Bhagavad-gītā Seriatim #89

Bhagavad-gītā Seriatim #89

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Generally it is advised that Bhāgavad-gītā be discussed amongst the devotees only. For those who are not devotees will understand neither Kṛṣṇa nor Bhāgavad-gītā. Anyone, however, who tries sincerely to present Bhāgavad -gītā as it is, will advance in devotional activities and reach the pure devotional state of life. As a result of such pure devotion, he is sure to go back home, back to Godhead.

In the 67th verse of this chapter, the Lord explicitly forbade the Gītās being spoken to those who are envious of the Lord. In other words, Bhāgavad-gītā is for the devotees only. But it so happens that sometimes a devotee of the Lord will hold open classes, and in that class not all the students are expected to be devotees. Why do such persons hold open class? It is explained here that although not everyone is a devotee, still there are many men who are not envious of Kṛṣṇa. They have faith in Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If such persons hear from the bona fide devotee about the Lord, the result is that they become at once freed from all sinful reactions and after that attain to the planetary system where all righteous persons are situated. Therefore, simply by hearing Bhāgavad-gītā, even a person who does not try to be a pure devotee attains the result of righteous activities.

Thus, a pure devotee of the Lord gives everyone a chance to become free from all sinful reactions, to become a devotee of the Lord.

So by preaching, if it’s an open class, then there’ll be people who are not envious of the Lord. They accept the Supreme Lord. But they’re not actually endeavoring to take up pure devotional service. So then they’ll be elevated to those planetary systems where righteous persons are situated. So they’ll become free from sinful reactions, they’ll be elevated like this. Of those who are more serious, then they’ll take up the devotional process. They’ll try to be a pure devotee. So when we talk about, you know, the serious element of devotee, we mean someone who is self-prodiac, who is, how do you say, making that a sincere endeavor to become a pure devotee. Those who, you know, appreciate the Lord and are not envious but aren’t trying to elevate themselves. They’re just being good and going on like that. Then by this same process, they’ll be elevated to the heavenly planets. So this also gives an idea of those who are trying to become pure devotees, then their situation will be one thing, and those who aren’t, their situation will be another. They’ll be the ones going to the heavenly planets.

So everybody gets benefited because then you get, that’s why it’s pointed out, Drula Raj is a pure devotee, you’ll get their association. So in this way there’s the chance of elevation, because the reason the person’s there is not from doing pious activities like big yagyas and that, but by hearing Gita. Right? And so then when one comes in contact with the pure devotees, there’s a chance that one might relate on that platform, rather than just being absorbed in heavenly pleasures. Right? So the destination will be slightly different? Well, it’s mentioned Dhruvaloka. So then it may be indicating that they would go to such place. It says, therefore, simply by hearing Bhagavad Gita, even a person who does not try to be a pure devotee attains the results of righteous activities.

And the result is they become at once free. That means by hearing from a bona fide devotee about the Lord, the result is they become at once free from all sinful reactions, and after that attain to the planetary system where all righteous persons are situated. So it would depend upon how much degree is that appreciation, I would think, on whether they would… Dhruvaloka would mean because he’s there, specifically pure devotee, then you get that association. And then those who are just going to the place where the righteous dwell, and so they just attain to the heavenly planets. But they’ve attained all this just by hearing Gita. So people are just becoming free from all sinful reactions just by speaking Gita.

So that’s an important element.

So everybody is benefited. Then from that, a few are serious about devotional service. So it’s understood, as long as some are coming forward, then you can see that it’s quite dynamic.

Yes, so there’ll always be benefits for that.

So there they’re doing good work. They haven’t heard much, but they’re doing good work. So they’re supporting the same thing. So if others get benefited by reading, then they’ll definitely get benefited.

In other words, there can be nothing wrong in preaching or distributing Gita.

Don’t worry. Yes, don’t worry. Ma Suchaha. Don’t worry. Yes.

Yes. It means envious, you don’t bother with. It means if you have an open crowd, generally envious will just leave, or they’ll stand up and start giving you trouble. So it becomes obvious. And then once they understand what it is, they won’t come back. You know what I’m saying? But you wouldn’t, having found an envious person, then preach to him. Yes, you wouldn’t do that. But in an open class, then, generally speaking, may not be devotees, but they have faith in God. So that’s one of the things, the faithless. Someone who has faith. So they have faith, but they’re not devotees. So just on that element of faith, then you can start from there, because even the devotional process starts from faith. It starts from Shraddha. Where do you put Jagai and Madhai?

Well, they weren’t preaching Bhagavad Gita.

They were chanting the Holy Name. So it wasn’t… You don’t hear Nityananda, Lord Chaitanya, sit down and start to discuss Vedanta with Jagai and Madhai. You understand? So therefore, that’s even more universal. Like just the Harinam, Kirtan.

We find that Gita is so widespread that not all the preachers are coming from the Anglo-Bhakti. Some of the Mayavada preachers are preaching the Bhakti. Yes, so then you won’t get any benefit. Do they go to the heaven? No, I doubt it. Not that, because it says that the… Upanishad says that the Mayavadas are killers of the soul. So they all go to hell.

Because they’re destroying people’s opportunity to develop their relationship with the Lord. So they’re worse. Are they twisting, yeah? Yeah, they’re worse. It means the person is a sense gratifier, that’s not good. But he’s not twisting others’ opinion, right? Some people who do, that gets worse. You want to be a nonsense, fine, but if you want to influence others that they should also be nonsense, that’s when it starts to get more difficult.

You understand? You know, and you have attached nonsenses and you have detached nonsenses, but they’re all nonsense.

Yes. So then we have the Buddhists who don’t even follow Shastra. Is that even worse, or is Mayavadi actually worse because they pretend to follow Shastra, but impersonally… They’re all about the same. Just nonsense. Yeah, they’re all about the same. See, the thing is, they don’t have… Depends also within your… I mean, just in general as a philosophy, it’s exactly the same. I like that. The Mayavadi is situated better because he accepts Shastra. So because he accepts Shastra, you can defeat the argument, then they’ll take up the practice. But a Buddhist, you defeat the argument, then still the cultural and the whole thing, then that’s still a bigger step. You know? At the same time as the impersonalist, you know, is not willing that there’s any higher position. Though some Buddhists accept that there is a person, you know, beyond everything, but it’s only a particular group, you know. In Cambodia… The Adi Buddha. I know. So you have here and there this one sect of six kind of Buddhists, I think, or whatever it is in Japan that accepts like this. Different line. So there’s a few here. In Cambodia also they have Churning of the Ocean in Mosa temple, and there is this reminiscence that Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu due to their previous, you know, Hindu… Yeah, because they were Hindu. So they’ll probably be a little easier to deal with than those who never were.

So various degrees of, you know, dark, more dark, really dark, absolutely pitch black. And then you have a black hole like over here. So among the faithless, we discriminate those who are envious and those who are not. Yeah. Because the point is, if someone’s envious, then you can’t do anything about it, really. But if they’re non-envious, then you can cultivate. According to the quality which you appreciate in them. Yeah. OK, verses 72 to 73.

Arjuna is determined to act according to Krsna’s instructions.

OK, 72. O son of Prtha, O conqueror of wealth, have you heard this with an attentive mind? Are your ignorance and illusions now dispelled?

Arjuna said, My dear Krsna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and prepared to act according to Your instructions.

So the actual result of Gita. Krsna asks Arjuna if he has heard these instructions with attention. He inquires whether his ignorance and illusion have now been dispelled. Arjuna says that he has regained his memory by Krsna’s mercy and his illusion has gone. He says he is now free from doubt and was firmly prepared. Or is firmly prepared to act according to Krsna’s instructions. Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport to Srimad -Bhagavatam 2.4.19. In the beginning, Arjuna placed himself as one of those who desire self-satisfaction.

For he desired not to fight in the battle of Kuruksetra, but to make him desireless. The Lord preached the Bhagavad-gita, in which the ways of karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, hatha -yoga, and also bhakti-yoga were explained.

Because Arjuna was without any pretension, he changed his decision and satisfied the Lord by agreeing to fight, kardishe vacanam tava, Bhagavad-gita 18 .73. And thus he became desireless. So here we see that real desireless is not meaning without action, without endeavor, without engaging the senses. Because he had desire before, and so now desirelessness means that you want to please the Lord. That’s the actual… Desirelessness doesn’t mean the mind’s not active, the senses aren’t engaged. Sometimes we may make this mistake and think that if you have any desire, then that’s wrong. No, if the desire’s in connection with Krsna, that’s desireless.

Right? Like that. The Mayavadis can’t understand this. Right? So he didn’t have any pretension, means he didn’t have any false ideas of himself, so he could appreciate, you know, himself as the soul, as not the body. So then, because of this, then he could connect himself very nicely with Krsna, and be actually desireless.

According to Baladeva. So he wanted to please his own senses, so that’s desire. Now he’s willing to engage his senses to serve the Lord. That’s desireless. Right? Otherwise you may think, oh, he’s giving up the desire for the kingdom and all that, and he wants to go to the forest. No, but that was just another form of desire. I want to be happy by fighting, I want to be happy by not fighting. So that’s desire. It’s all about himself. Desireless is you’re willing to engage the senses to please the Lord. So it’s different.

According to Srila Baladeva Dhyabhusana, in verse 73, Arjuna says, all the living entities, such as devas and men, have the conception of being their bodies and being independent in their actions. I somehow know they’re getting the idea. We’ve gone through all this.

But we’ll continue.

Hmm? Yesterday we learned that you actually finished almost up to 74 to 78. Yeah. Someone opened the book, but they didn’t open it to the page, so I just started where it was open. Good thing they didn’t open it somewhere else. Didn’t we already do the fourth chapter? No, no. Okay.

Yes, so the idea is we’re independent in our action. That’s the illusion. We’re not. We’re part of a process that’s going on, when we take part in it according to our desire. Right? Does that make sense? You know, you choose to go on a particular ride at the theme park. Right? But you’re not the one making the ride work. Right? You’re not the one creating the emotions and the experience. You simply chose to do it. But you think, you know, I’m independent. I went on there. No. Yes, you chose to go on it, but everything after that’s not. So we’re only part. So to think that men and devas think they’re independent in their actions means they’re not seeing the Lord, how He is and His energies are actually making everything work.

It’s the interaction of the Lord and His energies that is what’s going on. And it’s the Lord controlling these energies that, you know, that makes all the manifestation. So these two aspects then they don’t see. Men worship the devas and the devas bestow on men what they desire. So, you know, it’s I scratch your back, you scratch mine. I do the worship that benefits them. They benefit us. It goes on. It’s a really, it’s great scene, right? Like that. But who is the real Lord? I previously had the illusion, the opposite of knowledge, that Prakriti is the cause of the world, because all material philosophies boil down to the material energy is the cause. Right? Because one can say, no, the soul comes from God. So what’s the soul made of? Souls made out of dead matter. The body is the soul, or some will say the mind is the soul.

Right? So that means it’s coming from material matter, coming from matter. Like that. And the Mayavadis and the Buddhists, they’ll say is that there is no soul, but because of illusion you’re conceiving that one is there. So it’s come from the illusion. Right? Just one is saying it’s coming from the grosser aspects and one is saying it’s coming from the subtler aspects.

Does that make sense? But in both cases, Karmis and Jnanis, they all say that life is coming from matter. Just which matter it is. It’s grosser or subtler. Right? So the world itself is the cause. So whether it’s coming, does that make sense, directly from the matter itself or from the illusory aspect of the world. Right? So none of them actually accept that the soul is from God. So they’ll talk about it, but they won’t.

You understand? They get almost there, but not quite. So the point is, you start with what works and then explain it properly. So then you’re able to bring it all the way to the… Does that make sense?

Yeah? That makes sense. Means you want to hit the person in the head, but his arm is sticking out. So grab the arm. You know? That’ll get you closer to his head. Does that make sense? You know, in other words, what is… What is in line, take that, and then bring it to the proper conclusion.

Don’t throw out the whole thing. No. Start with what actually is useful. The Mayavadis are renounced. They say the world’s illusion. So that much you can work with. But the idea is that illusion means it doesn’t even exist at all. That’s where the problem starts. But that there’s an illusion going on when people perceive the world, that’s correct. But they think that there’s nothing there to perceive. So there’s nothing there, and you’re saying something’s there, so that’s the illusion.

You know what I’m saying? But the illusion that something’s there, but you see it illusory, and then saying it’s an illusion, that’s the common point. But they don’t understand that it actually exists, but there’s illusory perspective. They just see there’s an illusory perspective. It doesn’t exist. You understand? So you start with the one, and then you move forward. So whatever the person’s… He wants to do something, he wants to be successful. Start with that. You know, he wants to be famous, he wants to be happy. Start with that, because all these qualities are actually Krishna.

You understand? Yes. Prabhupada, see, he was telling me that Allen Ginsberg, he was telling Prabhupada that this was such a fallen age that Krishna had to come in a very gross form, so he came as LSD. And Prabhupada said, yes, you are absolutely correct. Except it’s not LSD, it’s kirtan.

Yeah, he just started with that. Yeah, yeah. Because then it’s like, oh. Then you let your guard down.

See, it’s clever. Because the point is, is you want them to understand not to win. That’s the point. If you want to win, then you have to argue the point. Because many times people are willing to accept a certain aspect, but we won’t let go of this little point over here, because it’s… No. And then that ruins it. No, it’s just a matter of… Forget it. The other things that go away is worth time. You know, they chant, associate, take prasad. These are the little things that go away. So as long as they’re willing to take prasad. That’s what I was going to say also, when you try to distribute a book, the more you speak, this is usually when you ruin it, because then in the beginning they kind of agree it’s a spiritual thing, then you go a little too far, and then you find that one thing, then they’re like, whoa, that’s it. You just lose that. I remember there was this one man who was this… What did he go? I’m sorry. You know, health food freaks. So then he would come to the temple, and he wouldn’t take many things. He wouldn’t eat the halavu because it’s sugar, or he wouldn’t eat this and that. But he would eat sweet rice, because he thought it was just milk and rice. He didn’t understand there was actually sugar in it. So he would drink tons of sweet rice, and he would glorify sweet rice and everything like that. So you don’t tell him, you just let it go. Yeah, great. Don’t worry about the halavu.

In contrast to that, I thought the Lord was without qualities and form, and was indifferent to men’s affairs, because this is what most people think. He’s without qualities and form. We’ll say he’s omniscient, omnipotent, and we’ll list this whole thing, but at the same time we’ll say it’s not there. And he’s indifferent to men’s affairs. Otherwise, how is all this bad things going on? Why isn’t God doing something?

Yeah, so they’ll think he’s indifferent. But the point is that, no, he’s only giving you what you want. You know what I’m saying? You steal something, and then you end up in jail. You can’t complain that, why did God put me in jail? You wanted to be in jail. You stole. Right? If you steal something, what’s the result? If you look at it according to the state’s perspective. If you steal something, what’s the result? You get punished. Yeah, you get punished. You go to jail. That’s all. It’s not that you steal something so you have lots of money and you can enjoy and go to the Bahamas and sit on the beach. No, that’s not what the government thinks. The government thinks you stole, you go to jail. You think I stole, and then I’m going to enjoy myself. Right?

That’s all. So we don’t tend to put the two together. Right? I ran over someone’s dog. Someone will run over my dog. You know, so how could this happen? Such a nice dog. You know, why does this thing? No, that’s just the way it goes. Yeah. So why people, they don’t make this connection so obvious.

That’s Maya.

That’s why Maya is so good. She’s good. Right? Because it’s so obvious, but still, it doesn’t work.

Because the living entity wants to be the controller and enjoyer. That’s the bottom line. As soon as one gives up the purusha bhava, that I want to be the controller and enjoyer, things are much more clear. It’s much more easy to see. Because why would the illusion be important?

Because you can enjoy from it. That’s always one of the qualities that Krishna pointed out, is one’s not looking for opportunities for sense gratification. Opportunities are there. All there is in this world is the sense and sense objects. Right? And then the mind is there deciding which ones you want or not. So the point is, is if you’re not looking for opportunities for sense gratification, then there is no material existence. So if you’re simply looking for opportunities for service, so if there’s service there, you take it. If there’s not, you don’t.

There was one, Alwar. Forget his name.

He used to live in this, you know, he had this little, wherever he was staying, and there was this nice garden. He would pick flowers for, I think, Rangaji every day. And I think he used to fill his water pot. There was a gold pot and he’d get the bath water. That was his service. So, and he was, you know, very advanced. So he was picking flowers. And there was this extremely famous prostitute.

And one day she saw the garden and thought it was a nice garden. So she was sitting in the garden, you know, in amongst the bushes. You know, just enjoying the niceness of it. So he’s out picking flowers. He goes, you know, here’s a nice flower. Okay, here’s a nice flower. And then he came to where her face was. He says, here’s not a flower. Here’s a nice flower. So he’s not looking for sense gratification.

Like that. Of course, the prostitute didn’t appreciate that. And she gave him a lot of trouble, but it all worked out in the end. Like that. Is that another story?

It depends. It brings out something. Because this is the twelve alwars. So these are like the previous acharyas for the Sri’s. Which we, you know, accept as great persons. Kula Shekhar, he’s one of the alwars. So it’s not that we don’t quote them.

Yamanacharya. You know, like this.

Then the prostitute thought, you know, she made a vow that I will have this person, you know, running through the streets calling my name. Like that. This is the difference between, in the Vedic concept you have three levels of prostitutes. So we have what’s called society girls.

Because it’s a name that people understand, but they don’t really understand. Because they’re very educated, they’re very talented. They’re very cultured. So the basic principle is on, how do you say, the intensity of femininity.

That’s in a cultural environment.

So generally they have a tendency is that they’re working with somebody. In other words, it can be a one -off thing. But generally it tends to be an ongoing relationship. But it’s more of a relationship. So they tend to work in very high -level groups of people.

Because they always do yajnas and give in charity. In that way they’re very pious. So they always do all these big, big things like that. So they’re in one category. The second category then is they work by, they don’t have so much qualification. They don’t have the facility, they don’t have the education, they don’t have so much skills. But they have the feminine quality. That’s the prominence. So they’re able to dress very nicely and have some facility. So the feminine charms is the main element.

The third level, then that’s just based on, so there’ll be the feminine aspect, but it’s based on simply on gross sense gratification. So your modern, what we generally think of modern prostitutes are the third level. And then we get really fancy, we call them escorts or something. They’re working on the second level. But the Vedic had something beyond that in the first place. Geshe would be more along that line, but Geshe would be kind of like in between. Because you don’t see them doing big religious acts. They don’t have necessarily big, but it would be like that. That would be the closest thing to what is there. But we’re talking, yeah, you could say that, but then you would say amongst those who are the top. And are respected in the country on levels by heads of state, ministers. They’re very wealthy and aristocratic and all that. That’s the level that that would work at. So some of those Geshes do work on that level, so that would be counted there. But most would be working down more at the second level. Does this make sense? They’re part of the Vedic system? They’re part of the Vedic system, yes. No, they’re part of the Vedic system, because it’s like this. Now, a woman’s religious, so better she stays religious. Because a woman who is religious and becomes unreligious, if a man goes from following nicely to not following, he’s bad. But women are more powerful. So if she is religious and goes to being irreligious, that’s worse.

You know what I’m saying? Because the man will be independent. He may take others down with him, he may not. But women are dependent. They will take others with them. So the Vedic concept is women aren’t supposed to be distracted from their religious position. So if men have senses they can’t control, better they don’t bother religious women. Better they go bother these other women, because you’re going to have to pay anyway. So they don’t mind.

You understand? So it keeps the religious element of the society working nicely. And those who can’t follow it properly, at least they don’t disturb those who can. So it’s not ideal.

You know what I’m saying? So how would women end up in that position? How would women end up in that position? They’re born into it. Your mother’s a prostitute, generally you would be one also. That’s pretty standard. But also in unfortunate situations, you lose everything, you can’t do something else. You know, like that. Somebody comes and, how do you say, pollutes them. You know, like that. So then they might end up this way. But it also mentions that such women, especially the first grade, because what they do is they act as a wife.

You know what I’m saying? That’s the principle of the society girls. When they say perform the duties of a wife, they mean all the duties.

Does that make sense? So it is not unknown in history that some man has accepted a society girl as a wife, and it’s not that they won’t make a good wife. Because that’s what they do. It’s just each man who comes, he’s the husband. So there would be also what we call nowadays a mistress or something like that? Yeah, it would be like a mistress and they keep serving. Mistress, it depends upon what level. But a mistress could be from first or second. Depends upon how, what level she’s functioning at. Like that. Girlfriend, basically.

Yeah, Prabhupada said at some point, today we would say girlfriend.

Yeah, because it’s not, but then it would generally be on, it’s on that second level where it’s by the femininity and stuff like that. You know what I’m saying? Does that make sense? One night stand, that’s not so glorious.

Can we go back to the story now? I was just trying to give the context. I know it’s a very intriguing, how do you say, conversation. So we’re trying to say she’s a society girl and top society girl. So what we’re saying is they’re very powerful, very determined. They have a lot of wealth and facilities, right? They don’t just have a little room here. They have houses or mansions and servants, managers and the whole thing. So then she then went back, took off all her ornaments, everything like that, just dressed something very simple, and then came and just sat. And sometimes she started, I think she started to sing. She was very expert singing for the deity there in the temple. So then with time, the sadhana noticed her and that, and then started engaging her. She would pick flowers and do everything. She was always super, super, super nice, always helpful, always everything. And she was there every day. She’d just be there morning to night, morning to night. And then, you know, she’d go home. But as soon as morning, she’d come there again. So like this, it went on for a long, long time. And so she waited until she saw that he was emotionally getting attached, right? And so then, yeah, then at one point then she just said, okay, I’m going, you know, she just left. I’m like, no, I think she just left. So whatever, she left. And so then he became, you know, where is she? Looking around, running around, looking for her. Then they find out that she’s, you know, and going around and looking for her. Then he finds out that she’s this top prostitute. So, you know, where she lives now. Then she goes and visits. And, you know, they inform her that, you know, you can’t see her. You know, where’s, you know, put, you know, it means they… Yeah, money first, then we talk, right? You know, it’s like Shankaracharya. First take sannyasa, then we talk. Here, first show some, you know, show the cash, then we can talk. So then, and she’s not, you know, just a, you know, I say ten paisa woman, right? You know, gold, you know, jewels, that’s the level, right? Like that. So then he doesn’t know what to do. So he goes to, back to his house and he’s, you know, very in anxiety.

So then, then after some days, then I say, at the door of that prostitute’s house, this young boy comes, you know, and brings this gold pot.

And says, you know, says, you know, that this is for her, right? And then, then they, she’s asking, you know, who sent this? You know, says, oh, this, that devotee sent it, right? And so then she was impressed because it was a serious gold pot, right? So then, so then she went to visit him.

Either that or called something, whatever it is. Then, when he came, says, how is it that before I wouldn’t even be letting the door, and now you’re so happy to, you know, see and interact, so why? Says, no, because, you know, you sent the gold pot. He’s thinking, sent the gold pot, I never sent the gold pot. Says, your messenger, he said, said that you sent this pot and he was here representing you. So he’s thinking, you know. So he said, where’s this pot? So he went and showed him the pot. It was the pot that he would take every day to fill water. And he said, what did the boy look like? You know, and he’s saying, yeah, he was nice, you know, blue, and he has these nice eyes. You know, he’s wearing these kind of ornaments and all that. And he says, okay. So then he left. He went and went back to his service, right? So he could understand this. But the point of the story is that the devotee is so dear, even he’s distracted, still the Lord is involved. The Lord doesn’t give up, right? You know, we give up because of our material attachments, right? But the Lord never gives up.

So, you know. Did she become a devotee? Because she did some service. That I don’t know. But that was not necessarily a main part of the story. Maybe she did, but in the extended story. Because a lot of times in these they do, but whatever. So the purpose of the Lord’s activity is to protect his devotee? Protect the devotee, but to, one, he reminds him, but also, you know, he’s assisting.

Assisting the devotee. Yeah. The point is this. The Lord always makes it. Just, I want to just, we’ll continue on this. But I just want to step back so that the voice can observe.

Is, notice the line of questioning in the last two lines of questioning.

They’re very specific to work out, is there something I can gain from this in my own perspective.

Does this make sense?

You know what I’m saying? It’s not, it’s different from just a generic understanding. There’s a specific line of thought going on here. Does that make sense? Are we able to perceive that? From the question.

Right? You know what I’m saying? Because there’s a very broad thing and there’s a very main, but they’ll pick on one little thing here. And then that becomes the whole point. No, it only has value in context of that. It, you know, but we tend to take it beyond.

You know what I’m saying? Does that make sense? Yeah. You know. Or there may be some other thing, but as long as it’s seen in the overall context, then it’s always good. Questions are always valuable. But you always have to see is that one doesn’t get distracted in the particular line of interest that one forgets the overall. Yes.

So, in other words, the Lord is protecting the devotees, taking care of the devotee. Right? Means you want to, you want to eat. And so food is available. You’re able to put it in your mouth. It digests. Who’s actually arranging all that? Are you arranging?

Yeah. So that point is, is he’s taking care of everything anyway. So this desire, that desire, it’s Krishna’s taking care. So Krishna fulfilling material desires, that’s not actually a big deal. We make it into a big deal only when we can perceive what’s right and what’s wrong. You know, so we say, oh, no, men and women are equal. It’s wrong because they’re not. They’re different. You know what I’m saying? So the needs are different. The mentality is different. The environments are different. How they’re perceived is different. So to say they’re equal is total ignorance.

Right. But we won’t perceive that as a wrong. In fact, we’ll take it as a right. We’ll take it as, as a, as a religious principle to make our decisions, you know, for, you know, men, social and, you know, administrative economic position.

Right. Does that make sense? But if it’s something that we would consider is not good. Oh, somebody is exploiting here. Then, then we would say that’s wrong. But in neither case is Krishna consciousness the basis.

We may say it is. Right. Because Krishna consciousness is good. Men and women are equal is good. So taking the platform, men and women are equal is Krishna conscious. That’s our logic. But it’s, it’s a fallacy because who, who said one that they’re equal and who said that it’s good. Right. Who says it’s equal. The Shasta say this. Does having this view. Is that good? Is that what Shasta says? No. So therefore, one has to understand is that just because everybody agrees with it doesn’t mean it’s Shastrically based. You know what I’m saying? So therefore, we have to be very, very careful that the Lord’s taking care of material desires all the time and people are getting it. You know, I mean, Prabhupada said he wouldn’t make Jamuna a GBC. Why?

She was a woman. But he said as far as her determination and focus in Krishna consciousness, knowledge of Krishna consciousness, like she’s, she gives one of the better classes in our society. If you sit her down, tell her to talk about Prabhupada in the early days, she’s one of the best at speaking. I mean, there’s, you know, hundreds of thousands of Prabhupada’s disciples, but she’s one of the ones that are the best. You know, her, Shukla Kirti, Hari Sauri, you know, like this. But Prabhupada said no, because she’s a woman. You know what I’m saying? You know what I’m saying? So, so the thing is, is but we will say no, the equal thing. So now times have changed. No, nothing’s changed. Women are no different than they were before. Men are no different. Just illusions change. What is the illusion of the day? Right. You know, you’re going to a restaurant, you know, soup of the day or, you know, chef’s special. So we have illusion of the day or today, Maya’s special. Right. You know, like that. Yeah. Flavor of the month. You know, like that. You know, so like that. Illusory concept of the month or, you know, like that. So all these different things are there, but we have to be very careful because Arjuna in the beginning, he is talking all kinds of seemingly really good stuff. And because of that, Krishna Prabhupada is saying he’s so kind and compassionate. Therefore, he’s qualified to hear Gita. Right. Because it says if one’s envious, you can’t. So he’s not envious. He’s very compassionate. So he’s really where he’s willing to give up his life, willing to give up his kingdom, his position, you know, everything. So not to have this war that will kill everybody. So in one sense, it looks very good.

Yes. He was a Brahman. Right. So. But he’s not. He’s a Kshatriya. So he’s been challenged to a war. There is actual wrong there. And so it’s his duty to fight. Right. If it wasn’t right, you could prove that. No, it’s not. By Shastra. It’s not my duty. He’s not obliged. Right. Kshatriya is challenged, but he’s only obliged if the challenge is proper. Right. It’s a proper arena for the expression.

Does this make sense? So, therefore, the Lord’s fulfilling desires of the living entity, that’s what’s going on. But ones that we ourselves of the material viewpoint will count as correct. We’ll say are OK, even if they’re not supported by Shastra. And things that we say aren’t correct, even if they are supported by Shastra, we’ll say as wrong.

You know what I’m saying? Because the point is, is if it’s separate from Krishna, it’s all nonsense.

You know what I’m saying? So something that’s sinful, something that’s pious, ultimately, it’s all nonsense. But we have to be able to discriminate between, yes, what is pious and what’s impious. Because otherwise, then you can’t tell the difference between goodness, passion, ignorance. But we also have to be able to tell the difference between what’s the modes and what’s transcendental. So of the two, that’s more important. What’s matter and what’s spirit, we have to tell the difference. And then in matter, it has three modes. And in spirit, then there’s God and there’s the living entity. So if you can discriminate this, then one can approach. You know what I’m saying? So one should not be here, oh, how is it God? It was a sinful activity. Why did God do this? No, God, everything, basically everything you do that’s not Krishna conscious is sinful. Just that there are those things that are closer in line with the Shastra or in line with the Shastra. And so that is in line with the forms that God would like actual devotional Krishna conscious interaction to happen. That’s the only reason it’s pious. You know what I’m saying? The activities of this world that we call pious by Shastra are only pious because they are the forms in which someone who was Krishna conscious, those would be the most ideal forms to use to express it.

Other than that, it’s just another form of dead matter. Another nonsense, just like in the prison, you know, you follow the rules nicely. So you’re considered a good prisoner. And someone who’s always fighting and always get, he’s a bad prisoner. But both are prisoners. Both are in jail. Just because you’re a good prisoner doesn’t mean that you’re qualified to be outside.

You know what I’m saying? So you have to be able to discriminate. Okay, you’re a good prisoner in the prison. But what’s good outside the prison?

What would be the proper thing? That gets you to not be in prison. So outside you follow the rules, but you got in prison because you didn’t follow the rules. So that you follow the rules, that’s a good step. But unless you equate following the rules outside the prison is also the standard, you still aren’t qualified to be outside.

You might follow inside because it’s easier. Right? You know, you get a little facility, you’ll get out earlier. If I follow the rules here, I’ll get out of prison earlier. Instead of 10 years, I’ll do 6. Right? So if I told you, do this, it’s 10 years here. Do this, it’s 6 years. Which do you take? Right, the 6. So that means I’m only doing it because it gets me out. But once I’m out, I’m still a criminal. But if I do it because I know this is the actual proper sociological position that I should be taking to be able to cooperate with other living entities, and it was a mistake that I didn’t, therefore I’m in prison, then his following of it both gets him out early and situates him again properly in the society.

You understand? So there are people who are very determined to be pious and good and nice in this world, but they’re not interested in transcendence.

They’re doing it because then you will go to heaven. If you don’t, you’ll go to hell, bus. That’s it. You understand?

So, therefore, it’s not that glorious of a position or that strong of a position. No, but this is wrong. How could the Lord bring the pot? Because anything you do here is wrong.

You know what I’m saying? Here’s a devotee. The devotee has a desire. Krishna’s arranging it.

You know what I’m saying? Does the Lord always express his love through a pious form? Does he always express his love through a pious form?

Well, that’s the culture he follows. But you have to be able to understand what’s pious form. You have pious on the platform of transcendental. You have pious on the platform of dharma, on artha, pious on the form of moksha.

Pious means what’s the right form to go with the result you want to get.

Okay, let us say you’re in the kitchen. I have a cutting board. On the cutting board is a broccoli, just for variety. Okay? I don’t follow. You don’t understand? Okay. Let’s say there’s a potato. Okay.

Okay. Right example for the right person.

So I shouldn’t have used heart of banana tree. Right. Okay. So there’s a potato there. Next to the cutting board there is a knife and there’s a hammer.

Okay? Which do you use? Knife. Now, what if your mother-in-law brought that potato?

Didn’t make sense here. It’s a European joke, not an Asian joke.

Okay. So, therefore use the knife. Why? Why do you use the knife? Easier to cut. So that means that the hammer could cut, but not as easily.

But would the knife actually cut? I mean, would the hammer actually cut? No. It would break it or smash it or squash it or, you know, something. Okay. So, now, if it was a sledgehammer and you were making chips, then it might actually be. Instead of having to cut each one thin, you just smash it and you have one very big thin chip.

Well, that’s only after you boil it.

That’s interesting. That may be the exception, right? You know. No, but why if you’re making chips?

So, it’s pious because the knife cuts, the hammer doesn’t. And since you want to cut the potato, the hammer would be wrong. Right? And the hammer would be wrong. So, now, so, therefore, the knife is pious, is the pious application. The hammer would be the impious application. You understand? But it’s a smaller level. But that you’re cutting this potato to cook it for yourself, that’s impious. But still, the pious form has to be used to be, you can’t use an impious form and it not work. It’s just how small it gets. Right? The guy wants to snort some cocaine. Can he use a garden hose?

Yes or no? No. Why not?

It’s hollow, you know. He can get his nose next to it. You know, probably help if he was Jewish or something. He’d have a big enough nose.

Does that make sense?

So, therefore, it has to be what’s actually in line with what would work. You know what I’m saying? But your purpose in using it, what, you know, the bigger circle, what you’re applying it in, and then what that’s for, that’s, all those are wrong. But just how narrow it is, that’s why he’s successful, only because he used, you know what I’m saying? Okay, let’s say he uses, you know, a dollar bill. Will it work? Yes. Now, let’s say he’s with all kinds of other very wealthy, aristocratic people. Will the dollar bill work? No. What does he have to use? A hundred dollar bill, right? Or a gold tube. A gold tube. He could probably also use the 500 euro. That might work. Better than a hundred bucks. You know what I’m saying? So, in other words, you have to, what is your goal? Does it match? That’s the point, is that it’s God’s world, it’s God’s laws. So, all that’s going on, but the point is, is we don’t see God in it. If you understood this works because it’s God, then you’d start to think, you know, is this what I should be doing for God? But the point is, it only works because it’s God’s laws. So, therefore, yes, God only works through pious means, because things work because it’s in line with how he would do it. But the point is, is where does it go wrong? It doesn’t go wrong that he used whatever appropriate element to use, to imbibe the intoxicating substance, right? But that he’s intoxicated, he’ll get a reaction for that. Right? There’ll be a sin for that. Does that make sense? But there’s no sin that he used the proper implements, because that was according to how it has to be done. But he’ll get a sin because he shouldn’t be intoxicated.

Right? So, he’s going to get a reaction for that. Then, not only that, then somebody else finds out about it, and he’s some big minister in the government, so then now that’s bad for that, now he loses his position.

You know what I’m saying? So, it’s not that it won’t give reaction.

You know what I’m saying? But it didn’t give reaction up there. It’s not that his capillaries in his nose won’t go bad. You know what I’m saying? So, all these different, not that those won’t happen, but the work itself was done because of how it did.

Does that make sense? You want to know what’s fun? You’re stepping back again. If I go into these really, really wild examples, no one has any questions on it. But if I gave a really pious one, then they’ll find, what about this? Because always the exception is always taking it to the sinful. But if you start with really grossly sinful, no questions. Yeah, it’s pretty fine. Feels like home. Yeah, yeah. You know, probably if it was a bunch of middle-aged Hindus, then they might know. Then they might have questions.

Yeah, yeah.

Does this make sense? This is just the fun in conditioning, right?

Does this make sense? So, it doesn’t authorize it. It just means it still has to work according to God’s laws. That’s all. But here, because it’s a devotee, Krishna himself is going out of the way. Right? Otherwise, the modes of nature can take care of it. That’s not a problem.

You know what I’m saying? The modes of nature could just come by, some rich guy just came and gave him a big donation, and then he, you know, like that. No, the Lord, because of affection for the devotee. One is His affection for the devotee, and by doing it in this way, He would bring the devotee to his senses.

Right? It means this prostitute is only willing to see him if he pays money. The Lord, you know, is willing to make the arrangements. So, how much more? The Lord actually loves him. The prostitute doesn’t. Right? So, therefore, you can see in here. So, being, He’ll then consider that and take the Lord.

Yes? This is basically what Krishna says. He personally takes care of it. He personally takes care of it. It doesn’t mean if one is a gross neophyte that he’s out there arranging gold pots for prostitutes.

Do you understand? I mean, of His devotion. Otherwise, paramatma or modes of nature. The modes of nature take care anyway. You know, like that. It’s just you have these occasions where He personally, Himself, takes care of it. He personally does something. Like you see with Raghunath Das. He’s sitting at Radhakund chanting his japa, not worrying about a place to stay, not worrying about his protection absorbed. So, you know, it’s very hot out there, so Radharani comes and puts her cloth, you know, so that it covers his head, and then a tiger comes along and, you know, thinks that he may be lunch today. You know, so, you know. He has a lunch appointment with this Goswami. So, Krishna tells the tiger to go away. So, I mean, Rupa Goswami seeing this and tells him, you shouldn’t take service from Lord. So, therefore, he built himself a hut. Right? So, then the tigers won’t bother him, and the, you know, the sun won’t bother him. So, that’s the point. He’s not looking for opportunity for sense gratification. It’s opportunity for service. He got distracted, but here’s an opportunity for service. Yes? The story is really interesting in the context when one of our teachers is quite disturbed and in pain.

Krishna wants us to suffer. You know, he doesn’t, he gives us all these desires, and we can’t fulfill them. And, you know, he wants us to suffer. And, you know, what you were saying, I was thinking about that, that actually it’s not the case that Krishna wants us to suffer. He will give us what we need. He’ll give us what we want if we deserve it, according to our good work. You know, it’s just like you go into a shop.

It’s what you want. They’re selling it. They want to make money. You want to buy this material. They have this material. Not that they want it or need it. You know, but you deserve, then you get it. You don’t, you don’t get it. No, but the point is, is those desires are there because they’ve been cultivated. And one’s wanted it, so then if one says, I don’t want it, but you could also be emotionally saying that. Now, let us say you have a girl, and she’s always wanted something, right? And then the situation comes up, she actually gets it, but the situation, how she got it, wasn’t nice at all. And then she says, I don’t want this.

Okay? So, what do you do? You just say, Oh, you don’t want it. Yeah, forget it.

Or do you know that she actually wants it, but the situation, so you encourage her.

Right? That would be the right way, no? Okay. So, the living entity, which is feminine, it wants something. And it’s been endeavoring for it for a long time, possibly lifetimes. Right? Finally, when they get it, then it gives them trouble. And then they say they don’t want it. So, what would be the natural, emotional, proper way of dealing?

You know, are you sure you don’t want it? No, but what about this? You want it before, because it would do this for you, it would do that for you. So, that’s all maya is doing.

You understand? Oh, this is giving me so much trouble, all this, you know, endeavor for material existence. No, but you always wanted in the past, it would give you position, it would give you facility, you could enjoy yourself, you could, like this. And if you just keep saying, no, no, no, no, because then if it’s a man or girl who says, no, I wanted it all that time, and then now having gotten it, I see that it’s not worthwhile, I just really don’t want this. Then you’ll say, okay, and stop. So, when you do that, maya will say, okay, and stop. But as long as he says, no, but it was really good, the position, and like that, you really enjoyed, you know, having some prestige and all that, and you’re thinking, yeah, well, maybe, like that, then she’s going to keep talking. But as soon as you say, no, it’s not worth it, all this, no, it’s not worth it, then she’ll stop. That’s the point. We take it that God or maya, they’re, how do you say? What do you say? Mass, no, not mass. Yes, yes. But they’re not. They’re only dealing with what we want.

In fact, we’re only saying, no. Yeah, we’re not saying, no. Well, no, it’s really like, I don’t really want, you know, like that. Okay, we’ll give you this much. Okay.

It’s like when you eat at an Indian house, and you’re like, no. No, yeah, yeah. No! Then they go, okay.

You forgot the knife and the hammer, and what the result is. So, if Krishna knows that our real desire for the result is Him, will He ignore those other ones, even though we think we want to? As a devotee, then the thing is, is you’re not working just on karma, so he may mix it up a bit, adjust it around. So you would, by karma, get something, now you don’t. And so then it’s there. Or you wouldn’t, you get. So that’s why you see in devotees’ charts a lot of times that it appears that it should work out in a particular way. It doesn’t, because Krishna’s involved. Karma is, it’ll happen exactly that, up to the moment. You can sit there, three, two, one. Wow, that was cool, yeah. Right on time, set your watch for it.

You know what I’m saying? So that’s the thing. That’s why it’s called Krishna karma. Because there actually isn’t any karma, but it’s your desires. So Krishna deals with them in such a way to remove them. Krishna will fulfill your desires, but in such a way to remove them. Like we have this example. That devotee, he did it in such a way, he removed it.

Yeah, because it’s relationship.

That’s what’s being cultivated. It’s not a matter of you have desires, then I’ll desire. It’s a matter of, why do you want to not have desire? Is it simply because these desires give you trouble? So if that’s the only reason, then that’s still within the realm of material. So, you know, being materially frustrated goes along with being materially, you know, ecstatic.

They go together. But if this frustration wakes you up to the fact that the material doesn’t have anything to offer, and you want to please the Lord by taking up, that’s the real place, then it works differently. But otherwise, if you just say, oh, no, I don’t want all this, just because it’s trouble. The guy, oh, you know, this family life is so terrible, you know, such a, you know, so much we have to work so hard, you know, like it says in the Shastra, you know, hogs, dogs, hams, and working like an ass and all this, and no one appreciates, you know, like this and that and all this thing. And so therefore, then, he moves and puts on, you know, saffron, moves in the temple, he’s a big, big Bonaparte, because it’s so much trouble. Now, what happens if he meets a lady who he perceives as no trouble? What happens? Yeah. Because the real point of getting out was the trouble.

Not that, now I’ve seen that material doesn’t have anything to offer.

So why am I endeavoring in this way?

Does that make sense? So there’s a difference here. So just as we have to discriminate here, one has to discriminate is it Krishna conscious or not? Because we’ll say, okay, he’s leaving family, that’s pious. But it’s only actually pious if it’s Krishna conscious. We’re not worried about material piety. We’re not going to Varanashram because we will consider this as pious and good. We’re doing only because it’s, if it’s favorable to Krishna consciousness. You know what I’m saying?

Like we were saying before, senior men are doing so many different things and then step back, you know, down to just being another face in the crowd. But the point is, is if that will help them in their Krishna consciousness, then you let it go. You know, don’t get into all this and that, or but you know Shastra says this, or no. It’s a matter of if it works, good. But if it’s on material platform, yeah, then it’s pretty useless. Yes. Would I say that in some sense it’s actually easier for a sutra to go back to Godhead No, no, no, not necessarily because he’s so emotionally involved. It’s hard for him to necessarily use the intelligence. But if you create a nice environment where he naturally picks Krishna, he’s an artist. So therefore the deities are dressed nicely. The kirtans nice. The temple is decorated very well. The devotees deal very gently and nicely. He’ll be attracted. So he’ll want to be in that environment because it matches his artistic. It’s a more simple process.

It is, but the problem is is they can’t, they’re not independent. They can’t put themselves in that. But Brahma, Shastra and Vaishya are. They can create the environment themselves. That’s why they’re independent and they create the environment for those who are dependent. You understand? So each has its strengths and weaknesses. You know what I’m saying?

You could say it’s the man can more easily create the environment of Krishna consciousness. But it’s in one sense easier for a woman to go back to become Krishna conscious. You understand? If she’s situated in that Krishna conscious environment, she’ll take it because she likes all these fine things and nice and emotional and all that. While the men may or may not. You know what I’m saying?

Yes. Harinam Chintamani mentions in one class that Krishna doesn’t fulfill a desire that will lead someone to ask for more and more material desires. At that point. Something that’ll take, but what it is, if you won’t fulfill something, it will take you away. Unless you want to go away. Prabhupada even mentions in the purport that Krishna will bring people to the dom because they want to make, you know, a fence. So, by being here, you can get a thousand times the offense. You know, if you’re sitting in the West and you criticize Vaishnavas, you only get one, one criticism, one, you know, bad credit. But here, you do one criticism, you get a thousand bad credits. So, very quickly you can go away. So, that also is there.

People come to my father, theologians, because they’ve heard that Lord Caitanya doesn’t take offense.

Still, one should be careful. The holy name will protect this fact, but it’s not that you won’t get trouble. So, now the point is, is if by fulfilling the desire, let’s say you need some facility or whatever it is, some material aspect, if by getting it you have more faith, oh, Krishna’s so nice, he’s so nice, then you’ll get it. If by getting it you’ll go away, you won’t get it.

You know, by not getting it, then, oh, I guess Krishna didn’t want, you know, yeah, material world, like this, then you won’t get it. Because it’s said that Krishna will take away in the beginning, but more fortunate is someone who gives to. Because he’ll only give when you use it properly.

We see that’s stupid, what happened to the movement in the beginning, so much was given and then… But how is it taken away? Dharma gets artha, what’s stopped? We’ll say it’s, oh, the gurus fell down and the sannyasis this. No, it’s because people, devotees gave up appreciation of authority.

The point was, why was it coming? Because devotees were worshiping gurus. So, the opulence was there, that’s not the problem, but people had problem with opulence. He has, why don’t I have? There are sannyasis, gurus, why do they have? I’m a grihastha, I have to… You know, they fly to India three, four times a year. I can only go once every two years. Why is it they have the money? I’m the grihastha, I’m the one that’s supposed to enjoy, I should have the money. They’re sannyasis, they should have nothing. They should be, you know, crawling on the ground, like that, you know. And they shouldn’t mind when I run them over with my truck, you know, like that, because they’re humble. You understand? So, the thing is, is what’s the point of that? They’ll quote Shastra, but they don’t actually need Shastra, because since where did it say grihasthas are supposed to enjoy? No, they have the facility, it doesn’t mean they will.

Right? Maybe that’s even one of the things they need to learn. Yeah, because the point is, is if you accept authority and you have that, then why wouldn’t you have money? Unless there’s some other reason. So, that one is envious and jealous, that’s not going to make more money. And that you take it away from them, it doesn’t… Lakshmi, she’s a person, she just disappears.

You ever notice you have lots of money and then suddenly you have no money? What happens? You know, it’s mystery. I’ve been here for more than half a year now, I’m seeing that happening. Seeing that happening, yes. It’s starting to happen. At least it took half a year. Yeah, in Denmark it wouldn’t take so long.

Yeah, about two weeks, right? Yeah, something like that.

You said? No? I have a question for you, another example. Okay, we had the cutting board, the potato, and the knife, and the hammer. What happens if we have a table, right?

And this leg is loose, and we have to put a screw, so we have a table, a screw, and a knife, and a hammer. What would you use? Of course, hammer.

Knife.

Okay. But, is that still pious?

According to the situation it is. According to the situation it is, but ultimately? A screwdriver. A screwdriver you require. The hammer will get it in, but it’ll ruin the screw or that facility, it won’t bother the hammer. The knife, it’ll get it in, but it’ll ruin the knife, so the knife can’t be used. The screwdriver is the right thing.

The ideal screwdriver.

So that’s why you have to see, but if you don’t have a screwdriver, then, you know, if you have time, then the knife is better. You know, unless, you know, you have those fancy ceramic knives and that, then you wouldn’t bother, right? Then you’d use the hammer, you know?

Does that make sense? So depending upon the value, and this and that, so the knife would do better, you know, if you can avoid minimal or that damage to the knife. The hammer will get it in, if you don’t have time, or it’ll put it in, but the problem is, is then it’ll ruin the thread, so ultimately it’ll fall out again, and you’ve ruined your future actually being able to put a screw in properly, so you’ll actually have to drill it, put in another piece of wood, you know, it’ll be much bigger, but if it’s a matter of you have two seconds before the whole thing falls over and everything like that, then you use the hammer, you understand? So you have to see exactly what’s the situation.

Does that make sense?

I now have true knowledge of the Lord, who is the famous possessor of form and powers. He has form, He has power, so that’s the law of God. There’s this combination between these, right? You can also say, who has, he’s the possessor of, right?

Does that make sense? So that means there’s Him, and then the feminine is form and power, like that. So that’s why the feminine aspect always has a form, or a situation, or the different elements of the situation, and then there’s the potency to actually do it. Right? Certain forms have certain potencies.

Right?

Does that make sense?

A form of knowledge and bliss, who is an ocean of good qualities, such as omniscience, omnipotence, and satya-sankalpa, who is the friend of His devotees, though the Lord of all. Right? So He’s giving all these contradictory elements, that things we’re looking for, but at the same time is, you know, we’re looking to be, be, what do you call it? The Lord of all, at the same time the friend of everyone. Right? Suridam sarva-bhutanam. Right? He’s the friend, not us. We’re trying to be, but it doesn’t always work.

Who creates the variegated bodies in the universe according to the karmas of the jivas, just by His will. Through His energies of jiva, time and prakriti. Right? So the energy jiva has the desire, then through time and prakriti, then it all happens. Right? Prakriti is the, the, the elements, like that, and then time is what moves them. But it’s the desire of the jiva.

Who treasures the selfless devotee to whom He gives even Himself. Right? So that’s what He gives. The others He may give these different facilities, and we think, oh, that’s so great, because we think material facility is the all-in -all. But for Krishna, that’s nothing. Material energy is dead matter anyway. What’s the big deal? What’s important to Him is, is that devotion in which He gives Himself. Right? If He gives Himself, then you, then, then you can think, okay, but if it’s some stuff, don’t be too worried about it. Like that. That make sense?

And I understand that the Lord is you, the son of Vasudeva, situated as my friend. Therefore I surrender to you. You will never abandon me. This doubt has been destroyed. Right? Because we’ve come here to the material world. We completely ignore Him, but He hasn’t abandoned us. He comes in our heart, goes with us wherever. Like that. You know, so that means He doesn’t abandon. We abandon someone if we think it’s not good for us, or this or that, but He won’t abandon.

This doubt has been destroyed. If you gave your goal of ridding the earth of its burden, and you want me who have surrendered to you to do it, then I will obey your words. Thus Arjuna rose with bow and hand. So he wants to rid the world of its burden. That’s the actual thing that’s going on. Not this whole family and whether he gets something out. That’s looking for opportunities in the performance of his duties. You understand? Performance of duties, he’s a ksatriya. He fights. It’s a religious war, proper place, proper people, proper arrangements. So what’s the problem? But he’s looking for sense gratification within this, opportunities. Then he’s saying, then if we win, we enjoy the kingdom, but then everybody we want to enjoy it with has been lost. So I’m not going to enjoy this. Therefore I don’t want to get involved. No, it’s your duties. So now he’s seeing it from the perspective of Krishna consciousness. Krishna wants to rid the earth of its burden of all these, you know, demoniac ksatriyas and all that. So Arjuna as a ksatriya could help.

You know what I’m saying? If it was someone else, then that wouldn’t be the job. Right? Sudama Brahman, he didn’t ask him to rid the world of the burden of all the demoniac ksatriyas. That wasn’t what he asked him to do. Right? Because that’s not his duty. Arjuna, that’s what he can do.

Right? So now he’s seeing it from the proper perspective. So, we can see perspective is extremely important. But not perspective, but perspective meaning Krishna’s perspective. What’s the line is in, what is in line with Krishna’s perspective, that’s useful. What’s not, that’s not worthwhile. Right? What was the problem before? We were saying, these, these modern, good, you know, platitudes of goodness, then the problem is, is the perspective is not in line with Krishna.

Right? It’s not in line.

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

Verses 74 to 78, Sanjaya’s prediction.

Oh. Sanjaya said, Thus have I heard the conversation of two great souls, Krishna and Arjuna, and so wonderful is that message that my hair is standing on end.

By the mercy of Vyasa, I have heard these most confidential talks directly from the master of all mysticism, Krishna, who is speaking personally to Arjuna.

O King, as I repeatedly recall this wondrous and holy dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, I take pleasure being thrilled at every moment. O King, as I remember the wonderful form of Lord Krishna, I am struck with wonder more and more, and I rejoice again and again. Wherever there is Krishna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.

So, Sanjaya has heard the conversation of Krishna and Arjuna directly by Vyasa’s mercy. It is so wonderful that his hair is standing on end. Whenever he recalls this wondrous and holy discussion…

Isn’t that holly? Holly discussion. Holly discussion. Discussion under holly. Very dangerous.

He feels pleasure being thrilled at every moment. He remembers the wonderful form of Sri Krishna and is struck with wonder more and more, and he rejoices again and again.

He concludes that wherever there is Krishna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. Also, just in the way of variety. You put one L, it’s considered like sacred and all that. You put two Ls, so it is sacred in a certain perspective, but it’s completely the opposite. Do you understand? It’s so interesting how things work like that. Not following. Not following. One L. One L, yes. Holy or unholy. Unholy.

And then if it’s an I or a Y, whether it’s a festival or it’s a person, or a particular level of auspiciousness, in his commentary to verse 76, Srila Prabhupada describes the results of Krishna consciousness. The result of Krishna consciousness is that one becomes increasingly enlightened, and he enjoys life with a thrill, not only for some time, but at every moment. Because what is happening means the result. Right? But there’s a thrill. But according to our discussions, where does result come and where does thrill come in sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana? Prayojana. Prayojana. And then? Back to sambandha. Back to sambandha, because where is excitement? Sambandha. Sambandha. So the point is, the result always goes back. So the Krishna consciousness, it’s always enlivening. So therefore it comes back, and when it’s enlivened, therefore one does more. One is always absorbed. One is always serving. Right? So for there to be a thrill means there has to be a good result. One’s not thrilled, no good result.

Right?

Srila Viswanath Cakravarti Thakur ends his commentary on Bhagavad-gita after text 73. He writes, I made a commentary on the following five verses in which are found the essential purpose of the entire Gita. The Lord Ganesh sent His mouse carrier to steal the two pages I had written. Not wanting to interfere, I have not rewritten those pages. Let Lord Ganesh be pleased. Obeisances to Him. Thus I complete the Sarartha-varsani commentary on Srimad-Bhagavad-gita.

May it please the saintly devotees. May this sweet Sarartha-varsani, the commentary that rains down the essential meaning, give delight to the chataka birds for the Lord’s devotees all over the world. And may its sweetness also shine in my own heart. Chataka is one who, they live just off of the rain.

Like that. Like that. So you have, chakora lives off the nectar coming from the moon, so they go up high to catch that. The chataka, the only water they drink is what comes as rain. Right? And chakravaka, they’re water birds that you see around here and make a lot of noise when you get close to their nest. They’re wagtails, so they’re three different kinds.

So he’s saying that these last five then are giving this essence, essential purpose of the Gita, right? To be always absorbed in Krishna consciousness, to always be inspired in Krishna consciousness, and that. So, he didn’t write again like that. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushan ends his commentary on Bhagavad Gita with the following words.

Attaining, so that would mean that the devotees are only living off of the, you know, what comes from Krishna, that rain of nectar coming from Krishna, the Krishna’s instructions, the instructions of the devotees, so that’s what sustains them. Right? So he’s saying that’s then the important thing.

Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushan, Attaining the fulfillment of my desires, I immersed myself in the milk ocean of the Gita, but I have not been able to lift the jewel of wonderful meanings out of the ocean, though I have understood them to some degree. In this way, my master, the joyful son of Nanda, with great delight, shows his affection for me. With care, Vidyabhushana has attended upon this commentary called Srimad-Gita-Bhushana.

O devotees who are greedy for the sweetness of prema, of Sri Govinda, and who are filled with mercy, please purify this work.

It is purport to Gita 18.1 and 18.78, Srila Prabhupada summarizes the entire Bhagavad -Gita. In every chapter of Gita, Lord Krishna stresses that devotional service under the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life. The same point is summarized in the 18th chapter as the most confidential path of knowledge. In the first six chapters, stress was given to devotional service. yoginam apisarve sam Of all yogis or transcendentalists, one who always thinks of me within himself is best. In the next six chapters, pure devotional service and its nature and activity were discussed. In the third six chapters, knowledge, renunciation, the activities of material nature and transcendental nature and devotional service were described. It was concluded that all acts should be performed in conjunction with the Supreme Lord, reprised by the words om tat sat, which indicate Visnu, the Supreme Person. The third part of Bhagavad-Gita has shown that devotional service and nothing else is the ultimate purpose of life. This has been established by citing past acaryas and the Brahma Sutra, the Vedanta Sutra. Certain impersonalists consider themselves to have a monopoly on the knowledge of Vedanta Sutra, but actually the Vedanta Sutra is meant for understanding devotional service. For the Lord Himself is the composer of the Vedanta Sutra and He is its knower. That is described in the fifteenth chapter.

Fifteenth was…

That was where I think we were talking about the field.

Fifteen, the Yoga of the Supreme.

So here is going nature, modes. Yeah, because that was describing Yoga of the Supreme Person. It was describing the tree of material existence, how it is nourished by the modes and how you get beyond the modes by situating yourself in the service of the Supreme Person. So they will just take it up to Brahman. They think they have the monopoly, but they don’t really understand because then the Lord is gone from the picture. So how would you actually become free from the modes if you are not worshipping the Lord? So the devotees are the ones who actually understand. Mayavadis will take it. So this ability to see the difference between the knower and the known, this is Vedanta. Right? Because it gets into this. Others don’t. Nyaya is just about being logical. Vaisesika is seeing how everything just goes back to the atom. So why are you worried so much about what’s going on on this level? Right? The Sankhya, they are analyzing the matter very, very nicely, but if they don’t distinguish between matter and spirit and between spirit then the soul and the Supreme Spirit then it doesn’t really get anywhere. So they can tell to some degree, but they don’t the Supreme Lord. Patanjali, then you have the Supreme Lord, but the problem is that at one point then it’s not important the difference between the soul and the Supreme Lord. In Jaimini, then he’s going to establish that the, you know, analyzation of the material energy itself and what to do properly, and they see the soul, that the soul is eternal. So, in all these schools, of course, the soul is eternal. But, just by doing the pious activity you’ll enjoy here. So, the Lord’s left out of it completely and the transcendental aspect is not even breached. Right? And then the Mayavadis, then they’ll take it that the, the, how do you say, you’re making a difference between matter and spirit, but they don’t actually make a difference in spirit. So, you see, all of them have a weakness that they don’t either understand the nature the nature

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