Bhagavad-Gita Thematic #12 - The Transcendental Teachings of HH Bhaktividyā Pūrṇa Svāmī

This course is part of Sastra-Caksus, Year 2 and consists of 101 lectures, available on:

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

Given in Bhaktivedanta Academy, Sridham Mayapur, November 2011-April 2012

The following are lecture notes briefly delineating its contents.

People who are educated and sophisticated, but have no interest in God are the lowest.
Association with devotees doesn't mean that we just sit there, we should interact based on Krishna consciousness.

9:45 Why was Bhagavad-gita not spoken to brahmanas? It does not matter to whom it is spoken because this knowledge is meant for everyone.
There have always been unscrupulous commentators on Bhagavad-gita, just today there is more of them than before.
It is dangerous if demons get Bhagavad-gita without purports. But it is hard to speculate on the basis of Bhagavad-gita As It Is because Prabhupada's purports are so clear.
If one is all alone, there is no meaning to prestige, enjoyment etc.
18:50 Why is Arjuna not in our disciplic succession? Lord Krsna has spoken this knowledge to many personalities, but not all of them are in our line.
Bhagavad-gita is a body of knowledge, it is not just a book. It is the summary study of the Upanishads in a Puranic form. (In sutra form it is Vedanta Sutra). Bhagavad-gita is smrti.
Only commentaries that are in parampara are authorized.
If our mood in studying Gita is right, the its subject matter will have some meaning to us.
29:00 The knowledge of Bhagavad-gita can be expressed through any science, but we only tend to see the externals. The science means that the mood and the proper knowledge of the activity are perfectly combined.
30:30 How feelings work is a science. Form is the feminine element.
31:10 The idea of synthesis of science and religion is a misnomer, because metaphysics is actually a philosophy, so we are already trying to establish how to understand something and does it exist.
Observing things through the senses is just collecting information, it is not science. Science is what one does with the knowledge collected. If we just go by the senses and collecting information, then babies are the greatest scientists. Only a certain level of subjectivity is allowed among the scientists.
If there would be no difference between the Lord and the living entities, how could there be rasa between them? Rasa happens on the basis of difference.
45:00 Lord's pastimes are basically the same in every yuga, but there are always small variations. Just as we have a basic schedule every day, but there are variations. We are bored because we are under the modes of nature. Maya as the feminine element makes it boring for us because we are not behaving nice.
46:40 Why are we forgetting if the subtle body remains throughout the changes of bodies?
51:00 Krishna does not age beyond a certain age, and it is the same for His eternal associates such as Arjuna.
Pandavas staying in the material world, giving up their bodies etc. Giving up the body is only a problem if one is attached.
60:00 What should Pandavas be doing instead of gambling?
We define good from our individual social stratum.
There is always something unfair in the world. Since the gambling match was not fair, the whole world is rallying behind Yudhisthira.
Manu does not recommend gambling for kshatriyas.
Problem comes if we expect that everybody else has to do what we are doing and have the exact same standard.
83:30 One may smoke herbs for medical purpose, but Ayurveda gives rules for that.
The Vedic system is very sophisticated, but devotees are not intelligent enough to use it, and still they are proud of it.
Western people each have their own standard therefore there is no community.
Community can be created if people have common values that their base their decisions on. It is not that they all do the same thing.
Betel nut is only intoxicant for humans, not for those on a higher platform.
91:20 grihastha makes distinction between his utensils and those of the Deity, but a renunciant does not have to.
We are the only Vaishnava line where grihasthas don't eat betel nut. We are going for a finer point of focus, so it gets in the way. Betel nut is only an intoxicant for a sadhaka who is trying to focus on a higher level.
For Krishna it is always about His devotees, He is never distracted by secondary forms. Besides, even those forms are His energy.
We as devotees are already liberated, especially here in the Dhama, but now it's a matter of appreciating it.
Being in the spiritual world and not appreciating it is what got us here in the first place.
Gokula is already the kingdom of God. Being in the material and spiritual world is determined by the situation and consciousness combined.
Why the living entity is described as a spark?
121:00 We get so much into fine mechanical details, but what is the point?
When we have our real ego as a servant of Krishna, all the material covering is gone, even though we may still have a material body.
Hungarians must have all been Madhvas before, since they raise hand with two fingers when asking a question.