Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 13.23

Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat]

upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ paramātmeti cāpy ukto dehe 'smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ [Bg 13.23]

[break]

[00:52]

Translation: "Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul."

Prabhupāda: Hm. So there are two puruṣas. One puruṣa is already explained. Puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi...

[aside:] You can go.

Puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṅān [Bg 13.22]. So one puruṣa, the living entity, ātmā, and another puruṣa is Paramātmā. Sometimes the Māyāvādī philosophers, they do not distinguish between ātmā and Paramātmā. But here it is distinctly explained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead that one puruṣa is enjoying the fruits of his activities, prakṛti-sthaḥ. Being influenced by the quality of the prakṛti, material nature, he is sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu [Bg 13.22], he is taking birth in different types and species of life. And another puruṣa is there who is upadraṣṭā. Upadraṣṭā means He is overseer. He is simply seeing how the other puruṣa is working. And according to his karma, work, He is giving the result. He is the witness.

If the living entity puruṣa is working piously, then he is getting a different type of body. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī [SB 1.8.26].

[My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted, because one who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot address You with sincere feeling.]

A nice body, born in rich man's family or brāhmaṅa's family, scholar's family, janma; opulence, aiśvarya; beauty, beautiful body; and very good education—these distinctions are there because the paramātma-puruṣa is observing the activities of the jīvātma-puruṣa. And according to his karma, according to his desire, He is giving a different type of body.

Īśvaraḥ sarva... Another place it is said, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61]:

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

"That Supreme Personality of Godhead as Paramātmā, Antaryāmī, is situated in everyone's heart." Bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [Bg 18.61]: "And He is directing māyā to give him a particular type of body, and he is moving with that body." Yantra. Just like if you get a car, according to the price, you can get car. You can get a Rolls-Royce car, Chevrolet car, Cadillac car or a Ford car or Ambassador car or a Jeep. So as you can pay for it, you get a different type of car, and you can travel, similarly, according to your karma, good and bad, you are getting a type of body. There are 8,400,000 species of body. You can get one of them and suffer and enjoy.

Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg 2.13].

[As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.]

You have to change your body. Next body you can get a cat's body or dog's body, a tree's body or a demigod's body or a Brahmā's body or a Indra's body, Indian body, American body, serpent body, insect body, bird's body, aquatic—any, any. There is no guarantee. That will be awarded to you according to your karma. Unfortunately, they do not know it. Just like animals. The animals do not know how to get a better body.

aśītiṁ caturaś caiva lakṣāṁs tāñ jīva-jātiṣu bhramadbhiḥ puruṣaṁ prāpyaṁ mānuṣyaṁ janma-paryayāt [Padma Purāṅa]

This is statement in the Padma Pur... Janma-paryayāt, by evolution, we come to this human form of body, and in this human form of body we have got the chance to develop Kṛṣṅa consciousness. And if we do not do that, then we are losing the opportunity, missing the opportunity.

[loud noise of firecrackers throughout]

Next body I shall get according to my karma. But if you become Kṛṣṅa conscious in this body, in this human form of body, and if you try to understand what is Kṛṣṅa, then tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg 4.9],

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

then after giving up this body, you do not accept another material body. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. We are trying to educate men to become Kṛṣṅa conscious, so that he may not have to accept another material body.

So the other body, which is described here, Paramātmā... We are ātmā, and He is Paramātmā. We are īśvara; He is Parameśvara. We are not Parameśvara. We are Brahman; He is Para-brahman. This "param" word is used. But sometimes men with little intelligence, they cannot distinguish between Paramātmā and ātmā, Parameśvara and īśvara. Here another word is used, bhoktā maheśvaraḥ. We are not bhoktā. We are trying to become bhoktā, or enjoyer, but we are becoming baffled. It is not possible. We cannot become bhoktā. We can become being enjoyed, predominated, not the predominator. Just like one thing is enjoyed and the other is enjoyer. The Supreme Lord, He is the enjoyer. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram [Bg 5.29].

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

The same word again, maheśvara. Mahā īśvara. Mahā means great; īśvara means controller. So we can controller a few men, but maheśvara means He controls all living entities. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13].

[The Supreme Lord is eternal and the living beings are eternal. The Supreme Lord is cognizant and the living beings are cognizant. The difference is that the Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life for the many other living entities.]

We may be very proud of controlling a factory, a few thousands of worker, but we are not maheśvara. Maheśvara is Kṛṣṅa, Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is in His Paramātmā feature is situated in every body. Paramātmeti ca apy ukto dehe 'smin, asmin dehe, within this body. It is also discussed that... What is that? Sarva-deheṣu bhārata. What is that? No. There is a... All right.

So Paramātmā... There are two souls. Kṣetra-jña. Kṣetra, kṣetra-jña. The Arjuna's questions, I think, in this chapter. Kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-deheṣu bhārata [Bg 13.3]. Kṛṣṅa says that "I am also kṣetra-jña." The body is kṣetra, and the soul is kṣetra-jña, one who knows about the body. Just like you have got your body, I have got my body. And I know it is my body, you know it is your body. Just like your apartment, your living room. Similarly, there is another partner. That is Kṛṣṅa, Paramātmā.

Kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi. I can take care of my body. I am the owner of this body. But Kṛṣṅa is the owner of all bodies. Just like the landlord and the tenant—the tenant is the occupier and the landlord is the owner. Similarly, I am the occupier of this body, and Kṛṣṅa, Paramātmā, He is the owner of this body. This is knowledge. I am not the owner of this body. Therefore Kṛṣṅa's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīka means the senses. We are claiming, "This is my hand," but this is not my hand; this is Kṛṣṅa's hand. The same thing: the tenant may occupy the room, but he is not the owner of the room. Owner is different person. Similarly, we may occupy this body or any body, but we are not owner of this body.

As soon as we know that "I am not owner of this body, I am the occupier of the body," that is knowledge. We are falsely claiming that we are owner of the body. We are not owner of the body. I cannot therefore repair anything. If any part of my limb of my body goes wrong, I do not know how to repair it. But Kṛṣṅa can do it, because He is the owner, Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170].

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

You have to pay to the owner. Similarly, we have to serve Kṛṣṅa for occupying this body. That is devotion. Yajñārthe karmaṅo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg 3.9].

[Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṅu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.]

Because it is also explained, sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādas tat. Sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādas tat means everywhere the Supreme Lord has got His hands and legs. So what is that? How He has got hands and legs? Your hands, my hands, they are hands of Kṛṣṅa. Therefore it should be used for Kṛṣṅa. Just like your hand. We are claiming, "This is my hand." This hand is used for my service. Suppose if you want to eat something, you use your hand for eating, but for other's eating, you don't use your hand; he uses his own hand. This is an example. So all these hands and legs belong to Kṛṣṅa. It should be used for Kṛṣṅa. That is called bhakti. Hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170]. If you don't use, then that is against the laws of nature.

So upadraṣṭā anumantā. Kṛṣṅa, the Supersoul, is anumantā. Anumantā means without His permission you cannot do anything. You cannot do anything. Because everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa, how you can use something without permission? So anumantā. And upadraṣṭā. Just like father and son, little child, he wants to do something and wants permission from the father or the mother. And he gives. In our childhood I remember that even for going to the privy I wanted permission of my mother, "Can I go?" That is nature. That is nature. Mother is not restricting me; still, I am asking the permission of mother, "Can I go? Can I go?" I remember it. This is natural. Similarly, we cannot do anything without the permission of the Supersoul within the heart. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca [Bg 15.15].

[I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.]

Without permission. Therefore He is anumantā.

So when we do something wrong, how Kṛṣṅa as antaryāmī, as Paramātmā, gives permission? This question may be raised. But He gives permission when I do something wrong. Because I cannot do anything without His permission. But He gives me permission as a... Kāraṅaṁ guṅa-saṅgo 'sya. That is already explained:

puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṅān kāraṅaṁ guṅa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu [Bg 13.22]

He can give you permission, but the enjoyment and suffering will have to be taken by you. You insist permission, "I want to do this." And without permission, you cannot do it. Therefore Kṛṣṅa gives you per..., "All right, you do it, but at your risk." Kṛṣṅa does not want that you should do it, but you want to do it. Therefore He gives permission.

He wants sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅam [Bg 18.66].

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

That is His demand. But your demand is different, that "I shall not surrender, Sir. I want to do this." "All right, you do it at your own risk." But if you follow the instruction of Kṛṣṅa, then He takes charge of you. Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi. So you do pāpa or puṅya, you enjoy the effect, but when you follow the instruction of Kṛṣṅa, there is no such pāpa or puṅya. It is transcendental, Brahman. That is called Brahman. And above the guṅas. Sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. Māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena sevate [Bg 14.26].

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

Kṛṣṅa says, "Anyone who is engaged in rendering service unto Me," bhakti-yogena, sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate, "he is not affected by the activities. He is immune from the result of all activities." Many places it is said. Yajñārthe karmaṅo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg 3.9].

If you want to do for your satisfaction, Kṛṣṅa will give you permission, but you will have to enjoy or suffer the effects. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa [SB 3.31.1].

[The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.]

It is very simple to understand. So therefore Kṛṣṅa is called anumantā, "giving permission," "Yes, you can take. You can do it." Anumantā upadraṣṭā. And so far our activities are concerned... This is also explained in the Upaniṣads, that there are two birds in this tree, body. One is observing and other is enjoying. So the observing bird is the Paramātmā, Kṛṣṅa. He is upadraṣṭā. He is simply seeing your activities, how you are doing, and giving you the effect. And anumantā. Kṛṣ..., He does not want it. What you are doing now, Kṛṣṅa does not want it. But because you wanted persistently to do it, so He gives permission, because without His permission you cannot do it. This is the conclusion.

Upadraṣṭā anumantā ca bhartā. He is the maintainer. You cannot get anything without His mercy. There may be ample supply of necessities of life by the grace of Kṛṣṅa, and there may be scarcity. So they are now complaining about overpopulation. There is no question of overpopulation. Kṛṣṅa is quite competent, able to maintain everyone. But as you become godless, as you become disobedient to the laws of God, there will be restriction. You cannot have full supply of necessities of life. That time has already come. All these rascals, godless rascals, they are now suffering. The only remedy is to become devotee. He is bhartā. He can maintain many millions. There is no question of overpopulation. He can maintain. Bhartā. But nature will not supply. Nature will restrict supply if you become godless. Therefore nature is very strong, strict. Daivī hy eṣā guṅamayī mama māyā duratyayā [Bg 7.14]. He'll restrict supply.

[This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.]

So in this Kali-yuga people are degrading, and the supply also will be reduced. There will be no supply of milk, there will be no supply of sugar. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There will be no supply of rice, no supply of wheat. Now you can get black market, white market, but time is coming when there will be no supply completely. You will be forced to eat this beef. Now it is opening, beef shop, big, big beef shop. This time has already come, gradually, and it will be increasing, unless you take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṅasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet [SB 12.3.51].

[My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.]

Kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṅaḥ.

This Kali-yuga is suffering. So you cannot get comfortable life in this Kali-yuga, being godless. Because Kali-yuga means godless. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ [SB 1.1.10].

[O learned one, in this iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.]

So therefore everyone should take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness to save himself from the onslaught of Kali-yuga, which will increase day by day.

Thank you very much. [end]