Bhagavad-Gita Seriatim #79 - The Transcendental Teachings of HH Bhaktividyā Pūrṇa Svāmī

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.

"Knowing what to do, if one gives that up because it's going to be some variety of problem, it's difficult to make the arrangements, it's difficult to go through the activity itself, then that's in the mode of passion. So passion will never be steady, only goodness will be steady, because goodness is dealing with the present, that's where steadiness is. Passion is future, so the problem is it's not here, so how will it be steady? Why are these points being given? All these different fine points are given, so that one can check one's devotional service. One is supposed to be doing things, connecting everything with the Lord. You are supposed to see everything in connection with the Lord."

"Remember, Westerners are known for the mode of passion and ignorance. They are whimsical and they are extremely fruitive. That's the whole drive. A consumerous culture works because of the mode of passion. You think that 'If I get this object, I work hard, get the money for it, buy it, then I will be happy.' That's the mode of passion. Mode of ignorance, 'I am whimsical, I do whatever I like.' You know, 'Be yourself, be truly yourself, what do YOU want to do? It's all about you.' That's called the mode of ignorance. It's not all about us, it's about God's creation and us in relationship to that. There is no such thing as just us, it doesn't happen."
6:30 People are willing to work very hard for Western values, but they say that the Indian or Vedic is not practical. It's just renunciation in the modes of passion and ignorance.

"The idea is that this should be applied in our own life, we should take this, analyze it in our own life. Don't worry about others, unless you are responsible for them, these things are application in your life. Where did Arjuna apply it? In everybody else's life? Ever hear in the story that Arjuna is going, 'Hey, Dhrishtadyumna, hey that's a bit in the mode of passion there, isn't it?' No. He is using it in his own life. It's very important, when we get this then it's ourselves that we should be applying it on, not using it as a club to hit everbody else over the head, finding fault, therefore putting ourself in a superior position.
By finding fault in others we feel that we are in a superior position, so we try to establish our own security by finding fault in others. If you can find fault in yourself and help yourself with it then you can help others. But if you can only find it in yourself and not use it to help yourself, just make yourself insecure, you still won't be able to help others. Does that make sense? Someone who doesn't know who they are, is uncomfortable who they are will not be able to make someone else comfortable. If you ever wondered why people don't necessarily like you in certain situations, because you don't like yourself in those situations, that's why. You feel uncomfortable in a group, that's why they feel uncomfortable with you in that group."
11:00 Krishna recommends detached work, because He Himself is doing it.

Krishna is always doing something, He is always busy, He is performing His duties, He is doing it without attachment and only for the pleasure of His devotees.
Mind accepts and rejects. An intelligent person works within an intelligent field, so that the mind would have something intelligent to accept. But in bad at association field has bad elements, so mind gets attached to that, that's not good.
Krishna is always considerate, because He is always attached. Since we don't have attachment to Krishna and spiritual attachment to living entities, we should perform our prescribed duties. Duties performed with knowledge is goodness, then we will become inspired. If we are doing duties with knowledge, inspiration will naturally follow.
Activity without knowledge may give knowledge if it is maintained, but what will maintain such activity? Since it is driven by sentiment, which is not steady. So better have proper knowledge and based on that activity will give realization.
"The living entity being eternal wants stable results, and you cannot get stable results, unless you perform duty."
"The nature and the duty are synonymous, they are non-different, because Krishna has created it, that's the law. Whatever is the nature, that's the duty."

If somebody doesn't follow their duty, then next time they get a body that actually suits what they have been doing.

In modern women, the nature of the women still don't go away.
26:00 Draupadi is not a typical stay-at-home girl, she manages billions of money and thousands of servants, but it's still within the feminine nature, and everybody is happy with her service.
"Even animals have relationship with other animals. Why? Because they do their duty and they use their brains to do that. Whatever brains they have they use. That's why they have relationships. Why don't human beings have relationships? Because they don't do their duty, they don't apply their intelligence. It's all about themselves."
People have doubts, because they fear the troublesome effects or don't want to do their duties - modes of passion and ignorance.
Tradition means what works.
Devotee is not even attached to goodness, but goodness is what works, what pleases Krishna, so therefore devotee uses it.
If sambandha is in place and prayojana is in place, abhideya will naturally happen.
The doubt is raised by Arjuna, that since one has to give up the result anyway, wouldn't it be better to renounce the activity? But this doubt is self-centered. We renounce the result for someone else's benefit, and that nourishes the relationships. Duties cultivate relationships, and ultimate relationships is with the Lord and His devotees.
If you don't do something, that doesn't mean you are very renounced, because you don't have anything to renounce. But someone who does something and that result is not for themselves, that's actually renounced. 'I do no work. I am a lazy bum. I sit at home. I've renounced all the money of the world. Yes, I am so renounced.' No one is going to say, 'Wow, he is great!' No, they are going to say he is a lazy bum. The guy who makes 50-60 billion dollars and gives away 10 billion, 20 billion, they'll say, that's renounced, that's something special.
Renounced activities get us out of the material world, doing them for Krishna gets us into the spiritual world.
63:20 We might say that if the Lord is the doer, then what is the need for us to do anything, or what can we do anyway?

But the jiva rules over his own body and senses by his own desires, the Lord simply sanctions and sets things into motion.
One should not be attached to auspicious or inauspicious work, one should see the Supreme Sanctioner. Therefore even though cows are harassed, we may still take their milk and offer it to Krishna.