http://seminary.bhaktivedantaacademy.com/classes/bhagavad-gita-seriatim/

Given in Bhaktivedanta Academy, Sridham Mayapur, September 2010-April 2011

The following are lecture notes briefly delineating its contents.

• Mudhas don't even know of such a thing as surrender.
• Naradhamas heard of it, but are not interested.
• Mayayapahrta-jnanas are very intelligent, but their knowledge does not take them to the conclusion to surrender to the Supreme Lord in devotional service. With all their knowledge, they do not see the supremacy of the Lord and devotional service.

• Asuras know about the Lord, but are inimical toward Him, specifically against the Lord. Atheism means it's against the Lord.
• There are 2 types of demons: daityas and danavas. Daityas are more refined.
• Distressed and desirous of wealth should become inquisitive to make further advancement. Otherwise, they leave after an initial relief.
• Ignoble material knowledge = avidya
• Apara-vidya still explains the Lord
• Inquisitiveness of innocent persons should be cultivated in relationship with the Supreme Lord.
• Jnana-mishra bhakta mentioned in verse 16 is free from desire of liberation and enjoyment, but he is attached to peace and not taking trouble, therefore he prefers shanta-rasa.
• Jnani technically is one who wants to know the Lord.
• We should not see karma-mishra and jnana-mishra as negative, as long as they are progressively moving towards the Lord.
• 25:00 Glass half-full or half-empty
• 26:00 Parampara system, explanation of Founder-Acarya
• Worries about our svarupa are due to contamination of karma and jnana.
• A true Vaishnava is happy to see a junior surpass him spiritually.
• Indian bogus Gurus have the best tricks to catch disciples.
• Jnana-yoga is best performed in the medium of karma-yoga. But by development of activities, knowledge has to be also developed, otherwise it falls apart. One remains engaged in activities, but without knowledge the mind gets distracted from Krishna, and one leaves.
• Every temple should have bhakti-shastri educational courses.
• 47:00 Reading books and studying books
• Without being elevated to the position of jnani, it is not possible to stick to devotional service. Of any serious devotee there is the aspect of jnani, but still it has to be cultivated.
• All aspects of devotional service are there at any stage, but the stage is named after what's prominent.
• Jnani knows he is servant of Krishna, he has realized it, he is on the platform of nishkama-karma.
• 58:00 "Surrender to a nitya-siddha"
• 63:35 Unless the spirit is correct, you can't understand. God is beyond, so He is beyond knowledge, so how by knowledge you'll know the Lord? But the point is is knowledge is a medium to know the Lord, so if you approach the Lord through the proper knowledge and therefore that gives proper activity, because knowledge should be applied. So when that proper knowledge is properly applied and the purpose of it is to please the Lord, to know the Lord, that then is what pleases the Lord.
• Everybody who is surrendered to Krishna to any capacity, is a mahatma, but then there is gradations amongst the mahatmas.
• 69:00-74:00 Can we go back to the spiritual world if we are only 70% pure devotees?
• 75:00 Half-full and half-empty glass is not sentimental.
• Arta, jijnasur, artharthi are also dear to the Lord, but jnanis are more special.
• 84:15 Pious person realizes the connection of the Supreme Lord with everything (Parabrahman), realizes the Supreme Lord as the cause of all causes (Paramatma understanding) and surrenders to Him in full Krishna consciousness (Bhagavan understanding). Understanding of Krishna nourish our understanding of Brahman and Paramatma, and that precipitates full surrender to Krishna as Bhagavan.
• 90:00 "Prabhupada just gave the basis"
• Pastimes in Vraja are very personal, we have to decide whom we want to stand next to.
• The qualification of the spiritual master is the ability to explain elevated matters in simple language for the disciple's benefit. Otherwise, it doesn't matter if even he knows who we are in the spiritual world.
• The teacher of transcendental knowledge is higher than material teacher, but one who is realized is higher than one who is not.

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