Bhagavad-gītā Seriatim #63

Bhagavad-gītā Seriatim #63

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Sadhguru chants Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat-Sat -Sat- So Krishna Prabhupada has made this point that one has to search for this truth of the Vedanta Sutra. In other words, the analytical elements of how the world is functioning, right? The soul, the relationship, and everything like this. Because without that, then how do you analyze? That’s the difficulty. So the most, the best analyzation is the Vedanta Sutra. Like that. No other is as good. So Sankhya is there, but still, the Vedanta, how it’ll put it together is much more detailed. Yes? So the Bhagavatam is easier accessible, or? Yes, means of Vedanta Sutra, then the Bhagavatam will be the easiest. And this Gita is the same information, but given in, how do you say, it’s not as technical, but it’s more, you could say, lucidly described, right? Because the sutra is just Atato Brahma Jigyasa. That’s it. It’s three words, like that. Some are a little bit bigger, but like that, they’re small. Some of them are like one word, Anandamayo Gyasata. It’s one word. All right, so the idea is that if you understand from the basic, the Gita, the Gita by having shlokas and being in a conversation, then it will be much more easily understandable. But it’s not that the information is less. It’s just the best way to start. Then after that, then Bhagavatam, Vedanta Sutra, then that’s what gives the technical arrangement, right? So you can see it very nicely arranged. But the Bhagavatam will also, in the same, give it in story form. So not only do you have a more full explanation, but it’ll have a story along with it. So that makes it the most understandable, most applicable and approachable.

So like that. So for us, when we say Vedanta Sutra, we mean the philosophy that’s given in the Vedanta Sutra, that Vyasa is given in the Gita and Bhagavatam. But it doesn’t mean that one also, to be very clear on this, doesn’t study Vedanta Sutra. Because the Prabhupada said that one should know the six systems of philosophy. That’s what the Vedanta Sutra defines, because it has to establish Vedanta over the other schools.

So it’s very much a part of our tradition. But for us, the Bhagavatam is the book, not Vedanta Sutra. While for other lines, the Vedanta Sutra plays much more prominently, like with the Ramanujas and Pancharatra, Vedanta Sutra and the Divya Prabhandams are the songs by the Acharyas.

So they’re the philosophy, the deity worship, and then that devotional element from the songs. So does that make sense? So but for us, it’s like the Sankirtan, then the Bhagavatam, and then the songs of Acharyas. So like this, then we have it, or the literatures of the Acharyas. Yes? Are we going to get into more of the detail of these different books in the third year, in the Shastra Tractate? Different books means? Vedanta Sutra, the details of like the different Vedanta Sutra. The details of Vedanta Sutra. No, that’ll come in the seventh to ninth year. In the third year, we deal with the six systems, but just on their own, not in the context of Vedanta Sutra. Means there’ll be references from there, but it’ll just be a overview of them, like that. But a full study of the Vedanta Sutra will be in the seventh to ninth year, like that. Like that. Along with the Sandarbhas. So the Sandarbhas, so in other words, an analyzation of the Vedanta, an analyzation of the Vedanta Sutra.

Or did I say that twice? I think so. Like that. Means the Sandarbhas are an analyzation of the Bhagavatam, and while the Vedanta Sutra is then an analyzation of the Upanishads. Both of them are saying the same thing, just this different format, so in some sense.

And there’ll also be the study of the connection between them. This Bhagavatam, this is where it’s applied in Vedanta. In Vedanta, this is the Bhagavatam verses, like that.

In verses six to seven, the Lord gives a more detailed explanation of the field of activities and its interactions. Because the field, He said, is the body. Because from the body, it starts. No body, no field.

So that’s the beginning. Verse six lists the 24 material elements. The five great elements, the false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested stage of the three modes of nature, the 10 senses, the mind, the five sense objects. The aggregate of these 24 elements is called the field of activities. Verse 27 describes the interactions of the field. They manifest as the qualities of the mind, desire, hatred, happiness, and distress, the living symptoms, and convictions.

All these are qualities of the soul as well. This is confirmed in Chandogya Upanishad, where it is said that the soul possesses the qualities of satya sankalpa and satya karma. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusan explains this in his commentary. Thus, though desire and other qualities belong to the atma, they are also the qualities of the material mind, since they appear through the instrument of the mind and therefore are included as components of the field. So desire, intelligence, happiness, these are all qualities of the soul. But as we were discussing from the seventh chapter, the difficulty is we may not apply the spiritual intelligence, because that requires spiritual consciousness. The consciousness is spiritual. In other words, we look at and analyze it according to what we’re given by guru, sadhu, and shastra. Then we can use the spiritual intelligence or the natural intelligence of the soul, because chit potency means intelligence. That could be used. But the difficulty comes is that we will see everything through the mind. We have all these elements, but the one that holds it all together is the mind, because it’s one of the, you have all these different elements of false ego. The five great elements, then these are the grossest manifestation of the false ego. But that also is connected with the false ego itself, the element false ego. So the five great elements and the false ego, those are connected. Because one is the gross manifestation of the other. I identify as this body, and then you have the body made out of the five gross elements.

Then you have the intelligence, the 10 senses, and the five sense objects. So the intelligence, the sense objects, and the senses themselves, those function on intelligence.

So then that’s the next layer. And then the internal layer is the mind.

And depending upon the mind, what it’s in, then you have your modes. The mind’s situated in goodness, and the modes act that way, passion or ignorance. So that’s the most difficult, I mean, let’s not just say the most difficult, it’s the second most difficult. The most difficult is consciousness, to give up, I’m the controller and enjoyer. So these are the four kinds of false ego. This is explained in the Bhagavatam. I think this is the second canto. I don’t think that. Timiśra. Hm? Timiśra. Under Timiśra and Mahāprabhu. No, no, no, those are another thing. This is the different kinds of false ego.

Taijasā, tamasā, there’s four kinds of false ego. So it’s all false ego, but it’s got these four subtle divisions, like that. So the part that’s connected to the mind, the part’s connected to the intelligence, the part’s connected to the false ego, and the part that’s connected to the polluted consciousness. So polluted consciousness creates the other three. So if the consciousness is pure, then the other three go away. That’s why devotional service is so direct. While the indirect path, then it’s direct and easy. The indirect path is difficult, because then you have this, all these things, but you’re starting from the bottom and trying to get through all that to try to change the consciousness. But they never actually change the consciousness, because the impersonalist, the mind body is still thinking, I am the controller and enjoyer. I’m God. And that way, being God, then I’ll be happy.

So it’s a problem. So they still are going to be over, they’re never going to get out of false ego. Yes? Sometimes the term Karana depicting it, is it the same as polluted consciousness, or not? Karuna.

Yeah, you could say like that, if you’re taking it that you have the gross body, the subtle body, and then the Karana. Karana is then your desires. So desire is coming from the soul, but then we see it also as a quality of the mind. So because the mind, then, through the modes, manifests these different elements, we identify with it, and that’s why we do it. But it’s because we identify with it. If we don’t identify with it, it’s not the cause.

Then it’s only situation. So because you have the situation you’re in, that doesn’t determine what you do. It’s an influence, because it’s the field. It’s what you have to work with. But it doesn’t determine what you do with it. The kitchen is there, it doesn’t determine what you cook. What’s there, then you see, you decide what can be cooked. What are the options that you actually choose? But the field simply gives the options. So when we say, oh, it’s fate, it’s destiny, there’s nothing I can do about it. Means there’s nothing you can do about the situation you’re in, that’s true. But what you do with the situation, that’s 100% your call, your choice. People, they say, well, I couldn’t do anything else. That’s the way it was. They can’t tell the difference between the two. That’s why this knowledge is so important. The Vedanta knowledge separates the soul from the field. Otherwise, we say, I am the field.

Does that make sense? That’s the difficulty. Jai, okay.

I heard a good rumor you were here, and now it’s confirmed. Just heard yesterday, Naraswara Prabhu was mentioning you were here.

We’re in Gita 13th chapter. Okay, so then these have a significance, have a meaning, because everything you deal with grossly is made of the five great elements. But your interaction with them is going to be through the intelligence, the 10 senses, and the five sense objects.

But those are going to be controlled by the mind, which happens to therefore function in some mode. So if you can catch the mind, then you catch. So the living entity has desire. That’s the thing, is the desire can either be coming from the spiritual platform of pure consciousness or from the polluted consciousness.

This is the principle. So if you can understand that, then you know what to go for. So it’s not a matter of stop, and as we see from before, Krishna’s point is he’s not overly impressed with that you’ve stopped the senses.

The point is, is engage the senses. Because how are you going to just stop the senses? Then what do they do? They don’t go away. The Mayavadis think, I stop the senses, they go away, so there’s no problem. But they don’t go away. So the senses are stopped, but then they have to be engaged. So that’s the whole process. Now that the reason that they’re being engaged, that’s been the consideration. Now, is it pious, is it impious? And is it for yourself, is it for others? And who that other is.

So if it’s done to please the Lord, then it becomes perfect. Otherwise, if it’s done according to shastra and that for others’ benefit, it’s pious. And if you do it for yourself, then not so pious. Less pious.

Does that make sense?

Okay. And so because everything else here, the desire is coming here, the satya-sankalpa and satya -karma. Right, means what they desire is what they do. Right? Like that. Or it’s, you know, that pure desire, all these things. It’s the nature of the soul. But unfortunately, it also is the quality of the mind. You know, the material mind. And then the soul can, how do you say? Identifying there, then that creates problem.

Oh, we didn’t. Did we read this part about the field of activities? I don’t think we did.

We just ended with this is my opinion in verse three. Okay, so now we’ll do eight to 12. Did we? Yeah, somehow or another.

I don’t think, did we read them? We did read them. We did read something about this is my opinion. Oh, and then we didn’t read, oh, okay. And then we stopped, okay. That’s right, it’s two to seven. So we only got up to three and then got distracted. And then we got into, started discussing the ancient Italian concept of pantaloons.

But I would say better than pantaloons, I would recommend calzoni, much better. Same concept, but more, how do you say? I think there’s a greater offering to be had than offering to the Lord.

Okay, so we’ll go then four to 12. Now please hear my brief description of this field of activity and how it is constituted, what its changes are, whence it is produced, who that knower of the field of activities is and what his influences are.

So you’re getting is that what the field actually is, where it comes from, how it changes, what it will turn into. So all that needs to be known. But at the same time, who is the one who can control it and how he can control it? So these are important because when we say, well, this is all philosophy, the point is, see, there’s no one in the spiritual world that has a concept of dhyana.

Dhyana is that field which you can sit around and speculate on intellectual things, find great pleasure in that, and that’s all the more you want. The spiritual world is only interested in relationship.

So that means anything that they describe is in connection with relationship. And that relationship means relationship with the Lord and with the devotees.

So that would mean is they don’t have any interest in mental speculation. So when Krishna defines these things, the acharyas define these things, these are practical down-to -earth stuff that you know you can use. You don’t know it, you don’t have the tools.

Just like, hey, I would like to cook something, can you teach me something? Okay, so we have this, we have this. Okay, can’t we just get down to something straightforward and practical? Okay, you have a fire, you have a pot, and then you can pick up anything that works and then push things around inside. Don’t use your shoe, might not be good for it. But hey, you know what I’m saying? But someone who knows, they know all the different implements in the kitchen, they can do so much with it. There’s no such thing as theory, right? We have this concept that theory is a bad thing. Though, if we go, okay, I tried it in this way and that didn’t work, so maybe if I say this or I made up this situation, then it would all work out. That’s called mental speculation. That’s called theory. Because it never works. No one has ever been satisfied. But we’ll say, this mental speculation, this is perfect, this is normal. You have to be inspired, you have to take the lead, you have to have a plan, right? But if you give theory that’s based on direct application in Krishna consciousness, how to get out of the material world, how to connect yourself to Krishna, we’ll say, oh, that’s all just ethereal stuff that doesn’t actually have anything to do with reality. So what does that mean? How do you actually translate that statement?

Atheist, okay, good one. You know, one word. But it means that the material world is real to them. And the spiritual world isn’t so real. It’s real enough that they’re connected with Krishna consciousness, but it’s not real enough to give that drive that they’re willing to deal with the material energy where everything’s connected to Krishna. They want to do something for Krishna, I’ll chant and I’ll do the direct things, but all the indirect things, they’re mine. You know, so does that make sense? So that experience is mine, my experience in the family, my experience with my money, with my position, you know, that’s mine. But chanting, hearing, you know, going to the temple, worshiping Tulsi, that’s Krishna’s. But the rest is mine. So this is the problem. So Krishna’s explaining how all this can be connected. Remember, we are, this conversation is amongst two grihastas in an assembly of grihastas, right? Basically, there are no brahmacharis here, right? The whole battlefield, the kshatriyas, they’re all married, like that. Bhishma, okay, yes, but he’s in that environment, so he has to take care, so he has to know the field. All right.

So five, that knowledge of the field of activities and the knower of activities is described by various sages in various Vedic writings. It is especially presented in Vedanta Sutra with all reasoning as to cause and effect. So all these other six, all the other six schools, well, let’s say five schools, they define all this and to great detail, but he says it’s especially, you know, presented in Vedanta Sutra because that’s complete. It gives whatever’s in all the other five, but in its proper balance and in relationship to the Lord. The other ones, it may be in relationship with the Lord, but it’s not complete, right? They define the Lord, they define the soul, they define the material energy, but there’s no relation, right? The soul’s not supposed to be here, so he’s not related to material energy. You just change how you look at it and it goes away. And God’s there and he controls the place, but, you know, that’s his business, you know? And so then we’re just trying to get out of the material world, you understand? So it’s incomplete. So Vedanta explains very clearly the relationship.

The five great elements, false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested, the 10 senses, and the mind. The five sense objects, desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions. All these are considered in summary to be the field of activities and its interaction. The unmanifested will be the modes of nature that aren’t acting. It means the modes are there, but unless you act within them, they won’t respond, right? So that’s the unmanifest. But that’s different from the aggregate. So the unmanifest is mahat, right? But the aggregate, that’s the pradhan, because that’s just all together, but that’s where it’s from. So that’s where the elements come from, but then being in a state of dynamic, not dynamic, but they’re in a state of, I’d say, they’ve gone from, yeah, they’re, how do you say? Active. They’re not active. See, it’s an intransitive state, but it’s ready for action. So it’s defined what is there, what can be done, but it depends upon you to make it. But the aggregate means it’s all mixed together, so it won’t function.

You know what I’m saying? It’s so mixed that you can’t, you know, differentiate anything like that. While the unmanifest, you can understand. It’s not, it means the gross is not manifest, but the primary creation is already there. So the principles are already there, like that. So the Lord, his consort, all the varieties are there. Everything’s there. But we, and we’re there with polluted consciousness. So that’s what’s going to make us, when the manifestation is there, that’s when we’re going to have a desire. That’s, and that desire will have fallen from the Vasudeva sadhana down to the material. So then it will start the modes working.

So then all these things, desire, hatred, happiness, distress, life symptoms, those are all not in connection with the Lord. As soon as you connect them, then you’re dealing on a different platform.

You know, so they’re saying you must have conviction and this and that, but why wouldn’t that come from Krishna consciousness? Right, I’m simply trying to, you know, get in there, take the opportunity when the window arises in my, in, you know, my business. Or, you know, I should be in there, take the opportunity when the window arises to get out of the material world, go back to Godhead, which is bigger. All right, so now if I can do the bigger one, can I do the small one? If I can, if I could figure out how to be the CEO of a big multinational, multibillion dollar business, could I run a lemonade stand on the corner that sells lemonade in the summertime to the local residents? Good chance, okay, so that’s the point. So that’s why I was saying there’s no theory in Krishna consciousness. It’s all real, real. The problem is, is we think that business is only sitting there with your, you know, how you say, your jug of lemonade, like that, and this other stuff doesn’t exist, right? Kids know about, you know, multinational companies? No, so that’s why they’ll say these things.

So in other words, we’re presenting the theory that without training, you have kids, and then you have big kids. And if you have training, then you have adults.

Okay, so this is 8 through 12. Okay, so this is, this is now the section we’re on. Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness, self-control, renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age, and disease. Right, because it mentioned there the life symptoms. So you can see that these aren’t good, right? Detachment, freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home, and the rest. Even-mindedness amid pleasure and unpleasant events, or amid pleasant and unpleasant events. Constant and unalloyed devotion to me, aspiring to live in a solitary place, detachment from the general mass of people, accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the absolute truth. All these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this, whatever there may be is ignorance.

And Krishna here again is saying, I declare. Right, so that means this other sages may have their opinions, everybody else may have opinions, but this is Krishna’s opinion. So that means when he says anything else is ignorance, he means that. So whatever knowledge is there in the world, if it’s not seen in relationship of this, it is ignorance. Right, just like you can cook for yourself or cook for Krishna, but the science of cooking doesn’t change. So therefore the body of knowledge doesn’t change. If it’s connected to Krishna, then it’s considered knowledge. If it’s not connected to Krishna, then the same facts and figures are ignorance. Why, because they’ll bind you. It doesn’t mean it’s not a fact, but just you’ll become bound by it. If it’s connected to Krishna, you’re not bound by it, you’re freed.

So this is the whole point. Because facts and figures aren’t enough, that’s just what’s there. What you do with it, that’s what’s important. Yes. So this, this, about, say, knowledge, is it coming from material world or from the soul? It’s coming from the soul, but you engage whatever is there, the field in Krishna’s service. See, the point is, is as we were discussing in the beginning of this chapter, there’s three kinds of Brahman. The material world’s also Brahman. See, we’re taking it, okay, the material world’s just this, you know, funky stuff. It’s Brahman. Because we don’t see it connected with Krishna, that’s the problem. When you see it connected to the Lord, it’s not a problem. That’s why anything can be connected. That’s what he pointed out before, is we’re talking here to grihasthas, right? And we see they deal very nicely. You have five husbands, they’re very considerate to Draupadi, right? Even Bhima, who, you know, will rip your head off, you know, with no problem. When Draupadi comes to him, he’s very, very gentle.

Like that, anything she comes, like if she’s got a real problem that someone’s bothering her, she doesn’t go to Yudhisthira, right? Like that, because he’ll tell her, you know, about tolerance and all that. She goes to Bhima, right? Because Bhima will rip his head off, right?

So, like that. But he’s very conscious, very careful, wants to do it in such a way that, like this. So, that’s the point. But that’s the duty. That’s the means of relationship.

So, you’re not functioning out of attached freedom from entanglement. Entanglement means you don’t see it connected to Krishna. Doesn’t mean that they’re not dealing with children, wife, home, and the rest. It just means that they’re not entangled in it. But we’ll say, if you’re not entangled, you’re not involved. But you can be involved without being entangled. All right? This is the science, right? So, because of the impersonalism, right? Then we’ll think, not being entangled means not being involved. And being involved means being entangled. Because they can’t work with opposing elements. They can only work with one thing. That’s why it’s called a dvaitavad, right? It’s one. They can’t work with two things. And especially it’s hard for people to work with two things at once. Two things that oppose at once. But that’s the thing. So, how you say? But that’s, at least in your tradition, that’s always the point. The door of no door, right? Or strength in surrender.

No? Does that make sense? So, that’s the whole point is, the two nourish each other.

Because Radha and Krishna are together, then when they’re apart, that experience is so much greater. And then because they’re apart, when they’re together, then the experience of being together, it becomes greater. They each nourish each other. But we’ll think, well, this is good, that’s not good. But they go together.

Yeah, like in Chinese philosophies, it’s a li and qi, you know? Yes. So, this knowledge should be considered as a li or qi or li and qi. They’re both, li and qi. See, what we’re distinguishing here, li means the original quality, and qi means the actual force and everything like that. So, the point is, is li and qi, then there’s a gross manifestation.

You understand? In other words, you have the column. The column itself is the gross matter, right? But the element of strength of that column, that’s the li, right? But now, that li can be manifest through a column made of bricks. That’s the qi. Then you actually have the bricks. So, the idea is you’re trying to separate between these two. Well, actually, I mean, you’re separating between the gross matter and the actual Brahman element. And then within the Brahman element, you see the masculine and feminine. Otherwise, then you think the work itself is what is the goal. No, but the work does something. Work gives results. So, what is the result? So, the result of this is you’re trying to get to the li, which is strength. But our point is, is this is where now it, where your Taoist ends because then you’ve attained the li. That’s it. But the point is, is where did the li come from? Where does this quality of strength, it just comes out of nowhere? No, that comes from the person. That comes from Krishna. Right, so just as effulgence is the li. So, the li is on the Brahman platform. Yeah, li and qi are dealing with, means li and qi are dealing with the Brahman platform. Then it’s manifested in gross matter.

You understand?

Is that okay? Yeah, so let me say that there’s a female and male quality in the Brahman. But that’s li is masculine and qi is feminine.

That’s the point. So, inside the li, there’s no feminine and male. They’re non-different.

The masculine is the source of the feminine.

You know what I’m saying? But they’re non-different because masculine means feminine is there and feminine means that they’re dependent upon the masculine, right? A generator means electricity is there, whether it runs or not, but that element is there. And electricity is only there because there’s a generator. You can’t separate them, but they’re different. So, that dynamic between these two opposing, but at the same time, identical elements, that’s where relationship is. That’s what you’re trying to get to. So, this is through the intellectual process of analyzing. So, that’s what he’s giving here, but he’s giving it in relationship to the personal elements, you know, humility, pridelessness, like this, because these are what you’re going to deal with. These are what you’re going to deal with in dealing with these elements of Brahman.

You know what I’m saying? Because you’re a person and the Brahman has come from a person and it’s manifest in inferior Brahman, which has come from that person.

So, it all goes back to it’s all people.

Does that make sense? So, that’s what I was saying before, is that there’s so many philosophers, but they don’t give us complete an analyzation as Vyasa Vedanta Sutra, because these others stop at a particular point, you know, at best. Generally, there’s big gaps in their philosophy and at some point it ends. None of them get past liberation.

You know what I’m saying? But the point is, is that liberation comes from somebody and you’re a somebody. So, then how that works.

Is that okay?

Okay.

So, in here, note, two things to note would be constant and unalloyed devotion to me. That’s going to be the main principle. These other ones you may not be aware of, you may see or not see at various times. And the symptom of all of these is humility, right? Because knowledge, the symptom of knowledge is humility. And real knowledge, you know, all these are knowledge, but real knowledge is constant and unalloyed devotion. Right? So, these are the two. You understand this, then the other things come into perspective. Otherwise, it looks like this huge list, what are you going to do with it? Right? But if you understand, I am servant for God, then the humility comes. And the purpose is to obtain God and please Him through devotion. Then your two ends are done. Everything else then is added to enhance.

Right?

After describing the field of activity in verses eight to 12, the Lord explains how one can be freed from this field.

Okay. Shulabh Prabhupada writes in his purport, this is not the interaction of the 24 elements as described before. This is actually the means to get out of the entanglement of those elements, right? Because the elements weren’t mentioned. The elements of the field, now this is what you can do with it because we have to remember, the mind is part of the soul, the intelligence is part of the soul. It means the spiritual. We identify with the material manifestation of it. It’s what’s covered. Right? It’s just like, let’s say, we want to cover your arm. What can we use? Can we use a shoe? No. Yeah, you have to use a chutter or have to use a coat or something that fits that. You know, you want to cover your, you know what I’m saying? So in other words, you want to cover the natural mind of the living entity. What are you going to cover it with? Right? A shoe, right? The material mind. It has to match. Otherwise, how will it cover? So intelligence is, real intelligence is covered by false intelligence. Real, you know, desire and affection is covered by material desire and affection.

Does that make sense? Are these coverings coming from the conscious mind? Coverings are coming, no, the coverings are there. It’s by consciousness we identify with them. You know, it’s already there. It’s just like, you know, the car does not come from the consciousness, but because of the consciousness, you identify with the car. You know what I’m saying? It’s not because you thought about it, oink, it goes there. Like that, because otherwise, then that means there’s a direct connection between your consciousness and the material elements, which is what materialists will always say, right? Consciousness has come from matter. And because of my consciousness, therefore there is matter, right? If I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist, right? I wasn’t there when the tree fell in the forest, it made no sound, or did it? You know, like that, so, stuff like that. Yes? All right, is this the same point you started to talk about Satya Sankalpa, the importance of Satya Sankalpa that’s there in the soul? Yes, the Satya Sankalpa, yeah, because he has that determination that what he wants to do, he gets done. Like we see in the spiritual realm, Rupa Goswami wants to do something, it happens. But the point is, is it’s pastime. So it happens through some way of relationship with the Lord. So the Lord wants to accomplish something, it’s not just oink, it just happens. That’s boring, right? You know, if you’re sitting around for eternity, how long is that going to keep you happy, right? So therefore, he wants something to be done, it happens, but it happens in some amazing way.

So that’s the point, if he gets it done in an amazing way, that means others can get done their part in an amazing way. So it’s natural, these elements are there in a small, so the whole Leela is Krishna, and we take part in a specific aspect. So that’s why our Satya Sankalpa and Satya Kama are small and subservient to Krishna’s Satya Sankalpa and Satya Kama. So it’s a problem when we start to observe that and we start thinking we’re the big? Yeah, well, either we think we’re the big or we mean, or we think we’re the small, we think we’re the material manifestation, but not the small, the inferior, we’re the small, right? So there’s the big, the small, and the inferior, right? So when we think we’re the inferior, that’s the problem, when we think we’re the covering, right? But thinking we’re the covering, which is the cause of the covering, we don’t think we’re the covering, it’s not there. So what this concept of, if I think it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exist, is true, in that the identity, I’m not that, but they take it to the point, it doesn’t even exist. No, we’ll say it exists, but it exists separate from us, but we think it’s us, that’s the illusion. So if you simply change the consciousness, there is no material world.

There’s an external manifestation, but there’s no material world, because it’s all Vermont. It’s just inferior Vermont, so it’s not as nice as, you know what I’m saying? But it’s still the same.

Is that what I’m saying?

This is actually the means to get out of the entanglement of those elements. The embodied soul is entrapped by the body, which is a casing made of the 24 elements. And the process of knowledge, as described here, is the means to get out of it. Of all the descriptions of the process of knowledge, the most important point is described in the first line of the 11th verse. Mai chanaya yogena bhaktir avyabhicharini.

The process of knowledge terminates in unalloyed devotional service to the Lord. So if one does not approach, or is not able to approach the transcendental service of the Lord, then the other 19 items are of no particular value. But if one takes the devotional service in full Krishna consciousness, the other 19 items automatically develops within him.

So, very important to note here, this element that this is the process.

The field is different. And we’re different from the field. Just as the process is different, we’re different.

We may be in the, situated in the field. So in that case, you know, we interact, but we’re not the field. And so then, so then that means is that if you see that devotional service is actually the point you want to get to, then all of these things have meaning. If they, if not, these all don’t have a meaning. And if you think they have a meaning without separate from devotional service, that means you think you are the field, right? In other words, humility, good quality, no? Pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, steadiness, self-control, absence of false ego, even mindedness.

Okay, well now, in your general mass of, you know, so-called modern enlightened people, will they have any problem with any of those qualities? Will they think that those are worth obtaining? Will they think they’re good? But will they also think that obtaining those, you’ve reached the pinnacle? That’s the problem. These are means, means aren’t the end, right? You have to be able to make the difference. Now, again, I’m not saying that you have to be like, you know, you have your orange, you have your juicer, and then you have your glass, right? It’s supposed to have some juice in it. So I think simply if the orange comes in contact with the machine, everything’s done, right? Now, would that be foolish or not, right? You don’t understand, no, the juice, that’s the end. So that’s the point is that they’ll think that these tools for becoming freed from the contact of the 24, entanglement in the 24 elements, that’s the goal. No, the goal is Krishna. If that’s not there, all these others don’t have any meaning. That’s why we say someone who’s not Krishna conscious has no good qualities.

Because the point is, where does humility come from? Does dead matter make it?

Very humble.

Did it complain? No, so it’s tolerant, free from false ego. Who knows what he’s thinking?

You’ll stub your toe.

I’ll be waiting. That’s patience.

So the problem is that the qualities come from Krishna. It’s the effulgence of his qualities. That’s what permeates this world because this world is created from Brahman, right? That’s what’s manifest here, right? Because Krishna himself as a person doesn’t interact with the dead matter. He interacts with his internal potency. Those, the effulgence of those qualities and activities, that’s what produces the world, right? So if you seemingly have that quality, but it’s not connected to Krishna, you don’t really have that quality.

That’s the point. Let us say you go into someone’s house and you’re holding in your hand his money. Do you really have his money?

Not really because you can be caught by the police, right? But now if you go into his house and you see the money in connection with him and he says, go do something with it or that, then you have the money. It’s connected.

So that’s the point. If you don’t see the quality and connection of Krishna, you don’t actually have it. So that’s why we say, without being Krishna conscious, no one has any good qualities because they’re not theirs, they’re stealing them. They’re in someone else’s house and using it like it’s their own. But the point is that good quality, they’re very humble and everyone respects them for that, but that humility comes from Krishna. They don’t recognize that they’re stealing.

You recognize it, then it becomes perfect.

We like duality, like extremes. Here’s your extreme. You see it, good. You don’t see it, there’s nothing good about it. Yes? Even if one has a good quality, if one doesn’t see it in connection with Krishna, then it can be humility, but then that kind of attitude would again be a loss in the position of what you enjoy. Still, yeah, you’re proud of your humility.

Yes, in our family, we’re always humble, so we never do these things. We’re not like the common people who are not humble. We’re always humble, no matter what the situation is.

Does that make sense?

Is this where it becomes a danger when we try and observe? Say, for example, many times, we’re trying to learn from other organizations about… Yeah, always, because that other organization, even where they’ve gotten that knowledge by observing material nature. Well, actually, the person who started that, he’s observed material nature, and he’s seen patterns, and then he will be struck by patterns, by one or a combination of patterns. Generally, they have one main pattern. You desire it, it’ll come to you. That’s all they have. It seems like this. They have a few things, and that’s all.

Then they base a whole system on that, and in that, they try to change their viewpoint and perception. It should adjust in some way their lifestyle to some degree, but only enough to get their result done. So, actually, they never work beyond niti, because they don’t know the nature of the field, the nature of the person and all that. They just know how, if you work with it, you’ll get what result. You know what I’m saying? A person can drive the car, but he doesn’t know why the car works.

So that’s a problem, because then if something goes wrong, you can’t fix it. So that’s why there’s so many schools. In the Vedic, there’s only basically… As far as mechanics of dealing with material energy, they all say the same thing. The problem is in dealing with what’s your result, your goal, that will be differences of opinion.

But that’s why the Vedic culture is consistent.

Wherever you go in it, those who follow it, you get the same experience, even though their situation may be extremely different. Very rich, very poor, this part of India, that part of India, so many different things, but the experience will be consistent, because they understand the material energy, while the other is simply observing and then making it up. So the problem is, unless you can translate that into Vedanta perspective, then it will always carry the fragrance, and because it carries the fragrance, it will have an effect.

And then that’s why you see, no matter who they are and how big they are, they always fail. Always. You know what I’m saying? The biggest, you know, use the modern technique, fails. I mean, every last one of them, no exception. That’s the problem. Well, you see, you know, a bunch of hippies off the street, you know, they used to, you know, live on some ranch somewhere, and then after a few months, then Prabhupada sends them off to England, and then they’re living with, hosted by the Beatles. You know, they say, you know, that’s like the ultimate hippie’s dream. You know, you never hear of anybody else ever this happening.

Right? And then they’re there preaching to them, they’re giving facility. How did that happen? Because they read this self-help book? No, because they were, you know, followed the Acharyas. Like I said before, you have the multinational company, you have the little, you know, Kool -Aid stand on the corner.

Does that make sense? Point is, is from that, it’s not that you couldn’t see that, and see that there’s some techniques, and then look for that back. You can always, that’s the point, you can start either way, it’s all Krishna. But unless you make that direct connection, then it will, it will have problems, and where that problem is, that will, where the failure will be. You know what I’m saying? So they want to do it for Krishna, so having implied it to do something for Krishna, they get the benefit for that, but materially it will fall apart on them.

Like that, and it will create problems, because it only deals with one part.

You know what I’m saying? It’s incomplete.

But they have observed material energy, so what they’re looking at is, is true, but they don’t understand the context. That’s the difficulty.

In the next section of verses 13 to 19, Krishna answers Arjuna’s sixth question, who is the object of knowledge?

So this before, remember Krishna was mentioning that point.

Okay. The field of activity, how it’s constituted, so that’s how it’s put together. What changes are, how they’ve evolved, how they go from one to the next. Whence it is produced, we’ll get into that. How it’s come from the Lord, because if you don’t understand that, you think you’ve produced it. So you have to know, no, it’s come from Krishna. Who is the knower of the field of activities? You’re the knower, but Krishna’s the bigger knower. And so therefore, when he gives his opinion, it’s better than ours. And what his influences are, so who has what influences. So in this case, it’ll be the jiva, because it’s in small letters here. The jiva, his influence, then what he can do, because God’s influence isn’t what’s in question. He’s already influenced, so we don’t have to worry about that. We just have to know how he’s doing it.

13 to 19.

I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world. So the cause and effect of what’s going on here is based on Brahman. Brahman’s based on Krishna.

Everywhere are his hands and legs, his eyes, heads and faces, and he has ears everywhere. In this way, the Supersoul exists, pervading everything. The Supersoul is the original source of all senses, yet he is without senses. He is unattached, although he’s the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, and at the same time, he’s the master of the modes of material nature.

We see here all these opposites.

It’s the same principle. He walks, he doesn’t walk. He has senses, but he’s without senses. He’s unattached, but he maintains all. Why does somebody maintain somebody? Attachment, right? The head of the family maintains the family because of attachment. The mother takes care of the children because of attachment. But Krishna does it without attachment.

Because we’re thinking, without attachment, you won’t do it. But there is a position where you’ll do without attachment. So this doesn’t mean that, but then one might say, well, that’s unnatural for the soul to not be attached, because by nature he is attached. If we’re looking at it from the devotional point of view, the Mayavadis will think, yeah, this is nectar. So it’s that, but yes, but the point is that he’s attached to Krishna, therefore the constant devotional service, but he’s unattached to the physical manifestations.

But he’s dealing with these physical manifestations in connection with Krishna. So therefore he maintains what he’s not attached to. Then you function like Krishna. Then you can have a relation with Krishna. Otherwise, how are you friends if there’s nothing in common? So in other words, all these points is how Krishna functions.

He says, likes a solitary place.

Where does Krishna hang out in this material world? He’s everywhere, in everything. See him? No. Why? He’s in a solitary place. It’s the same principle. He’s in a solitary place, but he’s involved.

Yes.

Spiritually he’s attached, but the point is, we’re talking here about the material manifestation.

So he’s not attached to that, because that’s just a manifestation of the living entity’s desires separate from him. Because he’s attached, he has affection for the living entity. So therefore he makes the arrangement so the living entity can’t be involved in fulfilling his desires, even though they’re separate from him. Means this one thing. See, you’ll arrange things for somebody who has affection for you and is directly acting in that. You’d have to have a lot more affection to take care of someone who isn’t interacting with you.

No? Generally we would say they’re crazy, but whatever.

That’s masculine.

The feminine, you like, you take care. You don’t like, you don’t take care. Very straightforward.

Krishna, you like or you don’t, you take care.

Does that make sense?

That’s the point. So that neutrality then removes the material existence and then it establishes the spiritual.

What are we doing? Till 19.

The supreme truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and non-moving. Because he is subtle, he is beyond the power of the material senses to see or know. Although far, far away, he is near to all. So here’s where you can see. Through these sections and all that you can see is that the Upanishads are the basis. This is in Upanishad because it’s using these techniques. In other words, Upanishads basically is trying to establish this and that. This means the material world and that means the spiritual. And then in that, then you have the living entity and the supreme. So all transcendentalists will understand this and that. It’s whether they understand within that there are two. That’s the difference.

Although the Supersoul appears to be divided amongst all beings, he is never divided. He is situated as one. Although he is the maintainer of every living entity, it should be understood that he devours and develops all.

He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge. He is the object of knowledge. He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart. Thus the field of activities, the body, knowledge and knowable have been summarily described by me. Only my devotees can understand this thoroughly and thus attain to my nature. Only devotees can understand this. The great intellectuals can’t. And the fun part, this is the real fun part, is you may be a devotee but if you don’t approach this knowledge devotionally, you still won’t understand it. So intellect cannot understand this. You use intellect as a tool, right? It means the spoon is used in cooking but the spoon can’t cook.

So that’s the thing. Someone’s very intelligent and they’ll think through my intelligence I’ll understand all this. No.

It’s through service you’ll understand. That will be, you know, why in the famous story when this big intellectual, big pundit came to Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and wanted to know something, he sent him down to the devotee at the Goshala, right? When he came there he’s looking for some other big pundit and he sees this guy covered from head to foot with cow dung. He’s thinking, well how is this guy going to answer my questions? Because he understands because he does service.

Like that. So you do service then you have all that intellect. Then it’s like Prabhupada says, all the zeros. But the point is it’s not automatic that they’re connected. Just like previously, 7th chapter is mentioning how Krishna is entered into everything but at the same time he’s not there. So it’s the potency that’s there. So you consciously see him there, he’s there. You don’t see him, he’s not there. Paladmar saw, so therefore Nrsimhadeva is in the column. He doesn’t see, he’s not there. His potency is there.

So that’s the point. He’s there but not there. You see, he’s there. You don’t see, he’s not there. So you have to make the endeavor. It’s not automatic.

Right? But that’s only because not that you put him there. It’s that because you deal with him as a person. Therefore, because Krishna is non-dual. Right? So the Brahman, Paramatma, Bhagavan are non-different. At the same time, different. So if you look at the Brahman element and see Krishna, then Krishna is there. You see Paramatma, then Krishna is there.

Right? Devotees see Krishna. Therefore, the song says, Govinda Bhishram. Right? Krishna is… Govinda is sitting in the heart. It’s Paramatma sitting there. But because he’s seen as Krishna, then… Does that make sense? So these are… These are… Yeah. Subtle but very important. The conscious… Consciousness is everything. It’s not automatic. You know? Where is this… Where is this mistake… Let’s just give a very practical point of manifestation.

The husband buys something for the wife. Right? So now he gives that to the wife. And she’s very happy. In his mind, how long should that pleasant response be manifest for that gift? Eternally. Yes, of course. How long does it actually last? Yeah, it depends on what it is. It might get three days if it’s really good. Or, you know, five, ten minutes. You know, if it’s… Like that. Okay? So this is a manifestation of this mistake.

Because you think because… Therefore it’s there eternally. No, you’re conscious of it. In other words… Now, if you’re conscious… If you think that giving the gift, that’s what makes it happen. No, giving the gift creates the opportunity or the field in which now you can interact.

And so if you’re conscious of that and interact, then the relationship is alive. You don’t, then it’s still just a field.

Does this make sense?

So, the idea is that these things are very practical. Now I’ve taken a very technical point of Vedantic philosophy and applied it right in, you know, a very practical point of a major mistake of most men.

Right? And so that mistake then comes is because at one time… And then you’ll see it in Hindus. You’re talking this and that. Yes, yes. You know, the guy’s 30, 40 years old. Yes, yes. When I was 12, I wrote the Gita. So we know all these things.

So you see there. Or devotees… Because I’m a devotee. Therefore, you know, it works all this way. No, if you do it, it works that way. You don’t do it. It’s not automatic.

Yeah, that’s therefore the rope in the well. You’re in the well. You hold on to the rope. That’s like the monkey. And Krishna pulls on the rope like the cat. Right? So that’s the point of our philosophy. These dualities are two sides of one thing. So they’re compatible. But because of less training, less, you know, the association, less intelligence, then we can see one or the other. That’s easy. You know, you hold on. But that’s what you do. So it’s like this. You hold on. And the other person will pull. The problem is is that everybody gets it backwards. Like let us say I say, okay, what are the qualities necessary for, you know, the ideal wife? All the men’s hands will go up. Right? They know all the duties. Now they say, okay, now what’s the husband’s duties? You know, provide. Okay. So you provide it. And then? Then what? Provide some more. Yeah. Where’s the relationship? Is being the provider. Is that the relationship? Make a movie. The provider. You know, so you know.

Yes. Featuring at a bank near you. You know, so. You understand? So it’s not, that’s not the relationship.

That’s the relationship between them and the wallet. But it’s your wallet. So that means you have a relationship.

You understand? By logic. Wife, wallet. You, wallet. That means you, wife. Right? It’s a natural logic.

It’s powered by you, not by the wallet. Yes. It’s powered by you, not by the wallet. But the man thinks it’s the wallet. But it’s not. Because, if it is, then, let us say, a man is given some practical thing. Like, let’s say a pen. Nice pen. And he really likes the pen. You know, he’s given by a good friend. Then, a woman also, let’s say, received, like that, a pen. She really likes the pen. Takes it everywhere. Does it everything. Now, let us say, the relationship goes really bad. You know, they don’t talk, nothing. I mean, it’s like, really seriously bad. The man will keep using the pen. But the woman won’t use it, no matter how good it is.

She may even break it. Yes, she may break it, because the pen is the person.

Right?

You know what I’m saying? So, the man sees the difference. Oh, that’s my relationship with him. This is with the pen. So, in the same way, is that the money is not the relationship. The facility, the providership, the protectorship, that’s not, that’s part of the duty. That’s the field. The man provides the field, but you still have to answer the question. You have to interact in the field. Does that make sense? So, all these things directly apply. It’s just where you want to apply. If Krishna is in everything, that means in any aspect of life, Krishna is there. If we say, well, I’m being practical, Prabhu, you know, like this, that I don’t do all that stuff. That means you think that’s, that’s, that what you’re doing is actually, can be separate from God. That’s atheism.

You know? You know, why don’t you do this? Now, I’m not fanatic, Prabhu. You know? Why don’t you do it like that? Now, I’m just being practical, Prabhu. That’s all pure atheism.

But, because it’s said with such arrogance, it gets away.

You know? Because in this age, you know, arrogance is very much appreciated. So, if someone manifested, then, you know, if their arrogance is bigger than yours, then, you know, they win. And that’s just the nature of the age. You know, in other ages, they would say, but my dear sir, how is that? You know, they would question it. But in this age, you know, you got more attitude than you’re successful. That’s all.

That’s all.

Okay. Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to verse 13, The Lord has explained the field of activities and the knower of the field. He has also explained the process of knowing the knower of the field of activities. Now, he begins to explain the knowable. First, the soul and then the super-soul.

Okay. Now, you have the field of activities and the knower. Right? So, that’s… You have the field of activities, the knower. Then, you have the… And then, you have the process that’s there. So, now, he’s going to explain the soul and the super-soul. Right? Does that make sense? Like that. Because the Lord is the goal. But then, the Lord is also with the living entities. So, the living entities are also part in that aspect. So, the field is there. So, there cannot connection with the Lord. Then, that becomes illusory. The process is there to obtain the Lord. It’s seen that way. It works. If not, then it’s just material. Right? So, if those two are material, then your concept of the jiva will be material. So, therefore, it won’t exist separately because there is only 24 elements. So, that means the soul has to be part of that. So, you’re the body. You’re the mind. You know, whatever it is that you make it into. You know, you’re a butterfly. You know, whatever. So, you have some philosophy. Like that. In other words, the object of knowledge comprises the two knowers of the field. The soul, described in verse 13, and the super-soul, described in verses 14 to 18. It’s an object because something you’re trying to obtain, in this case. Right? Because, in other words, here object is can be looked at as the goal. But it’s not necessarily technically the result. You have to understand it’s the goal and the result are two different things. Right? Because you have a subject performs an activity towards an object. The result is something different. But your goal is that interaction with the object. If your ultimate goal is simply the result gained, then we would call that self-centered, we’d call that exploitive. You’d use the other person to get your goal. But if the interaction with the person is what you’re trying to obtain, that’s the actual point, then getting the goal in that, nobody minds.

Does that make sense? The child goes to the mother because they’re hungry, but they actually have a nice relationship with the mother and then they interact on that. Mother doesn’t mind feeding. But if the guy just goes and says all kinds of things just to get her to make him something to eat, but doesn’t really care for the mother, at some point that gets old.

And then she recommends restaurants because they know that’s what’s going on.

Does this make sense? This is the difference. It’s very important. So here when we say object, then that means that that’s where relationship is focused on the Lord, on the living entity.

So if you understand that, then you can understand what you’re doing. So you’re going to deal with the field of activities in a process to understand who you are and who Krishna is. So then, and as described before, then attaining that, that’s aniruddha, that will come back again to the field, prajumna, to the sambandha. So that expands the field. Now, your understanding of Krishna and your relationship, yourself in relationship with Krishna becomes part of the field. So now what? That means now you use that in performing those activities. And then now it will be gaining Krishna’s pleasure.

Does that make sense?

The individual soul, Brahman, is beginningless, subordinate to Krishna and beyond the cause and effect of this material world. One who knows this tastes the nectar of eternal life. Srila Prabhupada explains, The description of Brahman mentioned in this verse is in relation to the individual soul. And when the word Brahman is applied to the living entity, it is to be understood that he is Vijnana Brahman as opposed to Ananda Brahman.

Ananda Brahman is the Supreme Brahman, Personality of Godhead. The terms Ananda and Vijnana Brahman refer to the descriptions of the five koshas in verse 5.

So the Anamoy, Pranamoy, Manamoy, Vijnanamoy. So the soul is the Vijnanamoy. And the Lord is Anandamoy.

So that’s there. And then the material energy is the Anaprana and Manamoy.

So those So it’s all Brahman, but you have to know which aspect of Brahman it is. It’s just like you can say, well it’s a kitchen, but if you can’t distinguish within the kitchen. Right? You know, you were intelligent enough to be able to tell the difference between the kitchen and the bathroom. Okay? Great. Okay, now can you distinguish within the kitchen what’s there? Then you can cook. If you can’t, you can’t cook. Right? So you have to still within Brahman be able to tell the difference between you know, the inferior, the, you know, infinitesimal and the infinite. Yes? I seem to remember somewhere you said there were actually four levels of Brahman.

Here we’re dealing with three, right?

Well, you can take the internal potency as to be the fourth. Because the Lord always exists. But see, here is where for us, because the problem is the material energy. And so we’re trying to even just see the Lord and see the spiritual energy. So that is your original cause and your formal cause. Or it’s like you were saying there, the chi and the li. So you’re trying to just understand that that’s what’s going on. Then the material world you see is how it’s perceived. That’s an illusion. It exists because it’s Brahman. So you have Krishna himself, his internal potency, the jivas and the material energy. So in those four aspects then Krishna is eternally manifest.

But when we’re talking here, because Krishna and his internal potency are non-different, that’s counted as one in this, because we’re not interacting here. We’re interacting with dead matter. So dead matter is a reflection of the internal potency. So for us there’s always going to be three. Material world, then there’s going to be material energy, us, and then the Lord. And then if you’re in the spiritual world, then there’s the Lord, the internal potency in ourselves. You understand? Yeah, chitta, chitta, ishvara, but there’s no, there wouldn’t be any achit. The achit would be the spiritual world, would be surabh shakti then. Because the achit is the reflection.

Because the spiritual world you have the yoga maya. Well, here’s the maha maya. So what we’re doing is we’re dealing with maha maya, understanding maha maya, becoming aware that there’s yoga maya. Then you switch the attention to yoga maya, there is no more maha maya. Because it’s the same person, it’s just how they’re going to deal with you.

You know what I’m saying?

Everything depends on our consciousness, but still, that consciousness has an origin. So we don’t, we don’t generate what is consciousness. So that’s why we even have to know what is consciousness. Otherwise we’ll say we’re just conscious. But the point is is there’s still, within consciousness there’s still elements.

Otherwise you just get to the point where you’re just conscious of everything at once and everything’s in its perfect balance. So nothing’s prominent and all that. And that state of balance we’ll call that peace. You know, so that’s what we’re trying to get to, right? Isn’t that what the Tao is to say?

Yes, of course. But the point is within the material it’s already set out what are the options. And within the spiritual it’s already set out what are the options. So now it’s, well, us is the choice. So the choice is the point.

You know? Does that make sense? So when we say be conscious, one is already conscious. But one has to be more conscious because then one can see the field. Right? People who are more conscious are more successful in the world. That’s actually the point. They say it’s their formula. You know, the law of attraction. But the point is how does it work unless you’re conscious?

Right? In other words, what’s going to happen? Just because you sit there and go, I want it, does that make it happen? Okay, maybe if you’re, you know, three years old and you’re throwing a tantrum, it might make it happen if your parents are not that well-trained.

Otherwise, it’s not going to make it happen.

Right? So, just because I want it, is that going to make it happen? No, it’s because you’re always wanting it and therefore you’re always conscious so when the opportunity comes that you could perform an activity to get it, you’ll do the activity. The activity will get it.

They’re saying, the desire doesn’t get it. It’s the activity that gets it. But, if you focus on that enough, the others will come.

You know what I’m saying? So, all it is, is depending upon the particular conditioning of the living entity, then a different, you know, philosophy or different, you know, self-help process will focus on a different aspect. Right? There are people who are always ready to go out and do something, but they don’t have any direction. So, therefore, for them, you’ll teach goal orientation.

Goal orientation doesn’t work for someone who’s not motivated, who’s not conscious, who’s not looking for the window, who’s not willing to work. It won’t work. Right? And, he’s confident. If you say law of attraction, it means he’s confident. He knows, I can do it, but it hasn’t happened yet, but if I focus, it will happen.

Right? And, if there’s a little lack of it, it will develop. For those who don’t have any confidence, then they have the schools that you can do it, you know, you know, all these different kinds of things. They encourage your confidence. They create an identity.

You understand? So, depending upon your consciousness, then it’s that, someone who knows this whole process, then you deal with them, then it’s going to be some plan. Right? Make a plan a strategy.

Because you already have an identity, you’re confident, you know action gets result, you know what result you want, so you make a plan.

So, basically, I think we’ve described the four main schools of self-help.

But, each one is connected to the other, so they focus on one, and the others come automatically because the person has that. The difficulty comes is, if they don’t have it, that school can’t really generate it.

So, all of them have to be used at once. But you can only actually understand all of them at once if you understand the process of relationship. And you actually only understand the process of relationship if you understand the nature of the soul, the material energy, and Godhead. Specifically, the relationship between the living entity and Godhead in devotion. Then, that will work in its completeness. Otherwise, there’s always going to be a lack. Does that make sense?

No, God’s already there. You become aware of it.

It’s already… God’s already… Everything is God. You just have to understand that. You think that dead matter is the complete whole. Dead matter’s part of the complete whole. The soul is part of the complete whole. When you understand that, then you see everywhere. It’s not that he’s… It says very near, but very far away. It means that he’s in everything.

But at the same time, we think he’s not there. So, therefore, he’s very far away.

So, as soon as you understand that, then he’s everywhere. So, there’s not a problem. Wherever you are, whatever situation, you can see Krishna. You understand? So, in other words, whatever is there in all these other philosophies, we already have. But that’s… that’s just situating yourself. All these other philosophies simply situate yourself. But the point is, is then the relationship with God, based on devotion, that’s where the substance is.

The others are simply creating the environment in which that can happen.

No?

That’s… that’s what others don’t teach, don’t know. There’s a feeling, so they kind of take it for granted, but they can’t articulate it. And because of that, the system will fail.

So, they can’t understand actually the completeness of the material science, and because they don’t understand where that science has come from.

Science is science.

The science works in the spiritual world and works in the material. It works in the material because it’s reflected from the spiritual. It’s not a different science. But the point is, if you don’t understand the science, you won’t be successful. And that science has to be in connection with the Lord.

Otherwise, still, you know the science, it still won’t work so good.

Okay?

Yes? Hi. Yesterday you gave a very clear example of how we can understand prana as… Could you explain how… Give a quick example of prana and mana.

Purusha. Purusha.

Prana means…

Why is the person giving in charity?

Well, some people give in charity so they get better karma. Some people… But the point is, is they want to get. So karma is very big. So they only want to draw that one aspect.

You know what I’m saying? So karma is the bigger thing and then you have that. You have that desire then it’s provided.

You understand?

Yes? Okay. And in dharma, then the nature is there so unlimited nature is there. As I said, it’s unlimited hands and faces and all that. You only want a certain aspect so that’s the aspect that interacts.

Because the point is, is the power of the sense is still Krishna. The power of the sense of community or justice or morality or economics, that’s still Krishna. It’s not little pieces of paper with little faces on them that is the power of economics. Economics is its own. It’s manifest through that gross element of what one would call valuable. You know, it’s like I think there’s a trite in Africa. It’s clay pots are your wealth. Whoever has the most clay pots is the wealthiest. In another culture it’s cows. Whoever has the most cows. You know what I’m saying? So it just depends upon who you are.

So what you’ll take as economics, what you’ll take as profit. But that potency is still Krishna so he’s still the purusha. We’re still the prakriti.

And then the dharma, the nature is there so that aspect is there. We’ve drawn that and so now that result, Krishna’s provided it. We can act within it. He’ll respond. So in all levels it’s still Krishna.

Here it is. Everywhere is hands and legs. His eyes, heads and faces and he has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists pervading everything. In his purport Srila Prabhupada emphasizes that since the individual soul cannot claim that he is all-pervading this verse refers to the Supersoul.

In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.2 .1 however, Srila Prabhupada comments on the same verse from a different perspective.

His hands and legs are everywhere. His eyes and faces. Are we talking about the Supersoul or the soul? Like that. So in the Gita he’s saying it’s the Supersoul. Right? Because also we see it’s all the his’s are capital.

So then the Supersoul as a universal form means he is entered everywhere and as a universal form he has entered everywhere. So in this way then it’s there. Now in the Bhagavatam he says the kingdom of God is unlimited therefore the number of assisting hands of the Lord is also unlimited. The Bhagavad Gita 13.14 asserts that the Lord has his hands, legs eyes and mouths in every nook and corner of his creation. This means that the expansions of differentiated parts and parcels called jivas or living entities are assisting hands of the Lord and all of them are meant for rendering a particular pattern of service to the Lord. So that means if the Lord’s there the living entities are there. So that it also refers to the jivas as the assistance of the Lord. Right? So it still comes back to you know using his because the jivas are included. So in the beginning we see just God.

And so if we understand that’s there but then within that there’s the masculine and feminine. Right? So there’s God and his potency. Then within that then there’s their relationship. Right? Okay. Krishna’s strength and the internal potency has took the form of varieties of ways strengths can be manifest. So this is one of them. Right? An elephant’s also one. Right? So this is one of them. And so then we have the gross matter. So we’re seeing differentiating there the masculine and feminine within the Brahman. Right? But then that’s being operated.

You know? So that’s control is under the super soul. Right? But still what about the relationship between the Lord and his internal potency? What about their interaction? That’s Bhagavan. Is this understood?

So in other words there always is going to be living entities. So when we say Bhagavan it includes his internal potency and the Jivas.

Right? And even when it comes to the material world then also that is arranged. So the material energy takes part. So there’s not a difference. It’s always there. Right? Does that make sense?

What we have to remember is that the manifestation of internal potency or external potency is still one person. One is the original person. One is the shadow of that person. The shadow is non-different.

So in the material world because the living entity has all these desires and therefore you know his hands and legs are everywhere but the point is that only happens because the Lord is arranging it. So that means of the two hands Krishna’s hands are the most important.

The Supersoul is the original source of all the senses but has no material senses. He is unattached and is the maintainer of all living beings. He is above the modes of nature but at the same time he is master of the modes. He is everywhere subtle and beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. He is both far and near. Though it appears to be so he is not divided among all beings. He develops maintains and devours all.

Do you give the example of the pot?

So it says it’s not different Supersouls. It’s one Supersoul. Just like you have the sun and you put down let’s say you put unlimited pots down on the ground with water in them. Then in each pot you’ll see the sun but it’s actually the same sun.

Like that.

Although it appears to be so he is not divided among all beings and because the material energy is the potency it’s not that it’s all parts of him that are cut up and all that and you put it all back together then you have the one thing you know because that’s going to be problematic also. You know because the Mahabharata is to say well you’re taking parts out of the Supreme but if that’s the case then even you become liberated you still can’t become liberated until everybody else is liberated.

You know. So we’ve got a problem here. So everyone has to be liberated at once. You know. So at the same time it’s an illusion that they’re not liberated so if you understand that everything is then it’s all like that but then does that mean you’re the Supreme Controller? Why is it you’re the Brahman that says you know okay now this is it and everything goes back to normal. Why not somebody else? Should we tell the Mahabharata to try and explain it? I wouldn’t bother because they won’t be able to. I mean they have their clever I mean these really top guys have really clever reasons but they’ll use a little logic but what they’re very good at is the way they give examples and the way they use they’re great orators. So their presentation is very accepted by the mind because your mind is ultimately what has to accept it not the intelligence so they can present it in such a way it looks intelligent but the mind accepts it their job’s done.

That’s why someone can be that’s why Krishna makes the point of that there’s a difference between Vada means there was Jalpa Vada what was the one in between? Vidanda. Vidanda. Vidanda. Vidanda. Vidanda. Vidanda means that very convincing arguments but it doesn’t mean it’s right. I mean someone can use the system of logic to very convincingly present something but it’s completely fallacious.

So that’s the point like we were discussing yesterday.

We want to preach to karmis right? Karmis like pants Therefore, preaching means pants, right? That’s the logic. You understand? So, it sounds really good, and if it’s really nicely presented, people buy it all the time. But the problem is, it’s not proper logic, since when does pants mean preaching? Or when does the satisfaction of the public mean pants?

We define it that way, and so everybody, oh yeah, that’s right.

You know what I’m saying? But it’s not like, you know, the guy’s got this great pair of pants now, his whole life is perfect and all that. You know? Does that make sense? Even if it is, still, it’s only 90 % the suit, right?

They changed the what?

Well, that’s a mistake, that’s all.

What has that got to do with this? You know what I’m saying? In other words, it may be a good point, but in this assembly, we’re discussing this point in the Gita. Let’s see if we can make a direct connection.

People don’t like anything, so then what are you going to have, a blank book? You know what I’m saying? There’s nothing that people like. What is this people?

How do you define people? People is defined, right? I think it’s defined originally by the Ionians. It’s a group of mad Greeks on the Turkey side of the Aegean Sea. So they started all this trouble, right, a few thousand years ago, I think 3,000 years ago, creating this relativity, that it’s all relative, it doesn’t matter. It could be this, it could be that, it’s all this kind of things. And so then what developed was this element of Vox Populi. It’s whatever the massive people say, that’s truth. But that changes, so what is this people?

You know what I’m saying? So what does that mean, the people? Who are these the people?

Who is that person? There’s this old lady, she has a problem, right? Old lady with the blue hair like that, you know, and the walker like that. You know, she doesn’t like that. Okay, the person down at the yoga studio, who, you know, they have on their wall all kinds of divine graces and all that, come and speak with their beards and their hair and their flowing words. Do they have a problem with that? No. Does the actual professional businessman who has a position in a company and understands hierarchy like anything, because he wants to climb up it, does he actually have a problem with divine grace? No. Does the common housewife, you know, okay, what is divine grace? Well, it just means, you know, he’s a big guy. Oh, okay, cool. Right? Does he have a problem? Okay. Does the punk teenager actually care?

So who cares? Let’s narrow it down. Let us focus in on, go down to like a campus. And on this campus, there are losers who think that their knowledge, they’re going to understand Krishna. And we’ve already very clearly, Krishna stated, that’s not going to happen. And they have this idea of what the public is, which means the public is how they think. And they’re the smallest group of people in the Western culture. Because they’re not scientists.

They’re in the arts field. And arts means mind. So it’s not even a field of intelligence.

That’s why when there’s graduation ceremonies, all the arts professors are in the back of the bus. And right in the front, those are all your physicists. Then after that, your chemists. Then after that, biologists. And then after that, all the other, your endologists, and this and that, and all these other guys. So they’re not even amongst serious academics, taken very seriously.

And then they think their perspective is the world.

That’s not the world at all. And the problem is, is those kind of academics don’t even know what the world is, because they’re not in it. They’re on a campus.

And there’s 10,000 students there that couldn’t care less about them.

This is their position. And I really wish they’d wake up and, you know, whatever it is, hear the music, smell the coffee, whatever it is that they’re supposed to do. Because I’m really, really, really, really sick of it. Every class, I have to deal with this exact same point. Exact same point. Never changes. You know, they don’t even come up with some new intellectual varieties of it. At least then there’d be some fun.

Same stupid stuff.

Because they think their intelligence makes them qualified to know everything. This is what we go back. This was the subtle point of my point in the beginning of the class that I was trying to avoid. Because they actually think, because they at some point studied Bhagavatam, therefore now everything they think about is Bhagavatam.

But unless you connect it, it’s not. It’s just illusion.

And I’m talking here devotee academics. I’m not even bothering with the Karmis. They’re not even worth touching. I’m only talking devotee academics here.

Because the Karmi Indologists wouldn’t mind that he’s called His Divine Grace because they know that’s an Indian thing, because they studied Indian stuff. So it’s only this small, very minute group of devotees who claim to be big intellectuals, that they have a problem. No one else has a problem in the whole world.

No one.

So, are we going to change everything for 20 or 30 people?

You know, if they say that’s the Vox Populi, even they got their numbers wrong. Because Vox Populi works on mass. So the massive devotees want straight Krishna consciousness. And I’m not joking. Everywhere you go, that’s all devotees want to hear. Nobody wants to hear this crap. In fact, this crap bewilders everybody. One or two people believe it, and we’re very, very sorry for them. It’s very unfortunate.

But they have to understand their intelligence will not get them Krishna. In fact, Kapila Muni says they’re in the mode of ignorance. Their devotion is in the mode of ignorance, in this capacity. In other capacities, there may be great devotees. But in this capacity, they’re not. Sad to say. Though they’re some of our most highly qualified devotees.

But it doesn’t matter. If you have a hundred zeros or one zero, it’s still zero until you put a one in front of it. So now, if these persons would put the one in front, they’d be very dynamic preachers. But until they put the one, then they’re speaking atheistic nonsense philosophy. Bus.

And no amount of mental speculation will turn their nonsense into Krishna consciousness.

Because the point is, this analyzation that Krishna is giving here will not support what they’re doing.

You understand? So, if I was you, I’d stick to the calzone and give up your pants theories.

Because around here, this is all you’re going to get. So, you keep saying the same point, you’re going to get the same answer. So, unless you can come up with a new point, then you get a new answer. Does that make sense?

So, the point is, we understand it because all these points are not bad. But you don’t have to change all this stuff for people. It’s not important.

Does that make sense?

People who, that’s what they spend their life and they think that this is what they’re doing for Prabhupada, they’re totally an illusion.

Prabhupada said, don’t change anything.

Okay, here’s both far and near. He develops, maintains and devours all. So, he maintains everyone, he develops them, but he also destroys.

He is the source of light in the luminous objects beyond the darkness of matter. And he is unmanifested. So, anything that gives light, anything that gives attraction, anything, that’s Krishna. There’s nothing else.

He is knowledge, the object of knowledge and the goal of knowledge. So, knowledge itself, right, what you’re supposed to do with it and the process to get there, the results, everything that’s there. So, he’s like that. So, in other words, he’s the knowledge and then he is what the knowledge is applied upon, right? And then he’s the goal, the result you’ll get. So, that infers there’s an activity. He is situated in everyone’s heart. In verse 19, Krishna concludes that only his devotees can understand the science of the field of activities, knowledge and knowable. So, that’s my point. It says, only the devotees. So, the person may be a devotee, but unless they apply that devoteeness into their intellect, then their intellect is not being used in a devotional way. Therefore, they will never, never, never get devotional conclusions.

As we were saying before, vada means conclusion. So, they may be very expert in vittanta and argument and all this, but not in conclusion. Because unless you apply it here, you won’t know. All right. Can I compare that to like a grihasta who has a double life? He sees Krishna in one part, but doesn’t see Krishna in the other part. Yeah, it would be the same thing. But it’s just that they’ll say it’s different because it’s intellectual, right? Because there’s always a fight between the karmis and the jnanas, right? So, someone engaged in karma yoga, they’ll consider it lower. No, no, it’s different because this is intellectual. It’s the same thing. You know what I’m saying? You know, it’s like I take some potatoes, I cut them up into, you know, small squares. I put it in the pan with a little ghee, some chili, some salt, pepper. You like that and fry it. Okay. And then I take a cauliflower, do the same thing, fry it up. And then you say, okay, what’s here? You know, someone who’s a cook knows that it was the same, same process, manifest in a different way. But someone who doesn’t know, oh, it’s something completely different. Oh, this is potatoes. Oh, this is cauliflower. No, but they’re subjects. Right? So, they don’t understand. That’s the problem. So, they’ll think that they’re beyond all these things and it doesn’t apply because they can intellectualize, but they don’t understand. Still, intellect is a material energy. Unless it’s connected to the Lord, you’re not connected.

So, to speculate, okay. But the karmis are speculating also. I did this for enjoyment. That didn’t work. And we went to Bali. That didn’t quite work. You know, the guys came in and, you know, shot everybody and stuff like that. So, you know, let’s try, you know, the seychelles, you know, like that. Okay, well, that was boring. So, nice beaches, but, you know, pretty boring. So, you know, why don’t we try, you know, let’s go to Guam. So, they just speculate on what would make them happy.

And then the intellectual platform, they just play with intellectual terms and situations and get something out of that. So, it’s seemingly a different, it’s a different field, but the experience is the same.

You know what I’m saying? The guy’s in his, you know, in his study, and he works out some theory he’s been working on for years, and he’s in ecstasy. Right? Like that. The same time as, you know, next door in the next building, there’s a guy, he and his wife have been trying to have kids for years, and finally now they find out his wife’s pregnant. He’s in ecstasy.

So, it’s the same. Just one finds it in one field, one finds it in another field.

You know what I’m saying? So, that’s the difference.

Is that okay?

But, unfortunately, unless you’re a devotee, you can’t understand that.

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare,

Lecture Notes

A brief summary of the lecture contents, based on the notes of Śāstra-cakṣus students

  • The best analytical work in the world is Vedānta-sūtra
  • Gītā, Bhāgavatam and Vedanta-sūtra describe the same things
  • Sandarbhas analyze Bhāgavatam. Vedānta-sūtra analyzes Upaniṣads.
  • There is nothing we can do about the situation we are in, but what to do is 100% our choice. Still, we usually act according to certain patterns. Therefore Vedānta knowledge is so important, because it can bring change.
  • The residents of the spiritual world are not interested in mental speculation, all they discuss about relationship and service.
  • The details in the material energy are given to connect everything to Kṛṣṇa consciousness – so nothing is theory in Vedic literatures
  • Unmanifest are the modes of nature that are not acting. Aggregate is pradhāna
  • Getting out of material world is a bigger thing than being successful materially – kids don’t know there are multi-national companies.
  • Without training, you have kids and you have big kids. If you have training, then you have adults.
  • “The body of knowledge doesn’t change. If it’s connected to Kṛṣṇa, then it’s considered knowledge, if it’s not connected to Kṛṣṇa, the same facts and figures are ignorance. Why? Because they’ll bind you. It doesn’t mean it’s not a fact, but just you’ll become bound by it. But if it’s connected to Kṛṣṇa, you are not bound by it, you are freed.”
  • “You have five husbands, they are very considerate to Draupadī. Even Bhīma who would rip your head off with no problem, when Draupadī comes to him, he is very, very gentle. Anything she comes, like if she has got a real problem that someone is bothering her, she doesn’t go to Yudhiṣṭhira, because he will tell her about tolerance and all that, she goes to Bhīma. Because Bhīma will rip his head off. But he is very conscious, very careful.”
  • People have problem with working with 2 contradictory things happening at once, but that is Vedānta.
  • The soul’s material coverings correspond to its real, spiritual mind, intelligence etc.
  • Becoming free from entanglement, developing good qualities is not the goal. The goal is Kṛṣṇa.
  • The good qualities, not used in connection with Kṛṣṇa, for our own benefit, is stealing.
  • 63:00 Should we hold on or Kṛṣṇa will pull us – both.
  • Lord has His hands and legs everywhere – as the Universal form, and also because living entities are everywhere.
  • There is only one Supersoul, but He is in everyone’s heart.
  • Māyāvādīs are just great orators, they make their presentations to be accepted by the mind, even though they may not be intelligent.
  • Jalpa, vāda, vitaṇḍā. Someone can use the system of logic to very convincingly present things, but it doesn’t mean it’s true.
  • ‘We want to preach to karmīs. Karmis like pants. Therefore preaching means pants.’ That’s the logic. So it sounds really good, and if it’s really nicely presented, people buy it all the time. But the problem is is, it’s not proper logic. Since when does pants mean preaching? Or since when does the satisfaction of the public mean pants? But we define it that way and everybody, “Oh, yeah, that’s right!” But it’s not that the guy has this great pair of pants and now his whole life is perfect.”
  • 92:20 “His Divine Grace” – there are extremely few people who might have problem with this, but they think their perspective is the world.
  • Even karmī indologists have no problem with “His Divine Grace”
  • Wherever Mahārāja goes, devotees only want to hear straight Krishna conscious philosophy.
  • 101:30 Kṛṣṇa is knowledge, the object of knowledge and the goal of knowledge.
  • 102:00 Only devotees can understand this knowledge and the knowable. A person may even be a devotee, but if they don’t apply that devotee-ness into their intellect, their intellect is not used in a devotional way, therefore they will never get devotional conclusion.
  • They may be very expert in vitaṇḍā (counterarguments) and argument, but they will not get proper conclusion.
  • Karmīs and jñānīs always fight, but if they are not Kṛṣṇa conscious, it’s the same thing, even though they might deny it. But unless one is a devotee, one can’t understand that.

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