This course is part of Sastra-Caksus, Year 1 and consists of 91 lectures, available on:
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.
- Lust means, you think you are the controller and the enjoyer, when that does not go well for you, you become angry. That you want to be the controller and enjoyer and not be servant, then that's fear. So it all comes back to lust, that's why it says lust is the root of all the bad qualities.
- Envy manifests when one has achieved something materially and one is confident.
- Unless qualities are connected to Krishna, both divine and demoniac qualities are actually demoniac.
- The nice qualities are like the gold chain or lower security prison.
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To discard scriptural injunctions means: 1) Not following rules and regulations 2) Following rules and regulations without the intention to develop love for Krishna and please Krishna, for one's own benefit.
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At any stage of life one may develop the mentality of sannyasa. Satyakama Javala became self-realized just by herding his Guru's cows. The process is extremely simple, but we are also extremely attached.
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16:30 Difference between need and lust - not much on the material platform. The ultimate, the natural need of the living entity is to please Krishna. It's for yourself is lust, it's for Krishna it's love.
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One who knows rules, but does not follow them, is the lowest of mankind. Devotees may have this mentality, it does not mean that they are demons, but this quality is demoniac. In Kali yuga demons and devotees live in the same body. One may try and fail - that is not naradhama, naradhama means not trying.
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24:00 When preaching to intelligent people we must be very careful not to turn them into naradhamas.
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Summary of chapters 13 to 16
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Srila Prabhupada explains how demoniac qualities manifest in devotees. We are not interested in karmis, we are interested how to root out the demoniac qualities in ourselves.
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One has to be careful, so one can apply this knowledge and not forget it.
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Divine qualities are important, but not sufficient. The qualities have to be connected to Krishna.
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Niyamagraha is the weakness of the neophytes. They think either ritual is everything, or it's not important to follow. But rules should be followed for the Lord's pleasure.
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39:05 STARTING CHAPTER 17
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Faith will push us towards developing particular qualities.
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Faith should be properly fixed in Krishna. An activity itself is not karma-yoga, it's that karma is important to us, but we are connecting it.
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Even people acting in the mode of goodness may still be demoniac, just that they want a more refined quality of lust, anger and greed.
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Even mode of goodness not connected to the Lord technically is ignorance.
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Person attached to yoga is overwhelmed by the mode of goodness, but it is still demoniac because there is no connection with Krishna.
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52:00 Magic plastic shoes, devotees made up the rule, and this is demoniac
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Srila Prabhupada first discusses how civilized people follow varnashrama, but then points out that following varnashrama without connection to Krishna is a waste of time. But then some devotees take it that it is not important to follow varnashrama. Actually, we should only follow varnashrama to please Krishna.
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This is the razor's edge to go back to Godhead, but if you are going the other way, it's the royal road to hell. This is the fun part. Because if you are going to hell, anything you do will take you there. But if you want to go back to Godheadthere are only certain things that are going to work.
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We should develop the fineness to find Krishna in everything, and Krishna recommends finding Him through the divine.
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Prabhupada said if Bhakti Charu Maharaja were to fall down, he would fall down to the mode of goodness.
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65:00 Temples saying "Haribol" 3 times
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Why does Krishna explain demoniac mentalities to Arjuna? So that devotees could be careful about it.
