Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (90 page)

TEXT 5

TEXT

kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām

avyaktāsakta-cetasām

avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ

dehavadbhir avāpyate

SYNONYMS

kleśaḥ-
trouble;
adhikataraḥ-
more troublesome;
teṣām-
of them;
avyakta-
unmanifested;
āsakta-
being attached;
cetasām-
of those whose minds;
avyaktā-
unmanifested;
hi-
certainly;
gatiḥ duḥkham-
progress is troublesome;
dehavadbhiḥ-
of
the embodiments;
avāpyate-
achieve.

TRANSLATION

For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progrese in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.

PURPORT

The group of transcendentalists who follow the path of the inconceivable, unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord are called
jñāna-yogīs,
and persons who are in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engaged in devotional service to the Lord, are called
bhakti-yogīs.
Now, here the difference between
jñāna-yoga
and
bhakti-yoga
is
definitely expressed. The process of
jñāna-yoga,
although ultimately bringing one to the same goal, is very troublesome, whereas the path of
bhakti-yoga,
the process of being in direct service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is easier and is natural for the embodied soul. The individual soul is embodied since time immemorial. It is very difficult for him to simply theoretically understand that he is not the body. Therefore, the
bhakti-yogī
accepts the Deity of Kṛṣṇa as worshipable because there is some bodily conception fixed in the mind, which can thus be applied. Of course, worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form within the temple is not idol worship. There is evidence in the Vedic literature that worship may be
saguṇa
and
nirguṇa-
of the Supreme possessing or not possessing attributes. Worship of the Deity in the temple is
saguṇa
worship, for the Lord is represented by material qualities. But the form of the Lord, though represented by material qualities such as stone, wood, or oil paint, is not actually material. That is the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord.

A crude example may be given here. We may find some mailboxes on the street, and if we post our letters in those boxes, they will naturally go to their destination without difficulty. But any old box, or an imitation, which we may find somewhere, which is not authorized by the post office, will not do the work. Similarly, God has an authorized representation in the Deity form, which is called
arca-vigraha.
This
arca-vigraha
is
an incarnation of the Supreme Lord. God will accept service through that form. The Lord is omnipotent and all-powerful; therefore, by His incarnation as
arca-vigraha,
He can accept the services of the devotee, just to make it convenient for the man in conditioned life.

So, for a devotee, there is no difficulty in approaching the Supreme immediately and directly, but for those who are following the impersonal way to spiritual realization, the path is difficult. They have to understand the unmanifested representation of the Supreme through such Vedic literatures as the
Upaniṣads,
and they have to learn the language, understand the nonperceptual feelings, and they have to realize all these processes. This is not very easy for a common man. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engaged in devotional service, simply by the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, simply by offering regulative obeisances unto the Deity, simply by hearing the glories of the Lord, and simply by eating the remnants of foodstuffs offered to the Lord, realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead very easily. There is no doubt that the impersonalists are unnecessarily taking a troublesome path with the risk of not realizing the Absolute Truth at the ultimate end. But the personalist, without any risk, trouble, or difficulty, approaches the Supreme Personality directly. A similar passage appears in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
It is stated there that if one has to ultimately surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead (This surrendering process is called
bhakti.
), but instead takes the trouble to understand what is Brahman and what is not Brahman and spends his whole life in that way, the result is simply troublesome. Therefore it is advised here that one should not take up this troublesome path of self-realization because there is uncertainty in the ultimate result.

A living entity is eternally an individual soul, and if he wants to merge into the spiritual whole, he may accomplish the realization of the eternal and knowledgeable aspects of his original nature, but the blissful portion is not realized. By the grace of some devotee, such a transcendentalist, highly learned in the process of
jñāna-yoga,
may come to the point of
bhakti-yoga,
or devotional service. At that time, long practice in impersonalism also becomes a source of trouble, because he cannot give up the idea. Therefore an embodied soul is always in difficulty with the unmanifest, both at the time of practice and at the time of realization. Every living soul is partially independant, and one should know for certain that this unmanifested realization is against the nature of his spiritual blissful self. One should not take up this process. For every individual living entity the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which entails full engagement in devotional service, is the best way. If one wants to ignore this devotional service, there is the danger of turning to atheism. Thus this process of centering attention on the unmanifested, the inconceivable, which is beyond the approach of the senses, as already expressed in this verse, should never be encouraged at any time, especially in this age. It is not advised by Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Bg 12.6, Bg 12.7, Bg 12.6-7

TEXTS 6-7

TEXT

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi

mayi sannyasya mat-parāḥ

ananyenaiva yogena

māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate

mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt

bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha

mayy āveśita-cetasām

SYNONYMS

ye-
one who;
tu-
but;
sarvāṇi-
everything;
karmāṇi-
activities;
mayi-
unto Me;
sannyasya-
giving up;
mat-parāḥ-
being attached to Me;
ananyena-
without division;
eva-
certainly;
yogena
-by practice of such
bhakti-yoga; mām-
unto Me;
dhyāyantaḥ-
meditating;
upāsate-
worship;
teṣām-
of them;
aham-
I;
samuddhartā-
deliverer;
mṛtyu
-that;
saṁsāra-
material existence;
sāgarāt
-from the ocean;
bhavāmi-
become;
na cirāt
-not a long time;
pārtha-
O son of Pṛthā;
mayi-
unto Me;
āveśita-
fixed;
cetasām-
of those whose minds are like that.

TRANSLATION

For one who worships Me, giving up all his activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, who has fixed his mind upon Me, O son of Pṛthā, for him I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.

PURPORT

It is explicitly stated here that the devotees are very fortunate to be delivered very soon from material existence by the Lord. In pure devotional service one comes to the realization that God is great and that the individual soul is subordinate to Him. His duty is to render service to the Lord-if not, then he will render service to
māyā
.

As stated before, the Supreme Lord can only be appreciated by devotional service. Therefore, one should be fully devoted. One should fix his mind fully on Kṛṣṇa in order to achieve Him. One should work only for Kṛṣṇa. It does not matter in what kind of work one engages, but that work should be done only for Kṛṣṇa. That is the standard of devotional service. The devotee does not desire any achievement other than pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His life's mission is to please Kṛṣṇa, and he can sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction, just as Arjuna did in the Battle of Kurukṣetra. The process is very simple: one can devote himself in his occupation and engage at the same time in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Such transcendental chanting attracts the devotee to the Personality of Godhead.

The Supreme Lord herein promises that He will without delay deliver a pure devotee thus engaged from the ocean of material existence. Those who are advanced in
yoga
practice can willfully transfer the soul to whatever planet they like by the
yoga
process, and others take the opportunity in various ways, but as far as the devotee is concerned, it is clearly stated here that the Lord Himself takes him. He does not need to wait to become very experienced in order to transfer himself to the spiritual sky.

In the
Varāha Purāṇa
this verse appears:

nayāmi paramaṁ sthānam arcirādi-gatiṁ vinā
garuḍa-skandham āropya yatheccham anivāritaḥ

The purport of this verse is that a devotee does not need to practice
aṣṭāṅga-yoga
in order to transfer his soul to the spiritual planets. The responsibility is taken by the Supreme Lord Himself. He clearly states here that He Himself becomes the deliverer. A child is completely cared for by his parents, and thus his position is secure. Similarly, a devotee does not need to endeavor to transfer himself by
yoga
practice to other planets. Rather, the Supreme Lord, by His great mercy, comes at once, riding on His bird carrier Garuḍa, and at once delivers the devotee from this material existence. Although a man who has fallen in the ocean may struggle very hard and may be very expert in swimming, he cannot save himself. But if someone comes and picks him up from the water, then he is easily rescued. Similarly, the Lord picks up the devotee from this material existence. One simply has to practice the easy process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and fully engage himself in devotional service. Any intelligent man should always prefer the process of devotional service to all other paths. In the
Nārāyaṇīya
this is confirmed as follows:

yā vai sādhana-sampatti-puruṣārtha-catuṣṭaye
tayā vinā tad-āpnoti naro nārāyaṇāśrayaḥ

The purport of this verse is that one should not engage in the different processes of fruitive activity or cultivate knowledge by the mental speculative process. One who is devoted to the Supreme Personality can attain all the benefits derived from other yogic processes, speculation, rituals, sacrifices, charities, etc. That is the specific benediction of devotional service.

Simply by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa-Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare-a devotee of the Lord can approach the supreme destination easily and happily, but this destination cannot be approached by any other process of religion.

The conclusion of
Bhagavad-gītā
is
stated in the Eighteenth Chapter:

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ.

One should give up all other processes of self-realization and simply execute devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That will enable one to reach the highest perfection of life. There is no need for one to consider the sinful actions of his past life because the Supreme Lord fully takes charge of him. Therefore one should not futilely try to deliver himself in spiritual realization. Let everyone take shelter of the supreme omnipotent Godhead Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest perfection of life.

Bg 12.8

TEXT 8

TEXT

mayy eva mana ādhatsva

mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya

nivasiṣyasi mayy eva

ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ

SYNONYMS

mayi-
unto Me;
eva-
certainly;
manaḥ-
mind;
ādhatsva-
fix;
mayi-
upon Me;
buddhim-
intelligence;
niveśaya-
apply;
nivasiṣyasi-
you lead;
mayi-
unto Me;
eva-
certainly;
ataḥ-
therefore;
ūrdhvam-
up;
na-
never;
saṁśayaḥ-
doubt.

TRANSLATION

Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.

PURPORT

One who is engaged in Lord Kṛṣṇa's devotional service lives in a direct relationship with the Supreme Lord, so there is no doubt that his position is transcendental from the very beginning. A devotee does not live on the material plane-he lives in Kṛṣṇa. The holy name of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent; therefore when a devotee chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa and His internal potency are dancing on the tongue of the devotee. When he offers Kṛṣṇa food, Kṛṣṇa directly accepts these eatables, and the devotee becomes Kṛṣṇa-ized by eating the remnants. One who does not engage in such service cannot understand how this is so, although this is a process recommended in the
Gītā
and in other Vedic literatures.

Bg 12.9

TEXT 9

TEXT

atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ

na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram