Q & A on the Gītā, Part 5

Compiled by Krishan B. Lal

The Gītā, or Bhagavad-gītā (“The Song of God”), was spoken five thousand years ago by Lord Kṛṣṅa to the prince Arjuna. It contains the essence of Vedic knowledge.

The compiler has applied a question / answer format to the Introduction to Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

Can we travel to higher planets?

As we, the living entity, repeatedly transmigrate from one body to another, we also travel from one planet to another. But we cannot go to any planet we like merely by a mechanical arrangement. If we desire to go to other planets, there is a process for going there, and no mechanical arrangement is necessary. The Gītā instructs yānti deva-vratā devān pitīn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ. There are three planetary systems: higher, middle, and lower. The moon, the sun, and higher planets are called Svargaloka. The earth belongs to the middle planetary system. Bhagavad-gītā informs us how to travel to the higher planetary systems (Devaloka) with a very simple formula: yānti deva-vratā devān. One need only worship the particular demigod of that planet.

Yet Bhagavad-gītā does not advise us to go to any of the planets in the material world, because even if we go to Brahmaloka, the highest planet, through some sort of mechanical contrivance by maybe traveling for forty thousand years (and who would live that long?), we will still find the material inconveniences of birth, death, disease, and old age. But one who wants to approach the supreme planet, Kṛṣṅaloka, or any of the other planets within the spiritual sky will not meet with these material inconveniences.

Is the material world a reflection of the spiritual world?

In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the real picture of the material world is given. It is said there:

ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam chandāṁsi yasya parṅāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit

Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upward: A person standing on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward.

Similarly, the material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there are substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water—there is no happiness—but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world. All of this information is given in the Bhagavad-gītā, and we are given information how to leave the material world and begin a truly blissful life in the spiritual sky.

How can we attain the spiritual world?

The Lord suggests that we attain the spiritual world in the following manner (Bg. 15.5):

nirmāna-mohā jita-saṅga-doṣā adhyātma-nityā vinivṛtta-kāmāḥ dvandvair vimuktāḥ sukha-duḥkha-saṁjñair gacchanty amūḍhāḥ padam avyayaṁ tat

The padam avyayam, or eternal kingdom, can be reached by one who is nirmāna-moha. What does this mean? We are after designations. Someone wants to become “sir,”

someone wants to become “lord,” someone wants to become the president or a rich man or a king or something else. As long as we are attached to these designations, we are attached to the body, because designations belong to the body. But we are not these bodies, and realizing this is the first stage in spiritual realization. We are associated with the three modes of material nature, but we must become detached through devotional service to the Lord.

If we are not attached to devotional service to the Lord, then we cannot become detached from the modes of material nature. Designations and attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to lord it over the material nature. The eternal kingdom, which is never destroyed, can be approached by one who is not bewildered by the attractions of false material enjoyments, who is situated in the service of the Supreme Lord.

Why can’t we see the spiritual world?

The Gītā (8.21) states:

avyakto ’kṣara ity uktas tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim yaṁ prāpya na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama

Avyakta means “unmanifested.” The spiritual world is unmanifested. Not even all of the material world is manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot even see all of the stars within the material universe, so what to speak of the spiritual planets.

What are the relative sizes of the material and spiritual worlds?

The material world has been approximated as only one quarter of the creation (ekāṁśena sthito jagat). In the material segment there are millions and billions of universes with trillions of planets and suns, stars, and moons. But this whole material creation is only a fragment of the total creation. Most of the creation is in the spiritual sky.

How does reincarnation take place?

The living entity decides to act in a certain way and is then entangled in the reactions of his work. If he forgets Kṛṣṅa at death, after giving up the body he enters another, as we put on and take off clothes. As the soul thus migrates, he suffers the reactions of his past activities. A person dies after higher authorities have decided what form of body he will have in the next life.

According to our activities in this life, we either rise or sink.

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kuntī, that state he will attain without fail.” (Bg. 8.6). At the time of death either we remain in the inferior energy of this material world, or we transfer to the energy of the spiritual world. This life is a preparation for the next life. If we prepare, therefore, in this life to get promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after quitting this material body, we will attain a spiritual body just like the Lord’s.

What is the result of remembering Kṛṣṅa at the time of death?

In Bhagavad-gītā (8.5) it is said:

anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

“And whoever at the end of his life quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is not doubt.” One who thinks of Kṛṣṅa at the time of death goes to Kṛṣṅa. One must remember the form of Kṛṣṅa; if he quits his body thinking of this form, he surely approaches the spiritual kingdom.

What is the difference between spiritual form and our present body?

The Supreme Being is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha—that is, His form is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. Our present body is not sac-cid-ānanda. It is asat, not sat. It is not eternal; it is perishable. It is not cit, full of knowledge, but it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, nor do we even have perfect knowledge of the material world. The body is also nirānanda; instead of being full of bliss it is full of misery. All of the miseries we experience in this world arise from the body, but one who leaves the body thinking of Lord Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at once attains a sac-cid-ānanda body.

Does thinking of Kṛṣṅa require giving up our occupational duties?

In the eighth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṅa does not advise Arjuna to remember Him and give up his occupation.

tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ

“Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṅa and at the same time continue your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.” (Bg. 8.7) Arjuna was always thinking of Kṛṣṅa; he was the constant companion of Kṛṣṅa, and at the same time he was a warrior. Kṛṣṅa did not advise him to give up fighting and go to the forest to meditate.

What is required to remember Kṛṣṅa at death?

If we don’t practice remembering Kṛṣṅa while struggling for existence, it will not be possible to remember Him at death. Lord Caitanya also advises this. He says, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ: one should practice chanting the names of the Lord always. The names of the Lord and the Lord are identical. So Lord Kṛṣṅa's instructions to Arjuna to “remember Me” and Lord Caitanya’s injunction to “always chant the names of Lord Kṛṣṅa” are the same instruction. There is no difference, because Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa's name are identical. In the absolute status there is no difference between reference and referent. Therefore we have to practice remembering the Lord always, twenty-four hours a day, by chanting His names and molding our life’s activities in such a way that we can remember Him always.

How is it possible to always remember Kṛṣṅa while working?

Spiritual teachers give the following example: If a married woman is attached to another man, or if a man has an attachment for a woman other than his wife, then the attachment is very strong. One with such an attachment is always thinking of the loved one. The wife who is thinking of her lover is always thinking of meeting him, even while she is carrying out her household chores. In fact, she carries out her household work even more carefully so her husband will not suspect her attachment.

Similarly, we should always remember the supreme lover, Śrī Kṛṣṅa, and at the same time perform our material duties very nicely. A strong sense of love is required here. If we have a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then we can discharge our duty and at the same time remember Him. But we have to develop that sense of love.

Who is the best yogi?

When Lord Kṛṣṅa delineates the yoga system, Arjuna says that the practice of this system is not possible for him.

arjuna uvāca yo ’yaṁ yogas tvayā proktaḥ sāmyena madhusūdana etasyāhaṁ na paśyāmi cañcalatvāt sthitiṁ sthirām

“Arjuna said: O Madhusūdana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady.” (Bg. 6.33)

But the Lord says:

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gaten-āntar-ātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

“Of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion.” (Bg. 6.47) So one who thinks of the Supreme Lord always is the greatest yogi, the great-est jñānī, and the greatest devotee at the same time. The Lord further tells Arjuna that as a kṣatriya he cannot give up his fighting, but if he fights remembering Kṛṣṅa, he will be able to remember Kṛṣṅa at the time of death. One must be completely surrendered in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

What are the destinations of the different kinds of transcendentalists?

There are different kinds of transcendentalists: the brahma-vādī, who realizes the Lord’s spiritual effulgence (brahma-jyoti); the paramātmā-vādī, who realizes the Supersoul, or the Lord in the heart; and the devotee, who realizes Bhagavān, the Personality of Godhead. One who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman is transferred to the brahma-jyoti of the Supreme Lord and thus attains the spiritual sky. The devotee, who wants to enjoy the association of the Lord, enters into the Vaikuṅṭha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord by His plenary expansions as Nārāyaṅa with four hands associates with him there.

At the end of life the transcendentalists think either of the brahma-jyoti, the Paramātmā, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṅa. In all cases they enter into the spiritual sky, but only the devotee, or he who is in personal touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikuṅṭha planets or the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet. The Lord says, “Of this there is not doubt.” There is no question of disbelieving it. We should not reject what does not tally with our imagination. Our attitude should be that of Arjuna: “I believe everything that You have said.”

Krishnan B. Lal, an ISKCON Life Member, is retired and lives in Huntington Beach, California.