Continued from: "One who has taken birth, he must die."
"... Prabhupāda: Śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ. Now we have got to hear so many things. Now what we are doing in this world, in big Delhi city? In the morning we get a bunch of paper to hear about so many advertisements, so many political struggle, and so many things, all useless waste of time. But in our country it is how many pages newspaper nowadays? But in the Western countries, oh, such huge, a big bag. You see? So many, you see? So there are so many things to hear. They are nonsense. Therefore we say śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ. This is the... Now, if there had been some political meeting, oh, many hundreds of people would have come to hear. But because we are talking of Kṛṣṇa, nobody is here.
Although it is the śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ, it is the supreme subject matter to hear. This is the position. This is the position of the material world. They have lost interest even to hear about the transcendental life, what is this life, what is next life, how we can improve, how, where we are going. Nothing. Simply like cats and dogs they are working hard. Therefore śāstra says, nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye [SB 5.5.1]. Viḍ-bhujām. Viḍ-bhujāṁ ye. Viḍ-bhujām. Viḍ-bhujām means the hogs, the pigs who are eating stool. They are also working very hard for finding out the stool, "Where there is stool? Where there is stool? Where there is stool?"
So Ṛṣabhadeva warned, "My dear sons, this life, this human form of life, is not meant for working so hard simply for eating, sleeping, mating and defending." Then what it is meant for? Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet [SB 5.5.1]. "My dear boys, just try to become austere. Just tapasya." Tapasya means voluntarily accepting some difficulties. Not difficulties. Just like in our Society we say, "No illicit sex life, no intoxication, no meat-eating, no gambling." But in the Western countries, these things are daily affair. But they have given up. But they have not..., have died. All these boys and girls who have taken up Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, they have given up. No illicit sex life, no meat-eating, no intoxication. They do not drink even tea, coffee. They do not smoke even cigarette. This is tapasya, little tapasya. [break]
Everything is there. But we have become so unfortunate, led by rascal and fools leaders, that we are missing the opportunity of this human form of life where we can solve all the problems of life, and the indications are there, here in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission is yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission, that āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission, that "I give you order. You, every one of you become a spiritual master." "Oh, I have no qualification. How can I become spiritual master? It requires high knowledge, Sanskrit understanding." "No, you don't require anything. Simply you speak kṛṣṇa-upadeśa."
What is kṛṣṇa-upadeśa? Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. You simply go door to door and say, "Please surrender to Kṛṣṇa." Then you are spiritual master. I have done this. What I have done? I have gone to your country to say this thing, that "Here is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You surrender; you become perfect." That is being done.
So it is not very difficult to become spiritual master. Simply you have to become very serious and sincere to the service of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī, varīyān eṣa te praśnaḥ: [SB 2.1.1] "Oh, it is very nice." Loka-hitam: "It will be beneficial to the whole human society."
Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)
Lectures By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda
—
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.1.1
—
Delhi, November 4, 1973
(Prt. 3 of an essay entitled "Interpertations of Bhagavad-gita by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE), you may also Click here for part FOUR)
So, these ordinary men who are influenced by the three modes of Nature can work out a plan of their sensual pleasure, but it is not possible for them to give authentic interpretations of Bhagavad-gītā as it was spoken by the Personality of Godhead to Vivasvān or Arjuna. The whole thing is received in transcendental submissiveness by aural reception, which is not accepted by the mundane wranglers deliberately refusing to approach the bona fide spiritual master who has got the keynote of Bhagavad-gītā. It is therefore stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that one who actually wants to have an access to the essence of Bhagavad-gītā must himself engage in the service of a bona fide spiritual master by full surrender. In that position only, one can make bona fide enquiries regarding the Bhagavad-gītā, and in that posture only, the self-realized spiritual masters impregnate the submissive disciple with the knowledge of Gītā, because they have already seen the Truth of it.
tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth." [Bg. 4.34]
Mental speculationists can manufacture wonderful interpretations of Bhagavad-gītā by an intellectual activity, but such interpretation cannot be accepted as bona fide because that is not transcendental to the mundane senses, neither to the material mind in subtle state. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, such interpretations depending on the mind and senses are sure to be doomed like a boat on the troubled sea. It is said there:
indriyāṇāṁ hi caratāṁ
yan mano 'nuvidhīyate
tad asya harati prajñāṁ
vāyur nāvam ivāmbhasi
tasmād yasya mahā-bāho
nigṛhītāni sarvaśaḥ
indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas
tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ
tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni
sā niśā paśyato muneḥ
āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṁ
samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat
tadvat kāmā yaṁ praviśanti sarve
sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī
vihāya kāmān yaḥ sarvān
pumāṁś carati niḥspṛhaḥ
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ
sa śāntim adhigacchati
eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha
naināṁ prāpya vimuhyati
sthitvāsyām anta-kāle 'pi
brahma-nirvāṇam ṛcchati
"As a boat on the water is swept away by a strong wind, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man's intelligence.
Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence.
What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.
A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.
A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego—he alone can attain real peace.
That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered. If one is thus situated, even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God." [Bg.2.67-72]
By these presents it is not however meant that we shall have to accept somebody who is a professional spiritual master or a social spiritual master. The transcendentalist is one who has known Śrī Kṛṣṇa as He is. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is never the person Who can be conceived by mental or physical adjustment. He can only be known by those who have full surrender unto Him. He cannot be understood by sense perception because He is behind a curtain spread by yogamāyā. Unless that curtain is removed by the process of transcendental loving co-operation with Him, one cannot know Śrī Kṛṣṇa as He is.
nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya
yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ
manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ
kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā
mānuṣĪṁ tanum āśritam
paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto
mama bhūta-maheśvaram
"I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency." [Bg. 7.25]
"Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." [Bg. 7.3]
"Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be." [Bg. 9.11]
Śrī Vyasadeva experienced Śrī Bhagavān in the following way (Sanskrit quote).
An Essay By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (circa 1948)
It has become a luxurious fashion of the day, along with the progress of material civilization, that everyone can make his interpretation of the great Indian philosophy called the Bhagavad-gītā. This concise form of Vedic knowledge, known as the Gītopaniṣad, is acknowledged by all sections of transcendental scholars, in India especially, as the cream of all Upaniṣads and that of Vedānta-sūtras also. Scholars and ācāryas like Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya and some of his followers also could not leave out this very important book of knowledge, although such scholars of the Māyāvāda school did not acknowledge the bona fides of the Purāṇas. But the interpretation of Śrī Śaṅkarācārya differs from the interpretations of the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas headed by Śrī Ramanujācārya and Madhvācārya. There are innumerable interpretations of the Bhagavad-gītā in the market, and it is certainly a puzzling business to select which of the various interpretations shall be accepted as bona fide and which of them shall be rejected as mala fide.
In order to make a distinction between these two classes of bona fide and mala fide interpretations, we have to make an impartial study of the book, and such unbiased study only will make us able to discern the bona fide from the mala fide.
In this connection, we may first of all try to find out the origin of the Bhagavad-gītā. It is wrong to understand that The Bhagavad-gītā was first spoken in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra as it is a part of the great history of India, namely, the Mahābhārata. We can understand from the talks of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that long, long before the battle of Kurukṣetra, this philosophy was once spoken by Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Vivasvān (the Sun), and from Vivasvān the knowledge was transferred to Manu, and from Manu it was transferred to King Ikṣvāku. And, in that way of disciplic succession, the knowledge has come down to generations after generations, but in course of time, such disciplic succession broke, and therefore, Śrī Kṛṣṇa again repeated the same yoga or transcendental knowledge to Arjuna. In the beginning of the 4th Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, this fact is stated as follows:
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha
manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt
evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa
sa evāyaṁ mayā te 'dya
yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ
bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti
rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam
"The Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku. This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science." [Bg. 4.1-3]
Ṛṣis and kings or the kings who were as good as the ṛṣis is the meaning of the word rājarṣaya, and, as such, every one, whether he was a householder or mendicant, knew Bhagavad-gītā before the battle of Kurukṣetra, or before the period of Mahābhārata, which is calculated to be at least five thousand years before, and as such, how it is hinted that the same knowledge was lost. That transcendental knowledge was lost because there must have been some mala fide interpretations of the knowledge, and such knowledge would do more harm than good to the people. It had to be repeated again by Śrī Kṛṣṇa before a bona fide king, and for this, Arjuna was selected at a critical moment because Śrī Kṛṣṇa acknowledged him to be not only a confidential friend, but also a bona fide devotee at the same time. We have to mark the words especially bhakto 'si etc.
bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti
rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam
"Because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science." [Bg. 4.3]
Śrī Kṛṣṇa had many friends and relatives at that time who might have been great scholars also, but He selected Arjuna as the bona fide person to grasp the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā only because Arjuna was a great devotee of the Lord. It may be concluded therefore that the principle of Bhagavad-gītā can be understood only by personalities like Arjuna, who was a completely surrendered soul to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and this knowledge (yoga) can be explained only by personalities like Śrī Kṛṣṇa (i. e. His bona fide devotees) or for the matter of that by the Personality of Godhead only.
Under such circumstances, the bona fide interpretations can be given only by those who follow the footprints of Arjuna, or, in other words, one who happens to come in the line of disciplic succession from Śrī Arjuna as it was formerly delivered from Vivasvān to Manu (and Ikṣvāku). That is the first condition of understanding Bhagavad-gītā. And, violations of this condition means breaking of the link of disciplic succession and thereby losing the real purpose of the great philosophy. Beside, Bhagavad-gītā is not a new thesis of speculative philosophy, but it is as old as the Sun is. Nobody can say what is the age of the Sun, neither can anybody calculate the age of Manu. According to authentic śāstras, the age of a Manu is 72 x 4,200,000 years. It is also understood that at the present moment, the Manu who has been referred to in the Bhagavad-gītā has been passing his age on the point of the 28th period, out of the above mentioned 72 periods of 4,200,000 years each, and because Manu was told by Vivasvān, it may be safely calculated that Bhagavad-gītā was spoken once before the battle of Kurukṣetra at least 197,600,000 one hundred ninety-seven million sixty hundreds of thousand years before.
(TO BE CONTINUED . . . , click here for Part Two)
