Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 16.7 [with translator]

[translated by Yaśomatīnandana into Gujarati throughout]

Prabhupāda:

pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate [Bg 16.7]

[Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them.]

Yaśomatīnandana: There's something [indistinct].

Prabhupāda: That's all right.

Yaśomatīnandana: They're connecting.

Prabhupāda: Now here is the description of the asuras as stated by Kṛṣṅa. There are two classes of men, asura and deva. Daiva and asura... Viṣṅu-bhakto bhaved deva asuras tad-viparyayaḥ. The devas, devatāloka...

[aside:] Don't talk.

Yaśomatīnandana: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: No... And whatever it may be, why you are interpreting? You stop. In the upper planetary system, beginning from the sun, there are Sūryaloka, Candraloka, Maṅgala, Bhūr, Bṛhaspati, up to Saturn, there are different lokas. So the upper planetary system, beginning from Sūrya, they are called devaloka. They are all devotees of the Lord; therefore they are called devatā. They are not pure devotees, but they are not disobedient to the orders of the Supreme Lord. Śuddha-bhakta means they do not come to the material world. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11],

[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]

the śuddha-bhaktas, nitya, nitya-siddha, they do not come to this material world. They are everlastingly liberated soul, engaged in the service of Nārāyaṅa. This material creation is exhibition of one-fourth energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The three-fourth creation is in the spiritual world, Vaikuṅṭhaloka.

So in this material world they have come... All of us, beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant, we have come here for material enjoyment. And in this material world, according to different desires and karma, they are getting different types of bodies. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa jantur deha upapatti [SB 3.31.1].

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

Karmaṅā, by our work, and by the supervision of the supreme power, we are getting different types of body. So there are two kinds of living entities. One kind of living entities, they are trying to go back to home, back to Godhead. They are called devatās. And the asuras, they are not aware of the spiritual world; neither they are endeavoring to go back to home, back to Godhead. So Kṛṣṅa has described about the devotees in so many ways. Now He is discriminating who are the demons.

So for the asuras there is no knowledge what is the aim of life. So they are described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also,

na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ [SB 7.5.31]

[Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṅu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.]

These asuras, or the persons who are in ignorance, in material enjoyment, they do not know what is the goal of life. Everyone is in the bodily concept of life, and they are trying to improve the condition of bodily comforts. The more we are interested in the bodily comforts of life, the more we are asuras. So these asuras, they are not very cleansed, na śaucam. Na śaucaṁ nāpi ca ācāraḥ: "They have no good behavior, neither they are very clean." Therefore, according to varṅāśrama-dharma, the brāhmaṅas are called śuci, means pure. But this śuci... The opposite word is muci.

So there is a Bengali Vaiṣṅava poet. He says that,

śuci haya muci haya yadi kṛṣṅa tyaje muci haya śuci haya yadi kṛṣṅa bhaje

The purport is that if somebody takes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, even he is born in the family of muci, then he becomes śuci. And if a person born in the brāhmaṅa family or kṣatriya family but he does not take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then he becomes a muci. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ [Bg 9.32].

[O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth—women, vaiśyas [merchants], as well as śūdras [workers]—can approach the supreme destination.]

Pāpa-yoni means muci, less than the śūdras. If he takes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim, they are also eligible to go back to home, to back to Godhead. So even a muci or a pāpa-yoni born in the low grade family, if he takes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, he becomes a devatā. This is also confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Śukadeva Gosvāmī,

kirāta-hūṅāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ ye 'nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ śudhyanti prabhaviṣṅave namaḥ [SB 2.4.18]

So it doesn't matter where we are born. If we take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then he becomes a śuddha, śuci, purified, and he is eligible to go back to home, to back to Godhead.

So to take the shelter of a pure devotee means he knows what is pravṛtti and what is nivṛtti. All our Vedic literature is meant for nivṛtti. Pravṛttir eṣā bhūtānāṁ nivṛttis tu mahā-phalā [Manu-saṁhitā]. These, all living creatures, who are struggling for existence in this material world, that is their pravṛtti, to enjoy this material world. But when one becomes inclined to nivṛtti, he becomes devatā. So this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, which was inaugurated by Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is for nivṛtti-mārga. Nivṛtti-mārga means "No more material enjoyment. Let me make progress towards Kṛṣṅa consciousness." Therefore this devotional service, or bhakti-yoga, it is called nivṛtti-mārga. This is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,

vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam [SB 1.2.7]

[By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṅa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.]

Bhakti-yoga... And Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he was a impersonalist, followers of the Śaṅkara philosophy. When he became convinced about the Vaiṣṅava philosophy, he wrote one hundred ślokas, prayers to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Amongst that śloka, one of the prominent śloka is,

vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yogam śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṅaḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya-śarīra-dhārī kṛpāmbudhir yas tam ahaṁ prapadye [Cc Madhya 6.254]

He said that "This Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the same Kṛṣṅa. He has come to teach vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga." Bhakti-yoga means vairāgya-vidyā, no more this material enjoyment—that is vairāgya. Jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam [SB 1.2.7]. The result of jñāna is vairāgya. Vairāgya-vidyā... Bhakti-yoga is vairāgya-vidyā means that bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42].

[Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things—these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.]

Bhakti means one is making progress towards Kṛṣṅa consciousness, and automatically he becomes detestful to the material world. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given the example: just like hungry man. If he is given food, he takes it, but as he takes it, he becomes satisfied. And when he is fully satisfied, he does not require any more food.

There is another śloka, given by Yāmunācārya. He says,

yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravinde nava-nava-rasa-dhāmany udyataṁ rantum āsīt tad-avadhi bata nārī-saṅgame smaryamāne bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭhu niṣṭhīvanaṁ ca

He says that "Since I have been engaged in the service of the Lord," yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravinde, "since I have begun my life to serve Kṛṣṅa, since that time, whenever I think of sex life I spit on it." So therefore, when we stop our desires for material enjoyment... Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11].

Karma means to desire to be elevated in the higher planetary system, Svargaloka.

[break] ...jñāna. The jñānīs, they are trying to elevate themselves to the impersonal Brahman. So these are not pure devotional service.

[break] Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Cc Madhya 19.167],

[When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṅa favorably, as Kṛṣṅa desires.]

no desire for material conception of life. So jñāna is also another desire, negative desire, to become free from this material world. That is desire. Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said,

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta kṛṣṅa-bhakta niṣkāma ataeva śānta [Cc Madhya 19.149]

[Because a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṅa is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jñānīs desire liberation, and yogīs desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.]

He said that bhukti-kāmī, the material persons who are desiring improvement in this world, in this life, and going to the heavenly planet next life... That is called bhukti. And mukti... Desiring liberation, that is called mukti, and... Or become one with the Supreme Brahman, that is mukti. And siddhi, yogīs, they are trying to achieve some success in aṣṭa-siddhi, aṅimā, laghimā. So everyone is desiring. So therefore Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, kṛṣṅa-bhakta niṣkāma: "A devotee of Kṛṣṅa is not desirous of anything, either bhukti, mukti or siddhi." The purport is, so long you desire something, you'll never get peace of mind. And a bhakta does not desire anything. He is satisfied in any position, whatever is offered to him by Kṛṣṅa.

nārāyaṅa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ [SB 6.17.28]

[Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṅa, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord.]

Anyone who is nārāyaṅa-parāyaṅa, he does not fear whether he is going to hell or heaven, because wherever he goes he is with Nārāyaṅa, he is safe. It doesn't matter whether it is hell or heaven.

That is offered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His prayer,

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī... [Cc Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4]

[O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You.]

The idea is that a bhakta does not require any material happiness or distress. He does not require any monistic proposition to merge into the existence of the Supreme. And neither he desires any jugglery of aṣṭa-siddhi yogam. So in order to become devatā, not to become asura... Asuras are always against Kṛṣṅa. There are many examples, like Rāvaṅa and Hiraṅyakaśipu, Kaṁsa. There are many. So we should remember that devatā means who is fully surrendered to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. So there are many symptoms of the asuras. They are all described in the Sixteenth Chapter—it requires a long time to discuss; it is not possible to discuss all the symptoms—but one of the most important symptom of the asura is here described. How? Asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad āhur anīśvaram [Bg 16.8]. Their main proposal is that there is no creator God. The modern scientists, philosophers, Western people, they don't accept that God is the creator of everything. And their theory of creation is the chemical composition. One gentleman has written one book, Chemical Evolution. They think that chemical combination is the cause of life. So the asuras' theory of creation is aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ kim anyat kāma-haitukam. It is a chance theory. But we don't accept. We are preaching against them, writing books against them. We are challenging this atheistic theory of creation.

So this asuric... The Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is against the asuras. Every time, always, Kṛṣṅa also comes down to kill the asuras. 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.]

[break] Asuras cannot flourish by their atheistic theory. Unless one comes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, he has to be put into the different types of asuric yoni to suffer in this material world. And if we continue this godless civilization, Kṛṣṅa says here,

tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān saṁsāreṣu narādhamān kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān āsurīṣa yoniṣu [Bg 16.19]

He keeps them always put into this asuric yoni, everlastingly forgetting the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and suffer in this material world. So, so long we remain in the asuric tendency, then we cannot understand Kṛṣṅa. That is also described by Kṛṣṅa in the Seventh Chapter,

na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ [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 we should generally conclude that anyone who does not take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, they fall in the groups of duṣkṛtinaḥ, mūḍhāḥ, narādhamāḥ, māyayāpaḥṛta-jñānāḥ. So in the beginning we discussed nāpy ācāraḥ, sadācāra. So even one is short of sadācāra, Kṛṣṅa says, api cet su-durācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ [Bg 9.30].

[Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.]

Even one is not fully in sadācāra, but if he has taken Kṛṣṅa consciousness fully, he is a sādhu. So to take to this Kṛṣṅa consciousness is made very easy during this Kali-yuga:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā [Cc Ādi 17.21]

[In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.]

Kalau, in this age, if you take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, simply chant Hare Kṛṣṅa, Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, then you become devatā. This is our program. So our only request is to you that in whatever position you are—it doesn't require to be changed—simply take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Chant Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, and gradually you'll become devatā. That is the recommendation of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ [SB 10.14.3].

[Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.]

Remain in your place, but be Kṛṣṅa conscious. It is not difficult at all.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]