Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 4.7

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse]

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7]

[break] [02:47]

Translation: "Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself."

Prabhupāda:

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7]

This is very important verse in the Bhagavad-gītā. Dharmasya. Dharma is translated into English as "religion," and religion is described in the dictionary as a particular type of faith. So actually, it is not that. Dharma does not mean a particular type of faith. Because faith, you may accept some faith, I may accept some faith, another may accept another faith. Then there is no question of preaching. Everyone is satisfied with his own particular type of faith, then there is no need of preaching, neither there is need of Kṛṣṅa's coming, descending on this planet. He said,

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7]

If anyone accepts his own type of religion, so "I may not like your religion, you may not like my religion, but everyone is right," then what is the use of Kṛṣṅa's coming here to rectify adharma? Just try to understand. If everyone's religion is right... I may like or not like. That doesn't matter. You may like my religion. Then there is no question that any religion is irreligion. Just like the..., some religion, they think killing of animal is their religion, and somebody thinks that killing of animal is irreligious. Then which is right, which is wrong?

So dharma does not mean that you manufacture something, I manufacture something at home, or by some assembly, resolution passed. Just like in Western countries there are so many... Here also, by passing resolution, it is accepted as dharma. So Kṛṣṅa is not speaking of that type of dharma. First of all you have to understand. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glāniḥ [Bg 4.7]. What is dharma, first of all you have to understand. Dharma means occupational duty. Or natural characteristic. That is called dharma. Just like sugar. Sugar is sweet. The sweetness is dharma of sugar. Chili is very hot. The hotness is the dharma of chili. If the chili becomes sweet and sugar becomes hot, that is adharma. Try to understand this.

So first of all, who can give us dharma? That is stated in the śāstras, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītam [SB 6.3.19].

[Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyādharas and Cāraṅas.]

Dharma means the orders given by the Supreme Lord, or Supreme Being, God. That is dharma. This is the shortest definition of dharma. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītam. Just like law. Law means which is given by the government. You cannot manufacture law at home. That is not possible. I have given this example many times, that in some country the law is, "Keep to the right," in some country, "Keep to the left." I think in America it is "Keep to the left." In England it is "Keep to the right." India, "Keep to the..." Now which one is correct, "Keep to the left" or "Keep to the right"? No. According to the government. If the government says that "Keep to the right" is right, then you have to accept that. And the government says, "Keep to the left, that is right," then it is right. We cannot say that "In my country I keep to the left. Why shall I keep to the right?" No. That will not be accepted. Try to understand what is religion.

So God is one. God cannot say somewhere that "This is religion and this is not religion." God says, Bhagavān Kṛṣṅa says, in the Bhagavad-gītā... Here it is said that yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati [Bg 4.7], paritrāṅāya sādhū... In next verse He said,

paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya ca sambhavāmi yuge yuge [Bg 4.8]

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

The two business, Kṛṣṅa's. Because He has already explained, bhūtānām īśvaraḥ, "I am the controller of all living entities." Therefore when there is discrepancies in the execution of dharma, then He is to punish and reward. Paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. Two things. Just like it is the government's duty to give protection to the law-abiding citizen and to punish the outlaws. These two duties of the government. And the supreme government, Kṛṣṅa... Because wherefrom this idea came? The government rewards the law-abiding person, or gives protection, and the not law-abiding, there is also protection, but under punishment.

So dharma means, as Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66].

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

This is dharma. This is dharma. And our dharma, our characteristic, is also there. Because every one of us, we have surrendered to somebody. Analyze everyone—he has somebody superior where he has surrendered. It may be his family, his wife or his government, his community, his society, his political party. Anywhere you go, the characteristic is to surrender. That you cannot avoid. That was the talk with Professor Kotovsky in Moscow. I asked him, "Now, you have got your Communist philosophy. We have got our Kṛṣṅa philosophy. Where is the difference in philosophy? You have surrendered to Lenin, and we have surrendered to Kṛṣṅa. Where is the difference?" Everyone has to surrender. It doesn't matter where he is surrendering. If the surrendering is correct, then the things are correct. If the surrendering is not correct, then things are not correct. This is the philosophy. So we are surrendering.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has explained this: jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṅa-dāsa [Cc Madhya 20.108-109]. We are surrendering, but we are not surrendering to Kṛṣṅa. This is the disease. This is the disease. And Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement means to cure this disease. Cure this disease. Kṛṣṅa comes also. He says, yadā yadā hi dharmasya. The dharmasya glāniḥ, discrepancies in the matter of execution religion, when there is discrepancies, Kṛṣṅa says, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham. And abhyutthānam adharmasya. Two things are there. When people does not surrender to Kṛṣṅa, they manufacture so many Kṛṣṅas, so many rascals to surrender there. That is adharmasya. Dharma means to surrender to Kṛṣṅa, but instead of surrendering to Kṛṣṅa, they want to surrender to cats, dogs, this, that, so many things. That is adharma.

Kṛṣṅa did not come to establish the so-called Hindu religion or Muslim religion or Christian religion. No. He came to establish real religion. Real religion means we have to submit, surrender, to the real person. That is real religion. We are surrendering. Everyone has got some ideas. He has surrendered there. Either political, social, economical, religious, anything—everyone has got some idea. And the leader of that ideal is also there. So our business is to surrender. That is a fact. But we do not know where to surrender. That is the difficulty. And because the surrender is mistaken, or misplaced, therefore the whole world is chaotic condition. We are changing this surrender to that surrender. "No more Congress Party. Now Communist Party." Again, "No more Communist Party. This... This party, that party." What is the use of changing party? Because this party or that party, they are not surrendered to Kṛṣṅa. So unless you come to the point of surrendering to Kṛṣṅa, there cannot be any peace. That is the point. Simply by changing from frying pan to the fire will not save you.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa's last instruction is,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi... [Bg 18.66]

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

So the discrepancy of religion means... This is also stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ, first-class or superior dharma. Paraḥ means superior, transcendental. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje [SB 1.2.6].

[The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.]

When we surrender to the Adhokṣaja... Adhokṣaja means the supreme transcendence, or Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa's another name is Adhokṣaja. Ahaituky apratihatā. Ahaitukī means without any cause. Without any cause. Not that "Kṛṣṅa is such and such; therefore I surrender." No. Without any cause. Ahaituky apratihatā: and it cannot be checked. Nobody can check. If you want to surrender to Kṛṣṅa, there is no checking, there is no hindrance. You can do it in any position. You can do it. Ahaituky apratihatā yenātmā suprasīdati. Then you will, ātmā, your ātmā, your soul, your mind, your body will be satisfied. This is the process.

When this thing is discrepancies... One... There is one verse by a learned scholar that here we are surrendering to somebody... I am not surrendering to somebody for the his satisfaction, but for my satisfaction. I join some political party because I am finding out the opportunity how I can become a minister or how I can capture some power by going through this political party. This is my real aim. I do not go to serve the country. Maybe one or two. But my real purpose is how to get some opportunity, some position. Therefore I am not serving that party, but I am serving my ambition.

Therefore service means, at the present moment, service means kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśāḥ [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 3.2.35, Cc. Madhya 22.16].

[O my Lord, there is no limit to the unwanted orders of lusty desires. Although I have rendered them so much service, they have not shown any mercy to me. I have not been ashamed to serve them, nor have I even desired to give them up. O my Lord, O head of the Yadu dynasty, recently, however, my intelligence has been awakened, and now I am giving them up. Due to transcendental intelligence, I now refuse to obey the unwanted orders of these desires, and I now come to You to surrender myself at Your fearless lotus feet. Kindly engage me in Your personal service and save me.]

Our so-called service is to serve my lust, kāmādīnām. Kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mātsarya. We have got all these things. So somebody is serving lust, somebody is serving his anger, somebody his greediness. In this way we are serving the senses, not the particular person. When you go to the office, we serve. But you do not serve the office, but we serve the money. Because he is paying me, as soon as he says, "Now tomorrow I cannot pay," then, "Namaskāra." [laughter] Therefore he is serving the money. And why money? Because money will help me in satisfying my senses. Therefore I am serving my senses. Nobody is serving anyone. Everyone is serving his sense. This is the position. This is dharmasya glānir bhavati. As soon as we are engaged in serving our senses, that is dharmasya glāniḥ. And as soon as we agree to serve the senses of Kṛṣṅa, that is dharma.

That is the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā. When Arjuna was talking with Kṛṣṅa, in the beginning he was trying to serve his senses. "My dear Kṛṣṅa, if I kill my relatives I'll be entangled in this way of sinful activities. I'll go to hell. If I kill my grandfather, the other side, Droṅācārya, the other side... No, no." In this way he concluded, "No, no. I shall not fight." This kind of service is to satisfy Arjuna's own senses. He thought, "By killing the other party, I'll not be satisfied. I'll be very much sorry." That means serving my own senses. Kṛṣṅa also was giving him instruction that "You are a kṣatriya. It is your duty. There is no consideration of your relatives or your grandfather or your ācārya. When there is opponent you must fight." That way. In this way they were talking. The talking was that Kṛṣṅa wanted to satisfy His senses and Arjuna wanted to satisfy his senses. This was going on. Talking. But Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Lord; He is īśvara. His senses should be satisfied. Then it is service.

That is the whole subject matter of Bhagavad-gītā, because Arjuna denied to serve Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa wanted that "This battlefield... This Kurukṣetra war is arranged by Me. You are simply an instrument." Nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savyasācin [Bg 11.33]. "Even if you do not fight, all these bodies who have assembled here, they are not going back living. They will be killed. Now if you like, you have to fight. But the conclusion is already there." Because paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg 4.8].

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

It was Kṛṣṅa's plan to kill all these asādhu, duṣkṛtām, Duryodhana and company. That was His plan. So that is His business. He came to install Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, Dharmarāja, on the throne, and He wanted to kill the adharma, Duryodhana and company. That was His business. So therefore this Kurukṣetra war was planned, and Arjuna was to help Him because Arjuna was a devotee. Bhakto 'si, sakhā ceti. Because Kṛṣṅa's friend. Everything is done by Kṛṣṅa, but Kṛṣṅa... And Arjuna is devotee. As the devotee wants to serve Kṛṣṅa, similarly, Kṛṣṅa also wants to give credit to His devotee. That is the business between the Lord and His devotee.

So Kṛṣṅa could do everything. He was competent, everything. But He wanted to give the credit to Arjuna. That was His plan. Kṛṣṅa has already done everything. But Arjuna, as a common man, he was talking with Kṛṣṅa. Actually, Arjuna also knew that "Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is my duty to serve Him." This was known to Arjuna. Therefore he is bhakta. Bhakta means who has dedicated his life to serve Kṛṣṅa. That is bhakta.

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam 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.]

This is bhakti definition. When one becomes freed from all designation..."I am American," this is designation. "I am Indian," this is designation. "I am brāhmaṅa," this is designation. "I am kṣatriya," this is designation. So one has to become free from all designation. This designation is bodily. I am not this body. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. I am spirit soul. Therefore when one understands that "I am not this body. I am spirit soul, I am part and parcel of the Supreme," that is self-realization.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg 18.54]

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

This is Brahman realization, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that "I am not this body." So long one is under the conception of this body, he is no better than the animals. Sa eva go-kharaḥ. Go means cows and kharaḥ means ass. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke [SB 10.84.13].

[One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.]

So, so long we are in the bodily concept of life, we do not know what is our real religion. That is ignorance, mūḍha. Na māṁ prapadyante mūḍhāḥ [Bg 7.15].

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

So long we are in the bodily concept of life, with upādhi, designation, so long we are in ignorance. That is dharmasya glāniḥ. In ignorance whatever you do, that has no benefit, either for you or for anyone. So whole thing, whole world is going on under this bodily concept of life, designation: "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am this," "I am that." So that kind of dharma is not dharma. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says at the end of Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [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 the Bhagavad-gītā religion is not Hindu religion or Christian religion or Muhammadan religion. It is the real religion, between the soul and God. The reciprocation, the exchange of dealings between the Supreme and the subordinate, that is called bhakti. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam. Purified. When you become purified, tat-paratvena, simply by engaging yourself in the devotional service of the Lord... Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

These are the verdict of the śāstra. When our heart is cleansed, then we can accept this religion, sarva-dharmān parityajya. This is the religion. To accept Kṛṣṅa, to surrender to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, this is religion.

So when Kṛṣṅa says, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati... When people become averse to God, or Kṛṣṅa, they become godless, they think themselves as God or something like that, that is dharmasya glāniḥ. So naturally, here in this material world, every one of us, we have come to enjoy. Material life means enjoyment. Enjoyment is not real enjoyment. Real enjoyment is spiritual enjoyment. Spiritual enjoyment, that is with Kṛṣṅa. That is not in the material world. So the dharmasya glāniḥ means when there is discrepancy in the understanding of spiritual identity, that is dharmasya glāniḥ.

Then ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is spiritual understanding. When one understands that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul," and when he begins... Devotional service begins there. That will be explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg 18.54].

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

Because we are in darkness, we are not prasannātmā. We are always morose. Although we are serving the country, the community, the family or anything, but we are not happy, because that is not our religion. When the same service will be converted to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, then we'll be satisfied. Then we'll be satis...

Therefore one learned scholar has prayed, kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśās teṣāṁ na karuṅā jātā na trapā nopaśāntiḥ, sāmprataṁ labdha-buddhis tvām āyātaḥ niyuṅkṣva mām ātma-dāsye [Cc Madhya 22.16],

that "I have served so long the kāma, krodha, moha, mātsarya, lust, greediness, anger. But they are not satisfied." I have given this example, that you cannot satisfy anyone by material service. The example is in our country. Mahatma Gandhi gave his..., the best capacity as he understood. Still, he could not satisfy everyone. Somebody killed him. So in this material world, so long we'll be in the material service, either socially or family-wise or community, whatever you do, you'll never be able to satisfy them. They will never say that "Now we are completely satisfied." Because it is disorganized. It cannot be. But if you try to serve Kṛṣṅa, a little service will make your life success. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt [Bg 2.40].

[In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.]

Svalpam api, very little service, if you give. Kṛṣṅa is so kind. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya.

Just like... I'll give you example. Just like Kṛṣṅa, when He was child, the Pūtanā demon, she wanted to kill Kṛṣṅa. She did not know... Everyone wants to kill Kṛṣṅa, God. Just like Kaṁsa: he was making plan to kill Kṛṣṅa as soon He is born. That is the plan of the demons, to kill God, or Kṛṣṅa, some way or other. But actually, Kṛṣṅa is never killed; he is killed. That is the whole history. So this Pūtanā, she planned that "Smearing some poison on my breast, I shall allow Kṛṣṅa to suck it and He'll die." That was his [her] plan. Kṛṣṅa sucked the poison as well as the Pūtanā's life. She died. But, just Kṛṣṅa's kindness... Kṛṣṅa thought that "She, this demon, this rākṣasī, she came to kill Me by poisoning, but I have sucked her breast. Therefore she is My mother." Kṛṣṅa is so kind. "Therefore she must get the position of My mother."

So some way or other, if you try to serve Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa is so kind. Even if you have gone with a bad purpose, Kṛṣṅa will accept your service. Kṛṣṅa is so kind. So why should we serve so many others? And if you serve Kṛṣṅa, then others' service will be automatically done. The society's service, the family's service, the country's service, social service, political service, any service—that will be complete. Why? Because Kṛṣṅa is the root. Kṛṣṅa is the root. If you pour water on the root of the tree, the water will approach everywhere in the tree. That is injunction of the śāstra.

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ prāṅopahārāc ca yathendriyāṅāṁ tathaiva sarvārhaṅam acyutejyā [SB 4.31.14]

[As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.]

Because Kṛṣṅa is the root. Kṛṣṅa... Bījo 'haṁ sarva-bhūtānām [Bg 7.10].

[O son of Pṛthā, know that I am the original seed of all existences, the intelligence of the intelligent, and the prowess of all powerful men.]

Aham ādir hi devānām [Bg 10.2]. Mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate, iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ [Bg 10.8].

[I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.]

So if you try to serve the root, water the root, automatically everything will be served. Just like this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. This Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is aiming at service, aiming to serve Kṛṣṅa. That is the only aim. But automatically we are giving social service. Because as soon as one becomes Kṛṣṅa conscious, he gives up all kinds of intoxication, all kinds of illicit sex, all kinds of meat-eating, all kinds of gambling. Is it not social service? Best social service. In America the government is appreciating, because the people are addicted to LSD, and they are seeing practically that as soon as a boy could come to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, he gives up all this nonsense. They are spending millions of dollars; they cannot stop. But we can stop simply by word: "Give up this," and he immediately gives up.

So this is the fact, that if you accept this dharma, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja, then all the problems of the world will be solved. Therefore this is needed. And to teach this education, to teach the people, the rascals... Therefore Kṛṣṅa comes. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7]. So Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa's instruction, identical. Don't think that Kṛṣṅa is no longer... He's existing by His word. Take His word, apply it practically in life, and you will be happy. That is called Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. All glories to Prabhupāda. [end]