Bhagavad-gītā 7.1

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

śrī bhagavān uvāca mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṅu [Bg 7.1]

[break] [00:46]

"Now hear, O son of Pṛthā [Arjuna], how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt."

Prabhupāda:

śrī bhagavān uvāca mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṅu [Bg 7.1]

The Lord, Bhagavān... Bhagavān means the most powerful, almighty, with six opulences. That is Bhagavān. Bhaga means opulence, and vān, this word is used in the sense of "possession." Just like generally we say bhāgyavān. We Indians, we know. Bhāgyavān means fortunate. This word bhāgya comes from bhaga. Bhaga, and in relationship with bhaga the word comes bhāgya. And vān means "one who possesses." Asty arthe vatup. The Sanskrit word, when the meaning is to possess, then one affix is added which is called vat, bhaga-vat. And the first word of the bhagavat-śabda is bhagavān.

So we are trying to understand Bhagavān, which is explained by Bhagavān Himself—Bhagavān, God. You cannot understand God, or Bhagavān, by your speculation. Any one of us, our senses are defective. Just like we are very much proud of our eyes to see. Sometimes some rascal says, "Can you show me God?" He does not think that how far his eyes are capable to see, but he wants to see God. Our senses are conditional. So long the electric light is there, we can see. If it is immediately dark, we cannot see. Then what is the value of this seeing? But we are very much proud of seeing. Similarly, we have our defective senses, and we accept something which is not fact. That is called illusion. And we commit mistake, every one of us. There is no man in the world who can say, "I did not commit any mistake in my life." That is not possible. "To err is human," it is said. So we have got four defects: we commit mistake, we are illusioned, bhrama-pramāda... Just like we accept this body as myself: "I am this body." "Who are you?" "I am Mr. Such-and-such," "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Englishman," "I am white," "I am black," "I am fat," "I am thin." In this way we give description of our body. But we do not know what I am. This is called illusion. And commit mistake, we have got experience. Many times we have committed mistake, blunder, in our life.

So bhrama-pramāda-karaṅāpaṭava. Karaṅāpaṭava means... Karaṅa means the senses through which we act. Just like we catch up through the hand. This is called karaṅa. So karaṅa, these are imperfect. I am catching with my hand, but if the hand is paralyzed... So long we are not paralyzed, our machine is going nicely, we can catch. Otherwise, we cannot catch. This is condition. We can catch under certain condition. So therefore our senses are imperfect. Karaṅa apaṭu. Apaṭu means imperfect. Bhrama-pramāda-karaṅāpaṭava, and another defect is vañcana, or cheating. I am so much defective; still, I want to impress others that I have got full knowledge. How you can have full knowledge if you are so defective? Just like a diseased man, he cannot say, "I am perfect in health." That is not possible. Similarly, if we are defective in so many ways, and if I want to become teacher or preacher to give you the truth, then how can I give? This is not possible. So we cannot hear from anyone who is defective. That is not pure knowledge; that is not perfect knowledge. If we hear from some defective, who theorize, "I think," "In my opinion," "Maybe," "Perhaps..." These are nonsense speaking. So almost everyone, the so-called scientists, philosophers, they simply theorize, "I think." Who are you, you are thinking like that? You are imperfect.

So we cannot accept the theories or the statement of some defective person. We should hear from the person who is not defective—perfect. Therefore our process of hearing or getting knowledge is from the perfect person. That is called Kṛṣṅa consciousness. We are hearing Bhagavad-gītā, we are getting knowledge from Bhagavad-gītā, because Bhagavān Himself speaking. Therefore here it is said... Although it is said by Kṛṣṅa... Everyone knows that Kṛṣṅa spoke Bhagavad-gītā, and Vyāsadeva recorded it and then put it into the Mahābhārata, this statement. But here Vyāsadeva purposely says—one may not misunderstand—that this knowledge is perfect. Therefore he says, bhagavān uvāca. Bhagavān uvāca means there is no defect. You can accept it as it is and you get the full knowledge. This is the meaning of bhagavān uvāca. Many times he has said.

So bhagavān uvāca, and He is speaking about Himself, Bhagavān Kṛṣṅa, coming here. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7].

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

Bhagavān comes for this purpose, to let people know what is Bhagavān, not this so-called rascal incarnation. Just try to understand what is Bhagavān. If Bhagavān... Bhagavān means the six opulences in full.

aiśvaryasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva bhaga itī ṣaṅṅāṁ ganā [Viṣṅu Purāṅa 6.5.47]

[Full wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation—these are the six opulences of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.]

Aiśvarya means wealth, riches, one who is the greatest rich man. Every one of us... There are so many rich men, we are present here. But nobody can say, "I am the richest in the world." That is not possible. So one who can say and prove that he is the richest in the world, he can be accepted as Bhagavān, not these rascals, cheap Bhagavān. Cheap Bhagavān we don't accept. We accept Bhagavān Rāmacandra, Bhagavān Kṛṣṅa, because They did something which is impossible to be done by any human being. We are not going to accept cheap Bhagavān.

So Bhagavān means who is the richest, who is the most famous, who is the most..., who is the strongest, who is the most beautiful, who is the most wise and who is most renounced. Just like Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says that 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.]

He is the proprietor of all the lokas. Lokas means where the people or living entities live. So there are so many planets. Everywhere there are living entities. Oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṅyam [Gāyatrī-mantra]. There are Bhūrloka, Bhuvarloka, Svarloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka, Satyaloka, Brahmaloka. Seven..., fourteen planetary system. Then down: Tala, Atala, Vitala, Talātala, Pātāla, Rasātala. There are so many. This is only one universe. There are millions of universes. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṅḍa-koṭi. Koṭi, we Indians understand: millions. There are millions of universes. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṅḍa-koṭi-koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam [Bs 5.40].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upaniṣads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth.]

And each and every universe there are millions of planets, and each planet is different from the other.

Just like the moon planet. You are going to live there, but you cannot live there, because it is, the scientist says, two hundred degrees below zero, the temperature. So it is different atmosphere. Similarly, in the solar, I mean the sun planet, you cannot go there. But Kṛṣṅa can go there. That is Kṛṣṅa; that is God. Because Kṛṣṅa is not like us, neither His body is like us. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

And He went to the sun planet. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, Fourth Chapter. He says, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1].

[The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.]

Just like here Bhagavān says, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogam. This is a yoga. Similarly, this yoga system was spoken to the sun-god. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ..., yogam... What is that?

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṅa: Imaṁ vivasvate...

Prabhupāda: Imaṁ vivasvate yogam [Bg 4.1]. Imaṁ yogam, the same thing as Kṛṣṅa is speaking to Arjuna, the same thing was spoken to sun-god. Imaṁ vivasvate. Vivasvate: "unto Vivasvān." Vivasvān. The president of the sun planet is known as Vivasvān. His name is given. Just like we know who is the president of United States or India, similarly, those who are advanced in knowledge, they know who is the predominating deity or president of that planet. That requires knowledge. So Kṛṣṅa said that "I spoke to the sun-god, Vivasvān." So we cannot enter into the sun planet. That is not possible. It is so fiery. Temperature is so high. But Kṛṣṅa can go. Otherwise, how Kṛṣṅa went and spoke to the sun-god? It is stated. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We do not interpret the meaning that "Kṛṣṅa, not this Kṛṣṅa, that...," and all, so many nonsense things. No. Simple meaning is that if Kṛṣṅa instructed the sun-god, Vivasvān, then He went there as He comes here. That is natural conclusion. And because He entered the sun planet and He did not burn down into ashes, therefore His body is different. Because if we go, if we enter such high temperature, immediately we are finished, what to say about speaking. So Kṛṣṅa spoke. These are natural, as it is, conclusion. You cannot interpret.

So therefore conclusion is: Kṛṣṅa's body is different from us. One who does not know, rascal, he thinks that Kṛṣṅa is like ourself. Kṛṣṅa, how He can be like ourself? If He entered the sun planet and spoke to the president of the sun planet, then His body is different. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam [Bg 9.11]:

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

"Because I look just like a human being, the rascal think of Me I am an ordinary man." Therefore the conclusion is: one who thinks of Kṛṣṅa as one of us, he is a fool, he is a rascal. Kṛṣṅa's body is explained in the śāstra, Vedic. What is that body? Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.37]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.]

These are the Vedic information.

So Kṛṣṅa has body, but not a body like us. That is stated in the Vedas. Apāṅi-pādo javano grahītā paśyaty acakṣuḥ [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.18]. Paśyaty acakṣuḥ. He has no eyes, but He sees. Then what is that seeing power? That means He has got a different type of eyes, but He has got His eyes. He is not nirākāra, but not ākāra like us. His body is sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1]. Sat, cit, ānanda. Sat means eternal, and cit means full of knowledge, and ānanda means full of bliss. So His body is made of such qualities, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Then you can compare your body. If we compare, if I think of my body, it is not sat. Sat means eternal. This body will be finished. So it is not sat. It is asat. Sat means which exists, and asat means which does not exist. Therefore how you can say Kṛṣṅa's body and my body is the same? No.

Then cit. Cit means knowledge, and our body is full of ignorance. We cannot understand knowledge. We have no knowledge immediately what is beyond this wall. If you ask me what is beyond this wall, then I will have to ask some of my disciples, "What is there beyond this wall?" Therefore it is not cit, not full of knowledge. But Kṛṣṅa knows, He says in the Bha..., vedāhaṁ samatītāni [Bg 7.26]: "I know everything past, present and future." When Arjuna enquired... Kṛṣṅa..., Arjuna, he is also playing just like Kṛṣṅa's friend. So he enquired for dissipation of the ignorance that "My dear Kṛṣṅa, You are saying that You spoke this philosophy, Bhagavad-gītā, formerly to the sun-god." Without asking Him, "How did You go? How did You return?" he simply asked that "Kṛṣṅa, I know that You are my contemporary. We are of the same age. And how can I believe that millions and trillions of years ago You spoke to sun-god?" So the answer was that "My dear Arjuna, at that time, because you are My friend, you were also there, but you have forgotten. I have not forgotten." Therefore He is full of knowledge. We cannot say what we did in our childhood. We have forgotten. This is one of our qualification, forgetfulness. But Kṛṣṅa says that "You have forgotten. Because you are living being, your nature is to forget. But because I am the Supreme Lord, I have not forgotten." Therefore His knowledge is perfect.

And then ānanda. Ānanda means pleasure, blissfulness. He is always... Kṛṣṅa, while He was present on this planet, He showed how to dance with the gopīs. He was always full of ānanda. Here we have got Kṛṣṅa. He is ānanda-mūrti. He is not nirānanda, without blissfulness. He is always with His consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī, and He is playing flute, and Rādhārāṅī is dancing. This is ānanda. So where is our ānanda? We imitate Kṛṣṅa, but we are not able to enjoy because we are in this material body. In this way, from Bhagavad-gītā, if we study Bhagavad-gītā nicely, then we can understand what is God. Otherwise you can go on speculating for millions of years or for many, many births, you cannot understand what is God. There are so many societies, theological societies, this, theosophical societies, but what do they know about God? They do not know, neither can know. It is not possible, because they are thinking with their imperfect senses. How you can have the idea of the perfect, of the unlimited, by your imperfect speculation? That is not possible.

Therefore the śāstra says,

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya- prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvaṁ ... [SB 10.14.29]

[My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.]

Tattva means the Absolute Truth. "You are Absolute Truth. Who can understand the Absolute Truth without Your mercy?" Just therefore Kṛṣṅa is merciful to Arjuna, and therefore He said... Śrī bhagavān uvāca, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha: "My dear Arjuna, if you simply concentrate or meditate upon Me, Kṛṣṅa..." Mayy āsakta. Mayi āsakta. Mayi means "unto Me, Kṛṣṅa." Mayy āsakta-manāḥ, "Those who are attached to Me, that is perfect yoga." That is yoga. The yogīs... You have heard the names of so many yogīs, meditation. The meditation is good, but most of them do not know what is meditation. Most of them. How? Now, they do not meditate upon Kṛṣṅa. Meditation means to fix up one's mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. First of all they do not know who is the Personality of Godhead. But the yoga practice, according to śāstra, is that. Here it is: mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogam. This is yoga. In other Vedic literature that is also stated, the same thing. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1]. Yogī means who meditates. It is the business of the yogīs to meditate. But if you do not know upon whom to meditate, then what is the meaning of your yoga? Therefore I have seen practically in America, there are so many yoga societies. They close their eyes, and I do not know what they are meditating, but I have seen they are snoring. [laughter] And what they will do? Eh? [makes snoring sound] [laughter] This is yoga system. So don't be misled by these bluffers' yoga system. Don't be misled. Here is yoga, Kṛṣṅa, because yoga means to meditate upon the Supreme, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā, mind fully absorbed, and they see Kṛṣṅa or Nārāyaṅa, the same thing. So,

yaṁ brahmā varuṅendra-rudra-marutaḥ stunvanti divyaiḥ stavair vedaiḥ sāṅga-pada-kramopaniṣadair gāyanti yaṁ sāma-gāḥ dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ surāsura-gaṅā devāya tasmai namaḥ [SB 12.13.1]

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṅa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and becoming fully absorbed in thoughts of Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.]

This is Vedic mantra.

So yoga means to think of Kṛṣṅa. That is yoga. So it is also confirmed in the Sixth Chapter. We are reading Seventh Chapter. Kṛṣṅa says... Kṛṣṅa taught Arjuna how to practice yoga. Then He concluded His teaching on the yoga that,

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ [Bg 6.47]

[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.]

Who is the first-class yogī? There are many different types of yogī. But who is the topmost yogī? Yoginām api sarveṣām. Who is that? Mad-gatena antar-ātmanā: "One who is thinking of Me always." That is perfect yoga. So that statement, that "One who is thinking of Me always, he is perfect yogī," so that is now being explained. It is the conclusion of the Sixth Chapter, and in Seventh Chapter Kṛṣṅa explains how you can think of Kṛṣṅa twenty-four hours. This is being explained. Therefore He says, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha. How you can think of somebody else unless you are very much attached to him? Just like a boy is attached to some girl or a girl is attached to some... That is natural. So when he becomes too much attached, he always or she thinks always. Otherwise, it is not possible. To come to this attachment platform you have to learn how to love Kṛṣṅa. Otherwise, how it is possible? Unless you love somebody, how can you think of him twenty-four hours? That is not possible.

So this mayy āsakta, Kṛṣṅa is summarily... But the ācāryas, they have defined how we can... We have got attachment. Every one of us got this propensity or the quality of attachment to others. The wife is attached to husband; husband is attached to wife. The son is attached to the father; father is attached to the son. Everyone. That attachment you increase, then to your family, to your community, to your society, to your country, to your nation. The attachment is there. You cannot say that "I have no attachment for anything." That is not possible. When... Sannyāsī. Sannyāsī mean sat nyāsī, one who has given up attachment for this false material world. That is the philosophy of Śaṅkarācārya. He says, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Therefore he is advising that "You have got attachment for this material world. This is false." Brahma satyam. Jagan mithyā: he simply explains the negative side. But brahma satyam: "Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth, is truth." So attachment for that. You cannot give up the attachment spirit, but you have to change the attachment. That is freedom. We have got so many attachments for this material world. You have to transfer that attachment for Kṛṣṅa. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha. He doesn't say that "You give up your attachment." How you can give up your attachment? That is not possible. He says, "Just transfer the attachment to Me."

So all of a sudden to transfer the attachment to Kṛṣṅa and give up our all attachment for this material world, that is called renounced order of life. But Kṛṣṅa says, "You do this," but it is not so easy. It is not so easy. Therefore we have to go to the person... Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

This is the śāst..., Vedic injunction, that in order to learn that art, how to transfer your attachment to Kṛṣṅa, you must approach to guru. He will teach you. So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement means that we are teaching people how to give up this material attachment and become attached to Kṛṣṅa. Attachment cannot be given up. That is not possible. Attachment should be purified. That is wanted. That is... Therefore the bhakti definition is given by Nārada Muni,

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.]

Now, our attachment is on account of these designation. What is that designation? "I am American," "I am Englishman," "I am Indian." These are all designation, because the soul is neither Indian nor American nor this nor that. Soul is pure, pure spirit soul. These are material designation, according to the body. So if we become purified, sarva upādhi-vinirmuktam, that is called mukti. Mukti, the definition of mukti, means hitvā anyathā rūpaṁ svarūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ [SB 2.10.6].

[The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Mahā-Viṣṅu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.]

Because we are staying at the present moment in this material state, we have got so many material attachments. That is, we are staying in a different way. We are living in the bodily concept of life, and in relationship with this body we have got so many different attachments. So mukti means when you do not stay in the bodily concept of life, you stay in your original state of life, that is called mukti. Mukti does not means that one has to acquire so many hands, so many legs. No. It is the change of consciousness. That is mukti.

Just like Arjuna did. He was conscious... In the beginning of the fight he was conscious of his relatives, of his family—means bodily. But when he understood Bhagavad-gītā from Kṛṣṅa, he said, "Yes," kariṣye vacanaṁ tava [Bg 18.73].

[Arjuna said, My dear Kṛṣṅa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy, and I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.]

In the beginning he denied to fight, but when he understood Bhagavad-gītā, he agreed, "Yes, I shall fight." Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava. "I am now full conscious." Naṣṭo mohaḥ: "This attachment, bodily attachment, is now finished. Kṛṣṅa, it is now finished." Naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā. Because we forgot. I have already said that we are forgetful. This is our another nature. "Now my forgetfulness is gone," tvat-prasādāt, "by Your mercy. You have taught me Bhagavad-gītā, so by Your mercy my two things—that bodily attachment and misconception of life—is now gone. Now I know that I am Your servant. I am Your eternal servant, and it is my duty to carry out Your order. Therefore I agree." Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava [Bg 18.73]. "I shall now execute. You want me to fight—no consideration of my relatives or family—I shall fight with them." This is the conclusion of Arjuna.

So similarly, if you want actual life, this is a... This is a bhramā, or mithyā, life, this material life, means bodily concept of life, that "I am this body, and this family is mine, this country is mine, the community is mine. I have got to do for my family, I have got to do this, I have to go...," so many. This is due to attachment, and this is all false attachment. Therefore we have to transfer the attachment to Kṛṣṅa. That is called mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha. This is yoga system, how to transfer this attachment to attachment to Kṛṣṅa. This is called bhakti-yoga. And this is the first-class yoga.

[aside:] You sit down there or stand there.

Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha. This is to be practiced. This yoga should be practiced, how to increase attachment for Kṛṣṅa. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan.

You have to practice this yoga. How? Mad-āśrayaḥ: "Under Me. Or under My representative." Mat-āśrayaḥ. Mat means "Me," and āśrayaḥ means "taking shelter of." So either... But if you say, "Where is Kṛṣṅa?" No. Mad-āśrayaḥ means another thing: "One who has taken of My shelter." That is devotee, mad-āśrayaḥ. So either you take... That is not possible, because Kṛṣṅa is not here present. He is present, but we have no eyes to see. Although He is present here in this Deity, He is present here, but because we have no eyes to see, we are thinking, "This is made of stone," and some rascal will say that "They are going to see some stone." Because we have no eyes to see. So we have to learn the art how to see Kṛṣṅa, how to see Kṛṣṅa. So that practice, mad-āśrayaḥ, if we want to learn this art, we have to take the shelter of the Gosvāmīs or the devotees.

So Rūpa Gosvāmī says how this āsakti can be increased. He gives formula, mad-āśrayaḥ. Kṛṣṅa said, "Either you take shelter of Me directly or to a person who has taken shelter of Me." Just like electric power. Electric house, powerhouse, may be long away, but if the electricity is coming through some wire, and if you touch, immediately you will..., immediately in touch with the powerhouse. So either you touch the powerhouse or an wire, insig..., who is empowered by the powerhouse, you touch, you get the electricity. This is called paramparā system. Mad-āśrayaḥ. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ, yogo naṣṭaḥ paran... [Bg 4.2].

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

These are all explained. So mad-āśrayaḥ. As soon as we... Because Kṛṣṅa is not visible at the present moment. He is visible, but we cannot see. So we take āśrayaḥ, shelter of His devotee. Therefore Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī gives his formula how to become attached to Kṛṣṅa. First he says, ādau śraddhā. First of all, faith, the beginning. Just like you have come very kindly to this temple with some faith that "Here is the Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. Let us go there and see what they are doing," out of inquisitiveness or something. So this is little faith. Now you have to increase this faith. This is required. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ [Cc Madhya 23.14-15].

[In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness.]

How you can increase the faith? Those who are actually engaged in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, in devotional service, associate with them. Don't think that at home you will be perfect. That is not possible. At home there is no such facilities. Here you will get the facilities. Here the devotees, they are actually following the instruction of mad-āśrayaḥ, one who has taken the shelter. They are rising early in the morning. And at home you will think, "Oh, what is early in the morning?" [laughter] "Let me enjoy sleep."

So there is no such facilities at home. Therefore this institution is started. If you are serious about Kṛṣṅa consciousness, if you are serious about increasing your attachment for Kṛṣṅa, then you should come and live with the devotees. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ. And tato bhajana-kriyā. The sādhu-saṅga... [Cc Madhya 23.14-15].

Now they are chanting, they are having maṅgala-ārati, they are decorating the Deity, and so many things. Everyone who will associate, you will see. And then he will be inclined to be initiated. This is our practical experience. They will submit, "Please let me be initiated." This is called bhajana-kriyā. Bhajana-kriyā means... If he is serious about bhajana-kriyā, how to worship, then anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. Anartha means we have learned so many nonsense things. They can be summarized in four items: illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating. So anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. If you accept bhajana-kriyā, the activities of devotional service, then these things will be vanished. Then, when you are purified, as I have said, that sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam [Cc Madhya 19.170], when he is free from all these material bad habits, he is mukta.

[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.]

He is liberated. Then ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā, tato 'nartha-nivṛt..., tato niṣṭhā. Then your faith... Beginning was the faith. This faith becomes established. You can... Nobody can move you. Tato niṣṭhā. Tato ruciḥ: then you get some taste, how Kṛṣṅa consciousness is sweet. Tato niṣṭhā tato rucis, athāsaktih: then attachment. Unless you get taste, how you can be attached to Kṛṣṅa?

So these are the processes. So Kṛṣṅa is saying, summarized. They are explained by these mad-āśrayaḥ, those who are devotees. So in this way we have to increase our attachment for Kṛṣṅa. And when we increase our attachment for Kṛṣṅa, then Kṛṣṅa says, asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṅu [Bg 7.1]. Now everyone has got some doubt whether there is God or not, whether God is person or imperson, whether He is something... He has no idea. In any religion you take, ask him, "What do you know about God?" That he cannot explain. Because he is not in the platform, how he can be..., understand God? That is not possible. It is not... But we are confident what is God, what is His father's name, what is His name, what is His address—everything. No saṁśaya, no doubt! Everything complete. Asaṁśayam. We are confident that we are going to Kṛṣṅa, back to home, back to Godhead. There is no doubt, asaṁśayam and samagram. Sama means full. What is God meant? Asaṁśayam... [break] [end]