Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 7.2

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

jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam idaṁ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ yaj jñātvā neha bhūyo 'nyaj jñātavyam avaśiṣyate [Bg 7.2]

[break] [00:46]

"I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge, both phenomenal and noumenal, by knowing which there shall remain nothing further to be known."

Prabhupāda:

jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam idaṁ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ yaj jñātvā neha bhūyo 'nyaj jñātavyam avaśiṣyate [Bg 7.2]

So Kṛṣṅa is personally speaking about Himself as we understood in the previous verse, that asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṅu [Bg 7.1].

[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.]

Asaṁśayam, without any doubt. If we speculate about God, that will never be sufficient. Not even we can touch the precincts of the knowledge. If we want knowledge without any doubt, asaṁśayam, samagram, and complete, then we must hear from God Himself. This is very easy to understand. By hypothesis, by speculation, you cannot understand anything. It must be known scientifically, and this science can be understood if a person knows the science. So who can know God better than God Himself?

Therefore our process is—we have repeatedly explained this—that we do not speculate about God. Just like there are so many others, theosophists and theologists, they're speculating what is God. They don't accept... God personally explaining, they would not accept. They would simply speculate. This is their disease. When God is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā... Rather, they will mislead the readings of the Bhagavad-gītā in different interpretation, but they will not accept what is being taught by God Himself. This is their misfortune. "Why shall I accept Kṛṣṅa as God?" Although He has proved Himself when He was present by the qualification which God needs...

To become God is not easy thing. There are some qualification, yesterday we discussed, that He must be the richest, He must be the most powerful, He must be the most famous, He must be the most learned, He must be the most beautiful, and He must be the most renounced. This is the definition of God. A poor man, begging from door to door, he cannot become God, as it is misconceived, daridra-nārāyaṅa. Why Nārāyaṅa can be daridra? What is this nonsense? He is the richest. He is the richest. And why He can..., He will be daridra? The argument is forwarded that "God is everyone's heart; therefore everyone is God." What is this argument? Everyone's heart, God is there. God 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.]

Where God says that because īśvara, the Supreme Being, is situated in everyone's heart, therefore everyone is God? What is this argument? Where Kṛṣṅa says that because īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati, therefore everyone is God? Is that very sound argument?

So this is going on. They do not know what is God, and still, there are so many incarnations of God. And foolish people accept that "Here is an incarnation of God." He does not know what is God, and he accepts, "Here is incarnation." We do not do so. If there is incarnation of God... That is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Their activities are mentioned, wonderful activities. We accept Lord Rāmacandra as God, Lord Kṛṣṅa as God, Caitanya Mahāprabhu as God, because They are mentioned in the śāstras, all the incarnations, even this age. One may say that "Lord Rāmacandra is accepted God, Lord Kṛṣṅa is also accepted, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He is the greatest devotee of God, but..." There are some persons in the Nimbārka-sampradāya, they put this argument. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu's name is there in the śāstra, many Upaniṣads, especially in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that in the Kali-yuga this incarnation of God should be worshiped. What is that description?

kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ [SB 11.5.32]

[In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṅa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṅa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.]

Clearly Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṅam. He is Kṛṣṅa. Or kṛṣṅaṁ varṅayati, iti kṛṣṅa-varṅam. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the most authoritative ācārya of our sampradāya, he has explained like this. Kṛṣṅa-varṅam means always chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅaṁ varṅayati, describing Kṛṣṅa, "Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa." This is description of Kṛṣṅa, addressing Kṛṣṅa. So therefore kṛṣṅa-varṅam, or varṅam means category, just like brāhmaṅa-varṅa, kṣatriya-varṅa. So in that way kṛṣṅa-varṅa means He is Kṛṣṅa, in the category of Kṛṣṅa. Either you take this meaning or that meaning, kṛṣṅa-varṅam. But Kṛṣṅa is black, and He is tviṣā, by the complexion, akṛṣṅa. Akṛṣṅa means not Kṛṣṅa. Now, there are so many colors. So everything is akṛṣṅa. That color, all the colors are mixed together, it becomes black. Otherwise there are many different colors. So akṛṣṅa means different color, "not kṛṣṅa," not black. So what is the actual? That we have to refer to śāstra again, that Kṛṣṅa, in how many categories of color He appears? That is stated in the Bhāgavatam. When Kṛṣṅa was born, then Gargamuni was calculating about His horoscope, and he said to Nanda Mahārāja that "This your child..." Idānīṁ kṛṣṅatāṁ gataḥ. Śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṅatāṁ gataḥ [SB 10.8.13]: "Your child had formerly white color." White color... Sometimes some critics criticize us that "Kṛṣṅa everywhere, He is black. Why in your temple white?" But it is said that śukla, śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṅatāṁ gataḥ: "Your son had other colors also, white and red and yellow, and now He has assumed blackish color."

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, tviṣā akṛṣṅam. He is not blackish. Then He must be other form—śukla, rakta or pīta. So He assumed the pīta, yellowish color. Therefore tviṣā akṛṣṅam. Tviṣā means by complexion. So kṛṣṅa-varṅam, kṛṣṅaṁ varṅayati, iti kṛṣṅa-varṅam, or kṛṣṅa iti kṛṣṅa-varṅam, and tviṣā, by complexion, akṛṣṅa, pīta, idānīṁ pīta-varṅam. Pīta-varṅa gaura, golden avatāra. And sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam: He is always surrounded by associates, specially by Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsādi. Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya, He is Kṛṣṅa, then Nityānanda, then Advaita, then Gadādhara, then Śrīvāsa, and many other devotees always followed. That is the life of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Wherever He went, many followers chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa, plus these principal associates were with Him. Therefore sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣa... And these sāṅga upāṅga were His astra. Astra. Astra means weapon.

God advents for two purposes. What are the two purposes? Paritrāṅāya sādhūnām [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.]

just to give relief and deliver the devotees. The devotees are always anxious to see God, so God comes down to give relief to the devotee, being present before them. Paritrāṅāya sādhūnām. Another: vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, to annihilate the demons. So there..., for annihilating, for killing, you require weapons. Kṛṣṅa has His weapon, sudarśana-cakra. Lord Rāmacandra has His weapon, bow and arrow. What is the weapon of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu? Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. His associates are His weapons. This is astra. Because in the Kali-yuga they are so fallen, even they are demons, they are third-class, fourth-class demons. [laughter] [laughs] So they need not be killed. They are already killed. Their mode of life, their atmosphere, they are always dead. Just like we see so many demons. So what is there to kill them? They are already killed. They have no life. So this killing process in Kali-yuga is to kill their demonic propensities. And how to kill that demonic propensities? By spreading Hare Kṛṣṅa movement. This is astra. Otherwise to kill them is not... By life, it is not difficult. One slap is sufficient. You don't require other weapon. But real Kṛṣṅa comes to kill or to give protection—because He is Absolute, it is the same thing. If He is killing some demons, He is giving him protection. He stops his demonic activities further, to implicate himself in more trouble. Therefore when Kṛṣṅa kills one demon, that means He saves him. He saves him. The Absolute; this is Absolute. Either He protects His devotee or kills the demon, the result is the same. Therefore He is called Absolute.

So in this age, Kali-yuga, to kill the demons means to stop their demonic activities by the astra, kīrtana, hari-saṅkīrtana, which is spread by His associates. Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu, Śrīvāsa-ādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda, they are going door to door, country to country, city to city, and saving the demons from being implicated more and more in material existence. Therefore this is the astra. Astra means the killing. Real purpose... The living entity is eternal. How he can be killed? Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. So to kill means to kill his demonic nature. Otherwise how he can be killed? Ya imam... There is a verse that anyone who knows that the living entity is never killed and... A living entity does not kill anyone; neither a living entity is ever killed. One who knows this, he knows. So that is the position. So killing does not mean that killing the living entity. That is not possible. Na jāyate na mriyate vā. Killing means to kill his demonic activities. Stop. Killing means stop acting.

So sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. This is the description of the God, Kṛṣṅa, in this age. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam [SB 11.5.32]. And how to worship Him? What is the process? Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanaiḥ. That's all. You keep Caitanya Mahāprabhu's Deity and chant and dance—your life is successful. So easy. We are worshiping Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa. That is very difficult. But if we keep Caitanya Mahāprabhu with His associates, this Pañca-tattva, Gaura-Nitāi, Gaura-Gadādhara, or Pañca-tattva, and worship Him according to the śāstra description... The śāstra description is yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanaiḥ. This is yajña. Life is meant for performing yajña. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, yajñārthe karma. You are very busy. Yes, you should be busy always, twenty-four hours. For what purpose? Yajñārthe, not for your sense gratification. That is devotional life. Yajñārthe karma. Karma. We are not dull matter. We have got our flexible hands and legs to work. People think that "These Kṛṣṅa conscious men, Hare Kṛṣṅa people, they are escaping." What is that, escaping?

Devotee: Escapist.

Prabhupāda: We are not escaping. We are practically taking the real activities. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate [Bg 2.59].

[The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.]

Although people see that we do not work, we do not go to the factory, we do not to the mine, we do not go to the so many, so many things, or professional. We do not become lawyer, engineer. They say that we are escaping. No. You see we are always busy, twenty-four hours busy. I am old man of eighty years; still, I am busy. I am traveling all over the world, writing book at night, talking with visitors, and so many things. You can see. So where we are escaping? We are the most responsible worker. So the... What is the difference? The difference is all people are engaged for sense gratification; we are engaged for satisfying Kṛṣṅa. But activities are there.

So when you engage yourself for satisfaction of Kṛṣṅa... Yajña means satisfaction of Kṛṣṅa, or Viṣṅu. Viṣṅur ārādhyate panthā nānyat-tat-toṣa-kāraṅam [Cc Madhya 8.58].

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṅu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varṅa and āśrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varṅas and āśramas.’]

This is called yajña. Yajña means worshiping Lord Viṣṅu. Tat-toṣa-kāraṅam, acting for His satisfaction. Toṣa means satisfaction. And in another place it is also said, ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṅāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ, svanuṣṭhitasya puṁsasya..., svanuṣṭhitasya puṁsasya... Huh?

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṅa: Svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya.

Prabhupāda: Ah. Svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam [SB 1.2.13].

[O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.]

Everyone has got different type of activities. Formerly it was divided into four: the brāhmaṅa activity, the kṣatriya activity, the vaiśya activity and the śūdra activity. Now it has been developed at the present moment, so many. But if you again connect all of them, they will come to the same categories or divisions. Some intelligent class of men, they are working day and night about understanding the Absolute Truth or the truth. Just like the theosophists, the philosophers, the theologists, the scientists, so many brain worker, they are working to discover better way of life, how the human society should be more and more happy. So this is the work of the brāhmaṅas. But nowadays the brain is not utilized for understanding Brahman, but for understanding the ways of higher standard of life, sense gratification. Anyway, that is intelligent work. Next the administrative work. Next the productive work. And next the worker, general worker. The same brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra.

So Bhagavad-gītā recommends that you work for Kṛṣṅa. If you are engineer, so you use your talent how to construct a very wonderful temple for Kṛṣṅa. That will be success of your learning engineering. Svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya. Anyone has got a particular talent. So how to make that talent successful? Now, svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam [SB 1.2.13]. If you are very first class engineer, you construct such an wonderful temple for Kṛṣṅa that people from all the world will come to see it. Then you are successful. So any line of education, you cannot take it, but use it for Kṛṣṅa's satisfaction. Then your education is perfect. Otherwise, śrama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8],

[The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.]

simply working uselessly and waste of time. What is this?

So yajña, that is yajña. When you work for Kṛṣṅa to satisfy Kṛṣṅa, that is yajña. Yajña does not mean that simply by performing fire sacrifices and offering little ghee upon it. No, that is yajña... That is ordinary yajña, agnihotra-yajña. But the real purpose of yajña is... The same purpose: in the fire sacrifice we offer the food grains. That means the Supreme Lord is eating through fire. So eating is satisfaction. So Kṛṣṅa is not satisfied only by eating. He has got other senses also. Kṛṣṅa is not nirākāra. And Kṛṣṅa, you satisfy any sense of Kṛṣṅa, you are successful. And He can satisfy anything through any sense. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti. So this is the..., called yajña, yajña.

So yajña has to be performed. Saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā [Bg 3.10],

[In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṅu, and blessed them by saying, "Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you all desirable things.]

in the Bhagavad-gītā you will find. All the living entities were, especially the human being, the demigods... Demigods were first created. The seven ṛṣis, they created later on. Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān..., vivasvān manave prāha [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.]

The sun-god was created, then from him, Manu came; from Manu, Ikṣvāku came; Ikṣvāku..., in this way. So all these prajās, progeny, was created for performing yajña. That is stated in the Bhagavad... So everyone is meant for performing yajña. Yajñārthe karma. Everyone should work for performing yajña. That is human life. Work very hard. You have got tendency to work from morning, six, to night, ten o'clock, eleven o'clock. We see. Early in the morning the road is congested. They are going to work. But they do not know why they are working. They know, "I am working for filling up this belly." That they know. No, that is not the purpose of working. For filling up the belly the animals, the ants, the cats, dogs, birds, they are also working. And you shall also work for filling up the belly only? Then what is the value of your life? You should work for yajña. That is human life. Yajñārthe karma.

"But I don't like yajña." Then karma-bandhanaḥ, they are becoming entrapped, working under the influence of certain material modes of nature. Therefore you are infecting that material mode of nature, and according to the infection, you will develop the next body. Just like according to infection you develop the disease, so this material body is disease. That we do not understand. We are soaping this material body, keeping it fit, but we do not know that this is disease. Anyone, does anyone want to keep the disease and say, "My dear disease, please live with me forever"? [laughter] Is there any intelligent man say like that? Disease is to be cured, is to be driven away. In Hindi they say, jara ar para okhane kha na baviya ar.[?] Means "Unwanted guest and disease, you do not give him to eat, and he will go away." He will go away. So any disease, you starve for few days, two days, three days, it will go. And any unwanted guest, you don't supply him food, he will automatically go away. So disease should not be maintained. Disease should be cured.

So that curing medicine we have to take not to maintain this material body. Na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ [SB 5.5.4]. This is real intelligence. Everyone is trying to keep this body, this disease, maintaining. This time, next time, next time, next time, going on. Janma-mṛtyu-maran malam.[?] This is not your... Disease should be cured. Therefore śāstra says,

nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṅoti na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam kleśada āsa dehaḥ asann api [SB 5.5.4]

People are mad, and they are doing anything mischievous, sinful. And what is the purpose? Now, just to satisfy the senses. You see? There are so many nice foodstuff Kṛṣṅa has given—fruits, flowers, grains, milk, butter, sugar. And you can prepare hundreds and thousands of preparation out of it and offer to Kṛṣṅa and eat it very nicely. "No. We must have meat." This is vikarma. Vikarma means sinful activities. Karma, vikarma and... Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā [Īśo mantra 1].

[Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.]

God has given you so many nice foodstuff. Why should you kill an animal? Therefore Jesus Christ says, "Thou shall not kill." "Then shall I die?" No. There are so many things. You eat, tena tyaktena, "whatever is ordained by You," by God, Kṛṣṅa. The same thing is said. Kṛṣṅa should have said, "Give me..." Mamsam din mam.[?] No. He says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg 9.26].

[If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.]

So this is yajña, to satisfy Kṛṣṅa. So if you offer Kṛṣṅa these things, what He wants, you will satisfy. Yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. Bhaktyā, with bhakti, Kṛṣṅa said. So why don't you do this? That is yajña. Everyone can perform yajña at home, because they are eating. Who is there who is not eating? Everyone is eating. But if you prepare within these items, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam, and prepare nice varieties of foodstuff and offer to Kṛṣṅa, that is yajña. That is yajña. And yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ [Bg 3.13].

[The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.]

If you take prasādam, Kṛṣṅa will not eat everything. He will eat, and He will leave for you also. So don't be afraid that "If I offer Kṛṣṅa, He will take away." [laughter] Kṛṣṅa is not so hungry. Even if He is hungry, He can eat the whole universe. So just satisfy Kṛṣṅa. "Sir, it is all given by You, the food grains, these fruits, flowers. It is Your gift. So You first of all taste or eat. Then I shall eat." Kṛṣṅa is very satisfied. So we want Kṛṣṅa's satisfaction. Svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam [SB 1.2.13].

You have cooked very nicely, and if Kṛṣṅa says, "Yes, it is very nice," then your cooking is perfection. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam.

So do anything. If Kṛṣṅa is satisfied, that is yajña. That is yajña. And one should live for that purpose. Yajñārthe karmaṅo 'nyatra loko 'yam. Work very hard, but yajñārthe. And if you work so hard like ass and cats and dog simply for satisfying your tongue or belly or the genital, a straight line, then you are going to hell. Yajñārthe karmaṅaḥ anyatra karma-bandhanaḥ. Then you are becoming bound up by the laws of nature. If you eat and sleep and act like dog, then become dog next life. And if you act like god, then you'll get god, very easy thing. So whatever you like, you can do. But the śāstra gives you direction, yajñārthe. "Act, work, work hard for pleasing the Supreme Lord." Yajñārthe. Otherwise you will be bound up in the cycle of birth and death. Don't do it.

So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is teaching this education, that perform... You cannot escape it. You cannot say that "You are interested. You can do. We are not interested." If you are not interested, then you are living a very risky life, because you have to change your body. Dehāntaram. You can see. There are examples of so many types of body. Now, suppose if you live at the risk of your life and next life you become a tree, stand up for five thousand years in the snow, scorching heat, scorching, blasting, and so many disturbances, and you cannot move an inch, and people may cut down you, your leaves, your trunk, or you; they are cutting so many... What is that life? And if you think, "No, I am living for five thousand years," what is the use of living such five thousand years? No. Don't risk life. Karma-bandhanaḥ. If you don't perform yajña, if you don't try to satisfy the Supreme Lord... Just like if you don't try to satisfy the government, then it is your risky life. You cannot say that "I am living very happily." Because you are cheating government or do not following the laws of the government, that is very risky life. Similarly, if you do not perform yajña, you cannot avoid it. Saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā [Bg 3.10].

You are..., you have got this human form of life for performing yajña.

So in this age, in Kali-yuga, it is very difficult to perform other yajña. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṅa, has appeared to accept your yajña, to deliver you, and the yajña process is very easy: yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanaiḥ. That's all. Simply perform. Wherever you live, at home or outside home, just keep a picture of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra before Him. Then your life will be successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]

Bhagavad-gītā 7.2

Referenced verses