mathāvalam ma jīvanti loha-lajā jagad-dhanya-nātāḥ Jagad-dhanya means this universe. There are millions and millions of universes.

This is only one universe. This universe, what we are saying, this is only one. There are millions. This information we get also from the Vedic literature. yasya prabhā prabhavato jaga-janya koṭi koṭiṣu aseṣa vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam tad brahma-niṣkalaṁ anantam aseṣa bhūtam govindaṁ ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhayāt Yasya prabhā.

This Brahma-yoti, Brahma-jñāna is just like the rays that the sun shines. is the rays of the sun glow. Similarly, the rays of the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Brahma-yoti. And without Brahma-yoti, there are innumerable universes. So in each universe, we are given the picture in our title cover, or Srimad-Bhāgavatam.

So in each universe, there are innumerable planets. In this way, this is a partial expansion, partial exhibition of Kṛṣṇa that is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Athamā bahū naitena kiññātena tavād viṣṭabhyo aham ekāṁśena sthito jagat. Ekāṁśena, this whole, all the universes, they are simply partial exhibition of the partial expansion of Kṛṣṇa.

Yaḥ śrīka-niṣṭhira-suta-kāna-matvānta. In this way you have to study Kṛṣṇa. Not that Kṛṣṇa was born in His maternal uncle's house at Mathurā and He played with the gopīs or cowherd boys. That is actual fact.

But one should understand Kṛṣṇa, how great He is. That is called tattva. Manuṣānāṁ sahasyeṣu kaścid yatati siddhā. Yatatā māṁ siddhānāṁ kaścin vyetti māṁ tattva.

They simply superficially study Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they cannot understand how great is Kṛṣṇa. In the Western world they say, God is great. But one should understand how great He is.

That is tattva. Otherwise we shall be mislead. We cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. Abhijānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānasim tanum āśritam .

The rascals, fools, asses... Mūḍha means asses. They delight Kṛṣṇa. Oh, Kṛṣṇa, I understand.

What is that Kṛṣṇa? Not like that. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, manuṣyānāṁ sahasreṣu. Out of many, many millions of persons, first of all let him become siddha. Śrīdha means perfect.

Everyone is imperfect. Everyone commits mistake. This is imperfection. Everyone commits mistake.

Everyone becomes illusion. Everyone's sense, perception are all imperfect, and everyone is a cheater. These are the deficiency of the conditioned soul. One does not know what is Kṛṣṇa, and he wants to become Kṛṣṇa.

I am God, I am Kṛṣṇa. So this is cheating. Brahma-pramāta-vipra-riṣā-karṇāpataḥ . One should understand Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa.

There are so many Vedic literatures to understand. Veda-iṣṇya-sarvair aham eva vedyam . If you are studying Vedas, if you are Vedāntis, then ultimate knowledge will depend how we have understood Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiṣṭa-sabvayi ahaṁ eva veda.

If you do not understand Kṛṣṇa, what is the use of your studying Vedānta and Vedas? It is useless. Sama eva hi kevalam. So don't try to understand Kṛṣṇa in that way.

Generally, they understand Kṛṣṇa very easily. They are called sahajiyās. That Kṛṣṇa was a young boy, and He was joking with the gopīs, dancing with the gopīs, and that is Kṛṣṇa. We can imitate also.

We can do also. This kind of understanding means He's a rascal, He's a fool. a fool. That is, of course, Kṛṣṇa's, one of the pastimes. But that is not this ordinary young boy and young girl's pastime.

No. That is cinvaya. Ānanda-cinvaya-rasa. That is ānanda-cinvaya-rasa. We have no understanding what is ānanda-cinvaya-rasa.

We are accustomed to taste this material ānanda, sense gratification. Yana maithunādi grihamedhi sukhaṁ mitu-ccham. Here in this material world, the ānanda is sex gratification, sex intercourse, maithunādi. Yana maithunādi grihamedhi sukhaṁ mitu-ccham.

This is most abominable, ānanda. This is not ānanda. Although The whole world is mohitaḥ, trivī-guṇai-bhāvaiḥ, mohitaḥ. This is the ānanda.

In the Western world we have seen, even old men, seventy-five years old, eight years old, they are going to the naked dance club to sex ānanda. Because in the material world there is no ānanda except this. But in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find, śukham ātan trikaṁ yattat atindriya grāhyam. What is real ānanda, that you have to taste by your transcendental senses.

Not these senses, blunt senses. This is blunt senses, covert senses. There is no question of tasting ānanda with these senses. There is no possibility.

Ananda is described just like it is said. Ramante yogina anante. Yogina, those who are transcendentalists, above this material world, they also seeking after ananda or tasting ananda. Ananda-cinmay-rasa.

That is satya-ananda. That is real ananda. Ramante yogina anante. and there is no end of that ānanda. Nitya-navāyā māna.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu has described, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam bhava-mahādā-vāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ śreya-kairava-candra-kāvitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhu-jīvaṇaṁ ānanda-ambudhi-vardhanaṁ. Ānanda-ambudhi. We have no experience that ambudhi... Amudhi means the ocean. And ānanda-amudhi, the ocean of ānanda, vardhana.

It is increasing. It is increasing. We have no experience that the sea or the ocean is increasing. It is decreasing.

So this is ānanda. Ramante yogina anante. That is ananta-ananta. Ramante yogina anante satyānande cidātmani.

That is not jara-atmani. Here this ānanda is jara, dull. It is not ānanda, material. But cid-ātmati.

Iti rāma-pade nāso para-brahma-itya-vidhīyati. These are the descriptions. Rama means one who takes ānanda in the reality, not in the false. So this is the way of understanding Kṛṣṇa.

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said, siddhānta-baliyā cittē nākara alas, yā haite kṛṣṇa-lāge śurīra-mānaḥ. To understand Kṛṣṇa in truth. Do not be lazy. I have understood Kṛṣṇa.

What you have understood? Therefore, we fold up. One should understand, therefore, to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, one has to devote studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam nine cantoes. In the tenth canto, Kṛṣṇa is described, because first of all become fit to understand Kṛṣṇa.

That is called tattva. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is there. Om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya janmādy asya yataḥ anyāti tarataḥ ścarthi suha-vijñaḥ śarāṭaḥ Try to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, not superficially. Of course, the ultimate goal is to understand Kṛṣṇa's prestige in Vedāvana.

Go-pī-bhāva-raśā-mṛtādiḥ. But that, first of all, you become siddha. Without becoming siddha, you cannot understand. So long you are asiddha, imperfect, you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa.

If you try, if you associate with the siddhas, satāṁ praśaṅgātmava-vīrya-saṅbhida-bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyaṇa-kathā, You have to associate, just like in the morning, muni bhī mahātma bhī. You have to understand Kṛṣṇa in the association of mahātmās. And who is mahātmā? Mahātmānastu māṁ prārtha devī prakṛtim āśritāḥ.

Mahātmā is not in this material world. He is in the spiritual world. Devī prakṛtim āśritāḥ. Vajanti.

And the result is always engaged in devotional service of Kṛṣṇa. That is mahātmā. So Kṛṣṇa said that it is not very easy to understand Kṛṣṇa. People understand Kṛṣṇa very easily.

That is why they are called sahajiyā. Everything takes very easy place. So manuṣyānāṁ sahasyaṣaṁ. Manuṣyānāṁ.

There are 400,000 species of manuṣya. 400,000. Yatu lakṣyāṇi mātuṣyāṁ. Yalajānaṁ lakṣyāṇi sthāvarā lakṣya-viṁśyati krīmayo rudra-saṅkakā.

There are statements in the Padma Purāṇa how many living entities, forms are there. So out of 8,400,000 different forms and species, there are 400,000 species of manuṣya. So out of them, one who is born in India, he is first-class manuṣya. That's a fact.

Unfortunately, we are missing the chance. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, So those who are Indians present here should know that after many pious activities, one gets birth in India, Bharat-bhumite. They should try to understand Krsna. There is facility.

There are sastras. āstras. Kṛṣṇa personally speaks Bhagavad-gītā. Vyāsadeva speaks about Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We are neglecting.

We have become so rascals and fools. This is not India's business, to imitate how economic development, money, money, money, money. This is not India's business. India's business is to understand Kṛṣṇa, matātā brahma-jijñāsā.

That is India's business. These Americans and Europeans have come here not to see how much you are economically developed, industrially developed. They have got enough of this, enough, more than enough. They don't care for it.

The modern young men, they do not like. They are fed up. They have come here to understand Kṛṣṇa. They come here to understand Kṛṣṇa.

Manuṣyānāṁ śāsye śruta-śrī-yata-dhṛddhāya. Therefore we are trying to construct this center. Let everyone come all over the world, and it is the India's business to understand what is Kṛṣṇa and help them. That is India's business.

It is very serious movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement on this platform, the whole world can be ignited. It is not ordinary movement. Only on the basis of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Try to understand Kṛṣṇa.

Thank you very much. given by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, recorded on the 16th of June, 1974, in Germany. This was a discussion between Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa in the battlefield of Kuruksetra.

So the subject of discussion was that, although the battle was declared, Arjuna, when he actually found that on the other side there are my relatives, how he could slain them? Kṛṣṇa advised that everyone must execute his prescribed duty without consideration of any personal loss or gain. According to Vedic civilization, there are four divisions of the society. Everywhere the same divisions are there all over the world.

This is very natural. Just like we can study from our own body. There is head, there is arm, there is belly, and there is leg. Similarly, in the society there must be a class of men who should be considered as brain.

Another class of men should be there who will protect the society from danger. Another class of men will be expert in producing food grains and give protection to the cows and make trade. So and the rest class of men, namely who cannot work as grain, neither can work as protector from danger, nor they can produce food grains or give protection to the cows, they are called śūdras. as you cannot avoid, to make your body complete, the brain department, the arms department, the belly department, and the walking or working department. So Arjuna belonged to the group of men who was meant for giving protection to the society.

So when he was declining to fight, Arjuna, when he was declining to fight, At that time, Kṛṣṇa gave him advice that it is your duty to fight. So generally killing is not good at all. But when there is enemy aggression, then to kill the aggressor is not simple. So the other party in the battlefield of Kuruṣetra, they became aggressor to the Arjuna's party.

Now this is the set-up of the Bhagavad-gītā. The real purpose is to instruct Arjuna about spiritual understanding. So spiritual understanding means first of all to know what is spirit. If you do not know what is spirit, then where is spiritual understanding?

People are too much engrossed with the body. That is called materialism. But when you understand what is spirit and you act accordingly, that is called spiritualism. So Arjuna was hesitating to fight with the other party because he had bodily relationship with them.

So between Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa there was discussion, but that was friendly discussion. Therefore, when Arjuna understood that simply friendly discussion could not solve the problem, he became his disciple. Arjuna surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, śiṣyas te'ham śādhivān prapannam. My dear Kṛṣṇa, so long we are talking as friend.

Now I become Your regular disciple. Kindly save me by instruction. What I have to do?" Therefore, when this stage was arrived, Kṛṣṇa is advising Arjuna as follows. Śrī Bhagavān was. Now it is said here, who is saying to Arjuna?

The author or the recorder of Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by Kṛṣṇa. It was a discussion between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. and it was recorded by Vyāsadeva, and later on, it became a book. This time, when we speak, it is recorded, and later on, it is published as a book.

Therefore, in this book, it is said, bhagavānuvāca. Vyāsadeva is the writer. He does not say that I speak. He says bhagavānuvāca, in the Supreme Personality of Godhead self.

So Kṛṣṇa is accepted by the authorities as Bhagavān or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And what is Bhagavān? Bhagavān means that one who is fully equipped with six opulences. Fully equipped with all opulences means Bhagavān is the richest personality.

How much rich Bhagavān or God is, we can understand that we are proud of possessing a few acres of land. And Bhagavān means who is the proprietor of the whole universe. Therefore He is considered the richest. Similarly, He is considered the strongest.

And similarly, he is considered the wisest, and similarly, he is the most beautiful personality. In this way, when you find a person, the richest, the most beautiful, the most wise, the strongest, in this way, when you find, that is Bhagavān or God. So when Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, He proved all these opulences possessed by Him. Take for example that everyone marries, but Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Person, He married 16,108 women.

But it is not that He remained One husband, for 16,000 wives, he made arrangement for providing the 16,000 wives in different palaces. Each palace, there is described, they are made of first-class marble stone, and furniture made of ivory, and the sitting place made of very nice, soft cotton. In this way, there is description. And the outward compound, there are many flower trees.

Not only that, he also expanded himself into sixteen thousand expansions, personal expansions. And he was living in that way with each and every wife. So it is not very difficult task for God. God is safe to be situated everywhere.

So within our vision, if he is situated in sixteenth of whom home, what is the difficulty for him? So here it is said, śrī-bhagavānubhātaḥ, the most powerful authority is speaking. Therefore whatever he says, it is to be taken as truth. In our, this conditional life, just like we are living under material condition, We have got four defects.

We commit mistake. We are illusion. And we want to cheat also. And our senses are imperfect.

So knowledge received from a person who is infected with four kinds of deficiencies is not perfect. So when you receive knowledge from a person who is transcendental to all these four kinds of defects, that is perfect knowledge. Modern scientists, they theorize that it may be like this, it may be like that, but that is not perfect knowledge. So if you speculate with your imperfect senses, what is the value of that knowledge?

It may be partial knowledge, but that is not perfect knowledge. Therefore our process of receiving knowledge is to receive it from the perfect person. Therefore we are receiving knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavān, the most perfect, and therefore our knowledge is perfect. Just like a child, he may be imperfect, but if his father says, my dear child, this is called spectacle.

So if the child speaks, this is spectacle, that knowledge is perfect. Because the child does not make research to find out knowledge. He asks his father or mother, what is this? Daddy, what is this?

Mother. And the mother says, my dear child, this is this. Another example can be given. That is, if a child does not, in childhood, he does not know who is his father, that he cannot make any research work.

If he makes research work to find out his father, he'll never find out his father. But if he asks his mother, who is my father, and the mother says, He is your father, that is perfect. Therefore knowledge, knowledge of God, who is beyond your sense perception, how can you know? Therefore you will have to know from God Himself, all His representatives.

So here Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is speaking, and that is the final authority. He says to Arjuna as follows. He says, asacchā na nusocastam prajñāvādāṁ sva-bhāsas te. My dear Arjuna, you are talking like very learned scholar, but you are lamenting on a subject matter which you should not do.

Gatāsūṁ agatāsūṁśa nāmi śocanti paṇḍitāḥ . Gatāsūṁ means this body, when it is dead or when it is alive. Bodily conception of life is foolishness. So no learned man takes serious consideration of the body.

Therefore in the Vedic literature it is said that one who is in the bodily concept of life, He is nothing more than an animal. Therefore at the present moment, without knowledge of the Self, the whole world is going on under the bodily concept of life. The bodily concept of life is there amongst the animals. The cats and dogs, they are very proud of becoming a big cat or big dog.

Similarly, if a man also becomes similarly proud, that I am big American, big German, big... What is the difference? But that is actually going on, and therefore they are fighting like cats and dogs. So we shall discuss more tomorrow.