Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 2.1–11

Prabhupāda: I shall speak some verses from Bhagavad-gītā, Second Chapter, in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṅa, instructed. The beginning of instruction is the Second Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. So Arjuna, representing ourself, conditioned soul, covered with the material body and thinking in bodily conception of life... He was to fight with his brothers, nephews, grandfather, Bhīṣmadeva, also teacher the military science, Droṅācārya. In this way the business was not very palatable. Although he was forced to fight, but the opposite party who were very near, thick and thin people, and he had to kill them, so it was not very satisfactory to him. Therefore he flatly denied to fight: "Kṛṣṅa, I am not going to fight." He left his weapon, and then Kṛṣṅa was surprised that "My friend, Arjuna, he is denying to fight in My presence."

So Sañjaya, the private secretary of Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he was relaying the message which was going on in the battle of Kurukṣetra by higher process. Nowadays we have got experience of the television, but the another process, antar-dṛṣṭi, that is also television. You can see the reflection of external activities within your heart, and you can explain. So Sañjaya, the private secretary of Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he explained that Arjuna was denying to fight. So,

taṁ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭam aśru-pūrṅākulekṣaṅam viṣīdantam idaṁ vākyam uvāca madhusūdanaḥ [Bg 2.1]

[Sañjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion and very sorrowful, his eyes brimming with tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛṣṅa, spoke the following words.]

Madhusūdana is Kṛṣṅa's another name. So when Kṛṣṅa saw that Arjuna is unnecessarily disturbed, then, taṁ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭam aśru-pūrṅākulekṣaṅam. Aśru-pūrṅa, his eyes was full with tears: "Kṛṣṅa, I have to fight with my relatives." So he was crying, that "This is not very good business." So why he was crying? Kṛpayāviṣṭam: being merciful upon them. They were so cruel upon the Pāṅḍavas that they insulted their wife, they tricked how to take away their kingdom. All this injustice was done to them. Still, because Arjuna is a Vaiṣṅava, a devotee, still, he was sympathetic: "No, no, let them do whatever they have done, but I am not going to kill them." So kṛpayāviṣṭam aśru-pūrṅākulekṣaṅam, viṣīdantam.

Bhagavān uvāca. Then, after Arjuna being silent not to fight, then Bhagavān... Kṛṣṅa is Bhagavān. Bhagavān means the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full with all opulences. That is called Bhagavān. Generally in India we speak bhāgyavān. Bhāgyavān means one who has got opulences. So Bhagavān means one who is full in opulences—in wealth, in strength, in influence, in beauty, in education, in renunciation. In these six way when one is opulent fully, then He can be called Bhagavān. Partially if one is very opulent, sometimes he is also called Bhagavān, but real Bhagavān, according to śāstra, is Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam. Others, they may possess some of the opulences—not in full; partially. Just like Nārada Muni or Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, they are also sometimes called Bhagavān. But real Bhagavān is Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam. Ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28].

[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]

So here Bhagavān, the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa means, as Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya [Bg 7.7]:

[O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.]

"There is no more superior person or element more than Me." And when Arjuna understood Kṛṣṅa he also admitted, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [Bg 10.12].

[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]

So Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the origin of Brahman. He is the origin of Paramātmā. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11].

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

The Absolute Truth is experienced in three ways—Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. So Bhagavān is the last word of the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Person. Therefore Vyāsadeva has purposefully written here, śrī bhagavān uvāca. Bhagavān uvāca means you cannot exceed the Supreme Person. Nobody can be equal to the Supreme Person; nobody can be more than the Supreme Person. Everyone should be under the Supreme Person. That is the meaning of Bhagavān. So Bhagavān said,

kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam akīrti-karam arjuna [Bg 2.2]

"My dear Arjuna, you are My friend, personal friend, and you are proposing this, which is befitting to the anārya." Anārya-juṣṭam: "This is not for the Āryan. You are kṣatriya, you are meant for fighting for justice, and you are denying to fight? Oh, this is not good." Anārya-juṣṭam: "This kind of proposal, cowardice, can be proposed by the anārya." Ārya means the advanced. One who is advanced in knowledge, in civilization, they are called ārya, Āryan civilization.

So in the Āryan civilization there are four divisions to maintain the society in the correct balance. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: cātur-varṅyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṅa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ [Bg 4.13].

[According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.]

The society must be divided into four classes of men. The first class means most intelligent class of men. They should be trained up as brāhmaṅa. Śamo damaḥ satyaṁ śaucaṁ titikṣā ārjavaṁ, jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg 18.42].

[Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṅas work.]

So this is the beginning of civilization, not that all śūdras, as it is now in this age, kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. Kali-yuga, there is no training how to qualify a section of person to become first-class brāhmaṅa. That training is not there, neither kṣatriya, neither pure vaiśya class. We are proud of our business, vaiśya, but vaiśya means kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṅijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg 18.44].

[Farming, cow protection and business are the qualities of work for the vaiśyas, and for the śūdras there is labor and service to others.]

Vaiśya means they should take care of the cows, cow protection, go-rakṣya. Why go-rakṣya? Why not other animal rakṣya? Kṛṣṅa has not said animal-rakṣya or janawal[?]-rakṣya. Go-rakṣya. The cow is very, very important animal. If you want to advance your spiritual consciousness, then you must have sufficient milk and sufficient grains. That is civilization. Therefore it is the duty of the vaiśyas to produce food grain, annād bhavanti bhūtāni [Bg 3.14].

[All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rain. Rains are produced by performance of yajña [sacrifice], and yajña is born of prescribed duties.]

Annād. In the society, if you have got sufficient anna, both the animals and the man, they will be happy. These are the instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā, everything practical. If we follow Bhagavad-gītā from all angles of vision—social, political, economical, religious, cultural—you will be perfect. This is Bhagavad-gītā. We are therefore taken up this mission, to preach Bhagavad-gītā as it is, to solve all the problems of the world. That is Āryan civilization. Āryan civilization means following the principles of Bhagavad-gītā.

So here Kṛṣṅa is addressing Arjuna, anārya: non-Āryan. "You are kṣatriya. Your service is now required to fight with persons who have created injustice. So what is this, that you are denying to fight?" Anārya juṣṭam. And asvargyam. Asvargyam means, "By denying your duty you cannot be elevated in your next life, or you cannot be elevated in the higher planetary system." For a kṣatriya, it is the duty of the kṣatriya to fight and lay down his life. Then he is promoted to the higher planetary system. That is the śāstric injunction. If he becomes victorious, then he enjoys this material world, and if he dies, he is promoted to heaven. These things are there. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is advising Arjuna, asvargyam: "If you deny to fight, then you will be refused to enter in the higher planetary system." Akīrti-karam: "And you are known as a great fighter, great soldier and My friend, and this will be going against your reputation. Don't do this."

Then He says,

klaibyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayy upapadyate kṣudraṁ hṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ tvaktvottiṣṭha parantapa [Bg 2.3]

"My dear friend, parantapa..." Parantapa means one who gives trouble to the enemies. This is the material world. A kṣatriya cannot behave like a brāhmaṅa, to excuse. Brāhmaṅa business is to excuse. Kṣamā-rūpa-tapasvinaḥ. Those who are tapasvī, they can excuse, but those who are in the governmental power, to make justice there is no question of excuse. Life for life. "You have killed one man; you must be killed." This is justice. A brāhmaṅa, he may excuse, "All right, you have killed my man. Never mind. I excuse you." That is a brāhmaṅa's business. But a kṣatriya, the government, the ruling power, he cannot do so. It is his mercy. It is the government's mercy when a murderer is hanged. That is the injunction in the Manu-saṁhitā. So "Parantapa, you are kṣatriya. Your business is to punish the unjust." Kṣudraṁ hṛdaya-daurbalyam: "For a kṣatriya this kind of poor-heartedness, that 'I shall not fight,' give it up. Don't indulge in such thing."

Then Arjuna said, Arjuna replied,

kathaṁ bhīṣmam ahaṁ saṅkhye droṅaṁ ca madhusūdana iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi pūjārhāv arisūdana [Bg 2.4]

He is addressing Kṛṣṅa as arisūdana, the killer of the enemies. He says, "But in my case, I have to fight with Bhīṣma, Droṅācārya. They are my well-wisher, and how can I kill them? It is my duty to offer my respect, touching their feet, and You are enticing me to pierce their body with arrow? So, of course, You have killed so many enemies, but You have killed enemies. Why You are inducing me to kill my grandfather and my teacher?" Of course, Arjuna, also intelligent. He replied that "You cannot accuse me as anārya. This is the consideration. Therefore I am hesitating to fight." Then he says,

gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apīha loke hatvārtha-kāmāṁs tu gurūn ihaiva bhuñjīya bhogān rudhira-pradigdhān [Bg 2.5]

"They are not only my grandfather; they are guru. And mahānubhāvān, very great personality, Bhīṣmadeva, Droṅācārya. So if I kill them and if I live prosperously, taking the kingdom, do You think it is all right that I live on the blood of my guru and great personalities? Do You think it is all right?" Of course, he says,

na caitad vidmaḥ kataran no garīyo yad vā jayema yadi vā no jayeyuḥ yān eva hatvā na jijīviṣāmas te 'vasthitāḥ pramukhe dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ [Bg 2.6]

"Kṛṣṅa, actually I am puzzled. It is my duty to fight, but now I am puzzled whether I shall fight or not fight because, after all, the other side, they are my relatives, family members, dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ. Dhṛtarāṣṭra is my elder brother of my father, and his sons, they are my cousin-brothers. So I am puzzled whether I shall fight." He plainly explained his position that "Not that I have become anārya. I have got sufficient strength. I can fight, but I am puzzled whether I shall fight in this case or not."

Then he submits,

kārpaṅya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam [Bg 2.7]

[Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.]

Then Arjuna decided to accept Kṛṣṅa as his guru. He... Śiṣyas te 'ham: "I become Your disciple." To become disciple means no more argument. When we talk friendly there is argument, counterargument. But when there is order from guru there is no more argument. Therefore Arjuna says that kārpaṅya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ: "Actually my behavior should be exactly like a kṣatriya, to fight for the just cause, but in this case I am denying. Therefore I am kṛpaṅa." Kṛpaṅa means one who does not properly use his position. One man is very rich, but he does not use his money, simply sees the money, he is called kṛpaṅa. Similarly, Arjuna is powerful, he can fight, he is a kṣatriya, but he is denying his ability. Therefore he is thinking that "I have become kṛpaṅa, miser. Although I have got strength, I am denying to fight." "Although I have got money, I do not spend." These are called kṛpaṅa. So kārpaṅya-doṣopahata: "Now I am infected with kārpaṅya-doṣa." Kārpaṅya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ.

So when we become puzzled with these material affairs, what to do—to do or not to do, this is the example—at that time we must approach a guru. That is the instruction here, we see. Pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ. When we are bewildered, we do not distinguish what is religious and what is not religious, do not use our position properly, that is kārpaṅya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ [Bg 2.7].

At that time there is need of guru. That is the Vedic instruction. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham [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 duty. This is civilization, that we are meeting with so many problems of life. That is natural. In this material world the material world is problems of life. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām [SB 10.14.58].

[For those who have accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Murāri, the enemy of the Mura demon, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf's hoof-print. Their goal is paraṁ padam, Vaikuṅṭha, the place where there are no material miseries, not the place where there is danger at every step.]

Material world means in every step there is danger. That is material world. So therefore we should take guide from guru, from the teacher, from the spiritual master how to make progress, because this... That will be explained later on, that the goal of our life, at least in this human form of life, in the Āryan civilization, the goal of life is to understand our constitutional position, "What I am." What I am. If we do not understand "What I am," then I am equal to the cats and dogs. The dogs, cats, they do not know. They think that they are the body. That will be explained. So in such condition of life, when we are puzzled... Actually we are puzzled every moment. Therefore it is necessary one should approach to a proper guru. Now Arjuna is approaching Kṛṣṅa, the first-class guru. First-class guru. Guru means the Supreme Lord. He is guru of everyone, parama-guru. So anyone who represents Kṛṣṅa, he is also guru. That will be explained in the Fourth Chapter: evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [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.]

So Kṛṣṅa is showing example where we should offer our surrender and accept guru. Here is Kṛṣṅa. So you have to accept Kṛṣṅa or His representative as guru. Then your problems will be solved. Otherwise it is not possible, because He can say what is good for you, what is bad for you. He is asking, yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tat [Bg 2.7].

Niścitam. If you want advice, instruction, niścitam, which is without any doubt, without any illusion, without any mistake, without any cheating, that is called niścitam. That you can get from Kṛṣṅa or His representative. You cannot get right information from the imperfect person or a cheater. That is not right instruction. Nowadays it has become a fashion, everyone is becoming guru and he is giving his own opinion, "I think," "In my opinion." That is not guru. Guru means he should give evidences from śāstra. Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ [Bg 16.23]:

[But he who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.]

"Anyone who does not give evidences, proof, from the śāstra, then" na siddhiṁ sa avāpnoti, "he does not get at any time success," na sukham, "neither any happiness in this material world," na parāṁ gatim, "and what to speak of elevation in the next life." These are the injunction.

So we must select guru. Here it is, example, Arjuna. He's accepting Kṛṣṅa as guru. Why he is accepting? Because, he says,

na hi prapaśyāmi mamāpanudyād yac chokam ucchoṣaṅam indriyāṅām avāpya bhūmāv asapatnam ṛddhaṁ rājyaṁ surāṅām api cādhipatyam [Bg 2.8]

[I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to destroy it even if I win an unrivalled kingdom on the earth with sovereignty like that of the demigods in heaven.]

So he has selected that the right person guru, and he said that "Unless I hear from You what is right and wrong, I cannot decide whether I shall fight or I shall not fight. Which way is better for me I cannot understand." In this way,

evam uktvā hṛṣīkeśaṁ guḍākeśaḥ parantapaḥ na yotsya iti govindam uktvā tūṣṅīṁ babhūva ha [Bg 2.9]

"After addressing Kṛṣṅa that 'You give me the right direction; otherwise I am not going to fight,' he left his weapon and became silent."

tam uvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ prahasann iva bhārata senayor ubhayor madhye viṣīdantam idaṁ vacaḥ [Bg 2.10]

[O descendant of Bharata, at that time Kṛṣṅa, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.]

Now, Kṛṣṅa took the position of guru, and He began to instruct. Tam uvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ. Hṛṣīkeśa..., Kṛṣṅa's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīkeśa means hṛṣīka īśa. Hṛṣīka means the senses, and īśa, the master. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is the master of our senses, everyone's senses. That will be explained in the Thirteenth Chapter, that kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata [Bg 13.3]. In this body there are two living entities. One is myself, the individual soul, ātmā; and the other is Kṛṣṅa, Paramātmā. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna 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.]

So actually the proprietor is Paramātmā. I am given the chance to use it, so my senses, so-called my senses, that is not my senses. I have not created my hand. The hand is created by God, or by Kṛṣṅa, through the agency of this material nature, and I am given the hand to use it for my purpose—for my eating, for my collecting. But actually it is not my hand. Otherwise, when this hand becomes paralyzed, I am claiming, "my hand," I cannot use it, because the power of the hand is withdrawn by the proprietor. Just like in a house, rented house, you are living. If the proprietor of the house, landlord, eject you, you cannot live there. You cannot use it. Similarly, we can use this body as long as the real proprietor of the body, Hṛṣīkeśa, allows me to stay here. Therefore Kṛṣṅa's name is Hṛṣīkeśa. And this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement means that we have accepted the senses from Kṛṣṅa, it should be used for Kṛṣṅa. Instead of using it for Kṛṣṅa, we are using it for our sense gratification. This is our miserable condition of life. Just like you are living in a place for which you have to pay rent, but if you don't pay rent—you think that it is your property—then there is trouble. Similarly, Hṛṣīkeśa means the real proprietor is Kṛṣṅa.

I have been given this property. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [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.]

Yantra: it is a machine. This machine has been given by Kṛṣṅa to me because I desired that "If I get a machine like a human body, then I can enjoy like this." So Kṛṣṅa fulfills your desire: "All right." And if I think, "If I get a machine in which I can directly suck blood of other animal," "All right," Kṛṣṅa says, "you take the machine of a tiger's body and use it." So this is going on. Therefore His name is Hṛṣīkeśa. And when we understand properly that "I am not the proprietor of this body. Kṛṣṅa is the proprietor of the body. I wanted a certain type of body to use it for my sense gratification. He has given it, and I am not happy; therefore I shall learn how to use this machine for the proprietor," this is called bhakti. 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.]

When the senses... Because Kṛṣṅa is the proprietor of the senses—He is the proprietor of this body—so when this body will be utilized for Kṛṣṅa's service, that is our perfection of life. Hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate.

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa- sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170]

If you want the definition of bhakti, the bhakti means to use the things for the proprietor. That is right use. If somebody use for another purpose, that is misuse. So bhakti means, when things are used properly, that is called bhakti. Now we are thinking that this machine, this body, "I am born in India, so it is Indian machine. It should be utilized for India's profit." Another person is thinking, "This machine, it is gotten from America, so it should be used for America." That is going on in the name of nationality or Communism, or society or friendship and this and so on. We have invented so many "isms," but they are all misuse, because actually the machine does not belong to the American or the Indian or the African. The machine belongs to Kṛṣṅa. So this is misuse.

So when we understand that we are misusing this machine improperly, that is called pure machine. That is called pure understanding, or Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam. "I am not American. I am not Indian. I am not brāhmaṅa. I am not kṣatriya. I am not human being." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am Brahman." Not the Supreme Brahman, but part and parcel of Brahman. Supreme Brahman is Kṛṣṅa, Para-brahman. He is addressed as Para-brahman. So we are part and parcel of Brahman. Therefore we are Brahman. So we have to realize this position. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am Brahman." I am not this machine. I am put into this machine, but because the machine is gotten either from America or from India or from heaven or from hell, I am designating this machine as American machine or Indian machine. Actually this machine belongs to Kṛṣṅa, and it should be used for Kṛṣṅa. Therefore the definition of bhakti means hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170]. This is bhakti.

So Kṛṣṅa, now He has taken the position of teacher. Now no more friendly talking, because Arjuna has accepted Him as the teacher. So He's the teacher. It is the duty of the teacher to punish or to chastise the disciple when he is wrongly going on. That is the duty. So first teaching of Kṛṣṅa, because Arjuna has accepted His leadership, His teachership, His instruction, accepted that he will follow His instruction, so first instruction is aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase [Bg 2.11]: "You rascal. You are rascal. You are talking like a very learned man, that 'How shall I kill my this grandfather? How shall I kill my brother, this and so on?' This is all bodily concept of life. You are talking on the bodily platform." So what is this body? It is to be neglected? "Yes." Aśocyān anvaśocas tvam: "It is not to be lamented."

aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṅḍitāḥ [Bg 2.11]

Paṅḍita means one who knows that "I am not this body." That is paṅḍita. The body is a lump of matter, so what is the value of lump of matter? Either while it is moving or while it is not moving, it is a lump of matter. Suppose we are now moving with this body with nice coat, pant, hat. That's all right. But what it is? It is a lump of matter. Either coat, pant, or these bones and the skin and the blood and the stool and urine, whatever this body is composed of, it is all material. And when the living entity goes away from this body, the same lump of matter. Does it change?

So we are not lamenting at the present moment, because it is moving. And as soon as the movement is stopped, I say, "Oh, my father has gone," "My son has gone," and we lament. So actually the body is the same. The same body is lying here as dead body, whom we are lamenting, "my father," but you have never seen your father. You have seen only the coats and pants and the body. That is your education. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, "Arjuna, you are thinking on terms of this coats and pants and bones and muscles and urine and stool. Therefore you are rascal number one." This is the first instruction, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā... [Bg 2.11]. "Do any gentlemen lament for this torn-up cloth, bones and skins and urine and stool? Does any sane man lament?" This is the first instruction. So aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: "You are talking just like a very learned man to argue with Me, but you are fool number one because"—agatāsūṁś..., gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṅḍitāḥ—"this is not the business of the paṅḍita."

So this is not the position of Arjuna only. The whole material civilization, the whole population of the whole world, they are like this aśocyān anvaśocas tvam [Bg 2.11]. When the body is living, when the body is moving, they are busy how to make the body comfort. And when the body is not moving they are lamenting. That is the business. Therefore brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati [Bg 18.54]. The..., our business is, the material civilization means, śocati kāṅkṣati, two business. Kāṅkṣati means desiring. While the body is moving, we are desiring, making plan: "I want this. I want this. My son requires this. My nation requires this. My community requires this." This is, means, kāṅkṣati, desiring to possess, this point. And when the body is lost, then śocati: "Oh, my father is lost," "My brother is lost," "My son is lost." Two business. So long there is no spiritual knowledge, we have got on the material conception of body two business—śocati, kāṅkṣati: desiring for things which we do not possess and lamenting for things which we have lost. This is our two business. But if you become self-realized, if you become aware actually what you are, then na śocati na kāṅkṣati.

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 the business.

So our this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is trying to educate people to give up this bodily concept of life. This is the sum and substance of this movement. And unless we come to understanding that "I am not this body; I am a spirit soul. My aim of life is missing," then we remain cats and dogs.

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [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.]

Anyone who is leading his life on the bodily concept of life, he is no better than the dogs and hogs. So in order to stop this civilization of dogs and hogs, the Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is essential. Kṛṣṅa consciousness means to take instruction from Kṛṣṅa. This is the first instruction. Aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase [Bg 2.11]. So gradually He will give instruction.

So it is our request that you try to study Bhagavad-gītā as it is. Don't try to distort it by your so-called education. Try to understand Kṛṣṅa as He is saying. Then you will be benefited. Your life will be successful. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [applause] [break]

Indian guest: ...[indistinct]

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṅa: What is the meaning of sac-cid-ānanda?

Prabhupāda: That is spirit soul. Sat means eternal, and cit means knowledge and ānanda means bliss. So if we study ourself, this body..., this body is not eternal. Sat means eternal. So if you study this body... In the Bhagavad-gītā you will find, antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṅaḥ [Bg 2.18]. This body is antavat; it will perish. Therefore it is not sat. Sat means eternal, and the body is not eternal. Therefore it is very difficult to understand what is sat, because we have no education, no experience. Everything is annihilated, destroyed, anything material. So actually we have no experience what is sat. So... But Vedic instruction is, sad gama asato mā: "Don't remain in asat, noneternal. Come to the platform of eternity." Sad gama asato mā. So that is our mission of life. The human form of life is distinct from the cats and dogs, because if you instruct to the cats and dogs what is sat and what is asat, it is impossible for them to understand. It is not possible. Therefore Vedic instruction is asato mā: "Don't remain cats and dogs in the human form only. You come to the platform of eternity." Asato mā sad gama. So we must try what is eternal.

So far in the present condition, as this material condition, we do not know what is actually eternal, because our body is not eternal. Therefore the first instruction is that "You are lamenting on the body, which is not eternal, but you are eternal. Your business is to understand the eternal." That is called sat. And cit, cit means knowledge. Knowledge... At the present moment we are all in ignorance. We do not know what is the next step, whether I am going to live or to die. Everything in ignorance. Therefore this body is also not cit. It is full of ignorance. Then sat, cit and ānanda, that we have got experience... Where is ānanda? Ānanda means blissfulness, joyfulness. There cannot be any joyfulness in this body. There are three kinds of miserable condition of material life: adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika. So either these three or one or two is always there. Adhyātmika means miserable condition on account of the body and mind. So wherever we go, the body is there. So even if I am very opulent materially with wealth... We are getting experience that even the most rich, richest man in the society, he is committing suicide. Why? He has got every resources to enjoy. Why he is committing suicide? That means there is also no ānanda, even you possess the material things.

So there is no question of sac-cid-ānanda in this material condition of life. If you understand what is spiritual life and if you practice how to come to the spiritual life, spiritual platform, as Kṛṣṅa is, then we can become equal with Kṛṣṅa, sac-cid-ānanda [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.]

Otherwise we are in ignorance. This body is not sac-cid-ānanda. [end]

Bhagavad-gītā 2.1–11

Referenced verses