BHAGAVAD GITA TUTORIAL: Chapter 10 Verse 10 – HOW TO TALK WITH KRISHNA?

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda

TEXT 10

तेषां सततयुक्तानां भजतां प्रीतिपूर्वकम् ।

ददामि बुद्धियोगं तं येन मामुपयान्ति ते ॥१०॥

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te

TRANSLATION

To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.

We are born ignorant. Human life is the chance to dissipate this ignorance, and that requires tapasya, not to live like cats and dogs – frivolous life. That will not help us. Tapaḥ. Tapo divyaṁ yena putrakā śuddhyet sattva [SB 5.5.1]. That human life is meant for tapasya, austerities, not to live extravagant life, irresponsible life like cats and dogs. No. That is not human life. That is animal life. So therefore śāstra says that you undergo austerities. Then your existence will be purified, and then you will get pure knowledge, and you will understand what is your position, why you are in this material world, why you are suffering the threefold miseries, why you are obliged to die, why you are obliged to become old man. So many things you have to learn. But if we learn like cats and dogs, then we spoil our life.

Krishna imparts knowledge to Brahmā

Brahmā, the first created being, had to undergo tapasya (austerity) to get information from the Supreme. The Supreme Lord is within you. He’s there. But He will advise when you are fixed up by tapasya, determined with vow. Then He will talk to you. He’s ready to talk, but you require to acquire the qualification to hear Him. And what is that qualification? This Krishna consciousness, devotional service.

As it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam [Bg. 10.10]. Satata means always, twenty-four hours, not that five minutes I meditate and rest of the time I live like cats and dogs. No. This kind of meditation will not help you. Krishna says “satata”. Satata means “twenty-four hours.” You have to mold your life in such a way that twenty-four hours you’ll think of Krishna. This is Krishna consciousness. If you think, “Now I have chanted my sixteen rounds. Now I’ve finished my business. Now I can do whatever nonsense I like.” No. Krishna says “No. Satata.” Therefore we have to plan our life in such a way that we haven’t got any other engagement than service of Krishna. This is required.

THOSE WHO DO NOT FOLLOW THE SCRIPTURAL INJUNCTIONS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DEMONS

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

BHAGAVAD GITA | CHAPTER 16 | VERSE 7

प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च जना न विदुरासुराः ।

न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्यं तेषु विद्यते ॥७॥

pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca

janā na vidur āsurāḥ

na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro

na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate

TRANSLATION

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.

PURPORT 

In every civilized human society there is some set of scriptural rules and regulations which are followed from the beginning, especially among the Āryans, those who adopt the Vedic civilization and who are known as the most advanced civilized peoples. Those who do not follow the scriptural injunctions are supposed to be demons. Therefore it is stated here that the demons do not know the scriptural rules, nor do they have any inclination to follow them. Most of them do not know them, and even if some of them know, they have not the tendency to follow them. They have no faith, nor are they willing to act in terms of the Vedic injunctions. The demons are not clean, either externally or internally.

Bhagavad Gita Tutorial: Chapter 8 Verse 16 – One has to Die right up to the Planet of Brahmā

By Niraj Bidawatka

Right up to the Satya-loka one has to die. Satya-loka is the highest planetary system within this material universe, where the four-headed Lord Brahmā, the creator of this universe, stays.  This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (8.16):

ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
punar āvartino ’rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

Translation:

From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again. (Bhagavad Gita 8.16)

Even Brahmā has to die at the end of his 100 years. Even though his 100 years run into trillions of our earth years, but still he has to die. Lord Brahmā’s 12 hours are equal to our 4.32 billion years.

Bhagavad Gita Tutorial: Chapter 2 verse 2 – IF THERE IS NECESSITY, YOU MUST KILL

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

So Bhagavān is criticizing. Arjuna became a very good man: “Why shall I…? Oh, I cannot kill my kinsmen.” From material point of view, people will very much appreciate, “Oh, here is Arjuna. He’s so nice – nonviolent. He is foregoing his claim. He has given up his astra (weapons) – bow and arrows. He’s no longer fighting. He has decided not to fight with kinsmen, kill his own men.” So from material point of view, Arjuna is supposed to be a very, very good man. But the Supreme Person, Krishna, what does He say? Anārya-juṣṭam: “You rascal, you are speaking like anārya.” He’ll say rascal later on. He posed himself to be very good man, but when he comes to the test of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He refuses to accept him as a good man. He’s saying that “You are anārya.”

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

There are two kinds of men: anārya and ārya, or Āryan. Āryan means advanced in knowledge. He’s called Āryan. And anārya means uncivilized. So immediately He rebukes him, anārya-juṣṭam. “You are talking just like non-Āryan, uncivilized person.” People are very much, nowadays, eager how to stop war. But Krishna says there is necessity of war.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOING TO THE HEAVENLY PLANETS AND GOING TO KRISHNA’S PLANET

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

If you want to go to the higher planetary systems by pious activities, then you can go there, yānti deva-vratā devān. You can go to the planet where Lord Brahma lives or where Indra lives or Chandra lives. Through the modern process, you can go to the moon planet by taking a sputnik or jet. But by (the sputnik or jet) you can go – whether you can go or not, that is up to you (to believe) – but you cannot stay there. That is not possible.

Krishna tends the cows in His Supreme Abode, Goloka Vrindavan

If you want to stay there, then yānti deva-vratā devān. You have to prepare yourself by worshiping that particular deva, or deity, demigod; then you will be admitted. Just like if you want to go to a foreign country you have to take the permission of the immigration department, visa, then you can go. If that law is there in this planet, why not for other planets? How can you go abruptly, by force? That is not possible. Yānti deva-vratā devān. You have to prepare yourself to go.

You can go there, but after this life. If you are sufficiently prepared to enter that particular type of planet, you can go there. Similarly, you can go to the planet where Krishna lives. Mad-yājino ‘pi yānti mām [Bg. 9.25]. So what is the difference between going to the higher planetary systems, heavenly planet, and going to the planet where Krishna lives?

Would you accept Arjuna as God just because Krishna says “I am Arjuna”???

By Niraj Bidawatka

One argument that people very often put forward is that Krishna Himself says in the tenth and eleventh chapter that “I am Shiva”, “I am the sun among all planets”, “I am this demigod”, “I am that demigod “, Therefore, they conclude that by worshiping these demigods (devatā), we are worshiping Krishna.

Krishna says, “I am the taste of water.” So why don’t you worship the taste of water as God? Krishna says so many things. But without understanding the purport they misinterpret as they like. This is called the half-hen logic.

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

The uniqueness of water is its taste. The uniqueness of the sun is its ability to illuminate. Thus, the ability in any thing or person, is coming from Krishna. Similarly, the demigods also have unique qualities, which are actually bestowed by Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna also says that “among the Pandavas, I am Arjuna. (Bg. 10.37)” So, does it mean that Arjuna is God? No. Arjuna was the most able warrior among the Pandavas. Therefore, Krishna says that “whatever unique qualities that you observe in anybody, know that they are emanating from Me.” This is stated at the end of the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita (10.41). The verse is as follows:

Bhagavad Gita Tutorial: Chapter 2 verse 2 – The significance of the specific words “Bhagavan Uvaca”

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

śrī bhagavān uvāca

kutas tvā kaśmalam idam

visame samupasthitam

anārya-justam asvargyam

akīrti-karam arjuna

[Bg. 2.2]

Translation

“The Supreme Person, Bhagavān, said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the progressive values of life. They do not lead to higher planets, but to infamy.”

So in this verse Vyāsadeva is writing. Of course, the speaking is through Sanjaya, but the original writer is Vyāsadeva. In other ślokas he writes “arjuna uvāca”, “sanjaya uvāca”, like that. Similarly, he could write here “krishna uvāca”. He could write. But, he’s writing bhagavān uvāca. So by this writing, it is established that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrī-bhagavān uvāca. He cannot be equal with Arjuna or Sanjaya or anybody else. Asammaurdhva. Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is supreme. Nobody is equal to Him, nobody is higher than Him. Everyone is lower. That is the meaning of Bhagavān. Nobody can claim “I am Bhagavān.” But nowadays there are so many rascals, they are claiming that everyone is Bhagavān. So is Vyāsadeva mistaken?

Indra, the king of Heaven, worshiping Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Bhagavad Gita Tutorial: Why did Krishna bother to explain karma-yoga and jnana-yoga when bhakti-yoga is the only way to understand Krishna?

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda

Srila Prabhupada giving a lecture on the Bhagavad gita

Guru-kripa: If one can understand Krishna only through bhakti-yoga, why did Krishna bother to explain karma-yoga and jnāna-yoga in the Bhagavad gita?

Prabhupāda: Because there are third-class men, fourth-class men. They cannot understand bhakti-yoga immediately. But at end of the Bhagavad gita, Krishna  says, sarva-dharmān parityajya [Bg. 18.66], if you are intelligent, [give up all varieties of religion and surrender unto Me]. Sarva-guhyatam [Bg. 18.64]. Real knowledge is here: sarva-guhyatamam. He’s proposing bhakti-yoga at the end. That is the most confidential knowledge. It is not for everyone. How can one give up karma-yoga, jnāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga? They cannot. But Krishna says, “This is the most confidential knowledge. If you accept this, then it is to be understood that you have knowledge.” It is not for everyone. Find out this verse.

Pusta Krishna:

sarva-guhyatamam bhüyah

śrnu me paramam vacah

isto ‘si me drdham iti

tato vaksyāmi te hitam

[Bg. 18.64]

“Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you…”

Prabhupāda: It is to be spoken to the most confidential person. “You are My dear friend; therefore I am telling you.” Other rascals will

Bhagavad Gita Tutorial: The Beginning of Spiritual Life is Surrender

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda

Namah means surrender. “Om namah” – this is the way of chanting Vedic mantra. Om means addressing the Absolute, and namah means “I am surrendering.” Every Vedic mantra begins with om namah. So this mantra is chanted with surrender, namah. Nothing can be done without surrender because our present conditional life is rebellious life. We have rebelled against the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. That is conditioned life.

Prabhupada taking darshan of the deities

There are so many theses to support this rebellious condition. Somebody is thinking that “I am one with God”; somebody is thinking, “God is dead”; somebody is thinking, “There is no God”; somebody is thinking, “Why are you searching God? There are so many Gods loitering in the street.” So in this way, there are many theses. All of them are different symptoms of rebellious condition. The sum and substance is, just like atheists are boldly saying, “There is no God.”