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.

• Material manifestation works, because Krishna has entered it and makes it work. We must come to the level of understanding how Krishna interacts as a person.
• Lord stands on His own, material manifestation works only in connection to the Lord. Illusion means to think that material nature stands on its own.

• Jnanis find the Lord after many births, but for devotees He is the swift deliverer from the cycle of birth and death
• Material world is covered spiritual. Matter is just inferior Brahman. Devotee who sees this, is dealing with spiritual energy always. For him, material world becomes surcharged with spiritual potency, and the results gained from his activities are spiritual and eternal, but just the manifestation of the material world is temporary.
• 18:30 The problem with demigod worshipers is that although they are still interacting with Krishna only, they think that the thing gained, the situation has a separate value. A kid would pick a funky looking plastic watch instead of an antique gold one. By education we start to see the real value in things.
• People who approach the Lord for material desires will gradually become purified from them, because the Lord talks about devotion and surrender. Demigods deal directly with material desires.
• For the Western mind it is easy to reject demigod worshipers, because Westerners have authority issues. But there are good parts in demigod worship, such as acceptance of authority and following scriptures.
• One might worship Lord Shiva as the Lord of false ego, to get rid of it, but one might also worship Lord Nityananda, Balarama for that purpose. Because the main thing is developing devotion, not getting rid of botheration coming from one's mind etc.
• We respect the demigods, but don't worship them (Sri Sampradaya does not even respect them). Worshiping demigods is a seva-aparadha in Deity worship. One, because their power is not separate from Krishna, two, because there are 33 millions of demigods, and by worshiping only some of them, others would be offended. But by worshiping Krishna they are all satisfied.
• Worship means being absorbed and contemplating, so by worshiping demigods one forgets Krishna, so one becomes indirectly inimical towards Krishna.
• Even the faith to worship a particular demigod are instilled in the worshiper by Krishna. So why not worship Krishna directly and have one's faith increased in Him?
• Gopis worshiping  Katyayani. Radharani worshiping Sun - sunshine is actually Her potency. The residents of the spiritual world are the source of the demigods.
• Demigod worship is unsystematic, because one worships only some parts, not others, one only sees some potencies, but not others.
• 49:00 If the different demigods would actually be in charge as separate gods, there would not be a consistency within the functioning of the material energy. But in fear of the Supreme Lord everything goes on nicely, otherwise there would be a riot.
• Krishna allowed Indra to send the rainstorm to Vrindavan only so He could spend that time with all the devotees together. But otherwise, Supersoul would not allow the demigods to do things outside of their limits of functioning.
• The origin of 24/7 in Govardhana-lila.
• Demigod's facilities come from sacrifices on the earth. From every water drop that drop from the sikha of a brahmana, there are rains on Pitriloka, but nowadays many brahmanas don't have sikhas, and they do not take bath 3 times a day.
• If we do not see Krishna's potency in everything, we are affected by changes of facilities. The greater joy from facilities, the greater pain from losing them. Even if everything was materially perfect for us, we would still look for less perfect to find variety, if we do not see Krishna.
• 69:30 Lord Shiva makes his followers worship his wife
• 73:15 Vedic verses glorifying the demigods are doing so with the understanding that demigods represent the different potencies of the Supreme Lord
• Demigod worshipers are "less-intelligent", because they do not see connection to Krishna, but still within demigod worship there are so many detailed aspects and elements. But impersonalists are called "without intelligence."
• If impersonal Brahman has localized as Krishna, then what's wrong with the conditioned souls having localized forms?
• Demigod worshipers are following the proper path, but on a much lower level. But impersonalists think that everything is illusion, so their position is not very good. To impersonalists, their philosophy is their biggest attachment, their knowledge and sense of control make them more attached than demigod worshipers.
• Krishna is eternal, therefore He knows past, present and future.
• 92:00 There is only present in the spiritual world, but the feelings of past and future are there to enhance different flavors
• Demigod worshipers are pious, but they are not connecting it to Krishna, but they are not specifically inimical towards Krishna, at least not intentionally. Kali worshipers are sometimes inimical. Demigod worshipers can go either way - become demoniac, or approach Krishna in devotion.