THE FOLLOWING LECTURE ON THE SRIMAD BHAGAVAD-GITA, SECOND CHAPTER,TEXT NINETEEN, WAS GIVEN BY HIS HOLINESS BHAKTI CARU SWAMI IN ISKCONLAGUNA BEACH, US, ON 1 JULY 2011.Transcription : Her Grace Ranga Radhika Dasi and Her Grace SyamaMohini DasiEditing : Ramananda Raya DasaAudio-reference :http://www.bcswami.com/2011/07/20/lectures-in-laguna-beach-and-san-diegoOm Namo Bhagavate VasudevayaOm Namo Bhagavate VasudevayaOm Namo Bhagavate VasudevayaNarayanam namaskrityaNaram caiva narottamamDevim saraswatim vyasamTato jayam udirayetSo, Bhagavad Gita, Second Chapter, text nineteen.ya enam vetti hantaramyas cainam manyate hatamubhau tau na vijanitonayam hanti na hanyateSYNONYMSyah – anyone who; enam – this; vetti – knows; hantaram – the killer;yah- anyone who; ca – also; enam – this; manyate – thinks; hatam –killed; ubhau – both; tau – they; na – never; vijanitah – are inknowledge; na – never; ayam – this; hanti – kills; na – nor; hanyate –is killed.TRANSLATIONNeither he who thinks the living entity the slayer nor he who thinksit slain is in knowledge, for the self slays not nor is slain.PURPORTWhen an embodied living entity is hurt by fatal weapons, it is to beknown that the living entity within the body is not killed. The spiritsoul is so small that it is impossible to kill him by any materialweapon, as will be evident from subsequent verses. Nor is the livingentity killable, because of his spiritual constitution. What iskilled, or is supposed to be killed, is the body only. This, however,does not at all encourage killing of the body. The Vedic injunction isma himsyat sarva bhutani: never commit violence to anyone. Nor doesunderstanding that the living entity is not killed encourage animalslaughter. Killing the body of anyone without authority is abominableand is punishable by the law of the state as well as by the law of theLord. Arjuna, however, is being engaged in killing for the principleof religion, and not whimsically.[End of Purport]ya enam vetti hantaramyas cainam manyate hatamubhau tau na vijanitonayam hanti na hanyateSo, Arjuna at the battlefield of Kurukshetra refused to fight thebattle. Just when the battle was about to begin both the armies werefacing each other in the holy land of Kurukshetra. The conchshell wasalready blown. That means the war has already begun. And at that pointArjuna seeing that in the enemy line his intimate relatives andfriends are standing as his enemies, he became so overwhelmed withcompassion and emotion that he told Krishna that he couldn’t fight thebattle.He saw his grandfather, Bhishma. He saw his guru, Dronacarya. He sawhis friends, and uncles and cousins standing in the enemy line likeDuryodhana, Ashvatthama, Kripacarya, Shalva. They were all very, veryclosely related to each other. Arjuna was practically brought up atthe lap of Bhishma and now he is standing against him. And this battlewas so terrible and the battle was so fierce that it was a matter ofeither kill or getting killed. A warrior never thinks that he is goingto get killed. He thinks that he is going to kill everybody. SoArjuna’s mood at that time and Arjuna’s feeling at that time was, thathow could I possibly release arrows to kill these individuals who areso close to me.katham bhishmam aham sankhyedronam ca madhusudanaishubhih pratiyotsyamipujarhav ari-sudana[Bg. 2.4]Katham, how can I in this [unclear], in this war, ishubhihpratiyotsyami, release my arrows to Bhishma, dronam ca madhusudana,and Drona as well. Because they are pujarhav, they are my worshipablespiritual gurus, spiritual master and grandfather. Pujarhavari-sudana, they are my worshipable lords and relatives.In this way Arjuna was giving many reasons and arguments why to fightthis battle was not possible for him. But at the end Arjuna actuallysubmitted to Krishna. He told Him that, “I don’t know what I shoulddo. I am accepting You as my spiritual master. So You please tell mewhat I should do. Please guide me.” At that point Krishna started toadvise Arjuna.Prabhupada mentioned that Krishna did not say anything to Arjuna untilArjuna accepted Him as guru and submitted himself to Him. And when hedid that then Krishna started to tell him. And what was the firstthing that Krishna told him? Krishna told him that, “Look, you arelamenting over things that one should not lament about. Asocayananvasocas tvam [Bg. 2.11] Yes, prajna-vadams va bhasase, you arespeaking like prajna-vadams, speaking like a pandita, speaking like awise man. You are speaking like a wise man but actually you don’t haveany knowledge. You are lamenting over something that one shouldn’tlament about. And gatasun agatasums ca nanusocanti panditah. One whois really situated in knowledge doesn’t lament about something that istransient and perishable. And then Krishna started to explain toArjuna the science of Bhagavad Gita.From verse…in this chapter, second chapter actually, Krishna startedto advise Arjuna. Verse twelve onwards and today we are discussingabout the nineteenth verse. In previous seven verses Krishna gaveenough information to Arjuna about the permanent nature of the souland the transient, perishable nature of the body. So in this wayKrishna is actually explaining to Arjuna the difference between matterand spirit. We are in a world of matter, material world. This is theworld of matter and by nature matter is inert, dead matter. Matter isdead. Matter is inert. Matter is unconscious. Matter is devoid oflife. But in this world of dead matter you see some living things. Whyand how? That is what Krishna actually established. Like, the body ismade of matter but it is due to the presence of the soul that the bodymade of dead matter is alive. This is the first thing that BhagavadGita is establishing or this science is establishing: to understandthe difference between matter and spirit. This seat where I amsitting, asana, is inert matter. This table is inert. This microphoneis inert. The wall is inert. But we all are living. What causes us tobe alive? To understand that, we can consider that when someone dies,although his body maybe lying there, but we say, “He is gone.” He isgone. Although his lying there we say, “He is gone.” So who is that‘he’? Whose departure from the body made the body become dead? Tobegin with it is a dead body. A body made of dead matter is a deadbody but it is due to the presence of the soul that the body is alive,meaning the body becomes conscious. It is a very simple common sensematter but we fail to recognize this point until we come acrossscriptures like Bhagavad Gita and teachers like Srila Prabhupada.Many of us, especially those of you who are coming from India and youfew who are from the West also must have read Bhagavad Gita before. Iread about seven different Bhagavad Gitas before coming acrossPrabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As It Is. I used to carry a Bhagavad Gitawith me and I used to read from Bhagavad Gita, take note from BhagavadGita and I used to think I am understanding so much from BhagavadGita. But when I came across Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita Irealized that I didn’t understand anything of Bhagavad Gita.In this respect I recall one incidence. One of Prabhupada’s firstdisciples was Brahmananda prabhu. Those days Prabhupada used to liveat the back of twenty sixth Second Avenue in a small apartment. And inthe front there was the ‘Matchless Gifts’. There Prabhupada used togive discourses on the Bhagavad Gita in the evening. So one dayBrahmananda prabhu, who was a teacher, school teacher, was passing byand he saw this. And he got to know the Swami is here, he is givingthese courses on Bhagavad Gita in the evening. So he wanted to meetthe Swami, Srila Prabhupada. And he went to Srila Prabhupada. He hadan appointment. Prabhupada was ready to see him. So when he went toSrila Prabhupada he tried to impress Srila Prabhupada by saying thathe also read Bhagavad Gita and he had a Bhagavad Gita with him also.So Prabhupada was naturally impressed, but Prabhupada told him, “Okay,just open any page of the Bhagavad Gita”, that he was carrying. So heopened that page, just opened one page like that and Prabhupada said,“Read.” So he read and Prabhupada said, “Close the book.” He closedthe book. Prabhupada said, “Tell me what you understood.” AndBrahmananda realized that he didn’t understand anything! [laughter]And then Prabhupada explained that to understand Bhagavad Gita youneed a bona fide teacher, a qualified teacher. A bona fide spiritualmaster. And that kind of bona fide spiritual masters are rare in thisworld, who really understand Bhagavad Gita. Srila Prabhupada is onesuch rare spiritual master and Srila Prabhupada came and he presentedBhagavad Gita As It Is. Why Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita is entitled as‘Bhagavad Gita As It Is’? How many of you know? How many of you wantto know? Okay! [Laughs] If you add ‘It Is’, Prabhupada explains ‘As ItIs’ meaning the way Krishna gave it and the way Arjuna understood it.That is what makes Bhagavad Gita ‘As It Is’: the way Krishna spoke andthe way Arjuna understood it.There are many Bhagavad Gitas. I remember in 1976 actually we took asurvey. I was new in the movement. Tukarama prabhu while introducingme told I joined in 1976 and we were making a survey of Bhagavad Gitaand we found that there were more than 250 translations of BhagavadGita. And we also noted that all those 250 Bhagavad Gitas put togetherdid not make a single devotee of Krishna, whereas Srila Prabhupada’sone Bhagavad Gita As It Is was making thousands of devotees, now maybehundreds of thousands of devotees all over the world. Not onlyhundreds of thousands, more than that, millions of devotees all overthe world. That is the potency of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita.Most of the Bhagavad Gitas what they did was they took the words ofKrishna but they gave their interpretation. Not the way Arjunaunderstood, they accepted the way Krishna spoke, but they did notaccept the way Arjuna understood it. They did their speculation. Oh,Krishna is this, Krishna is that. Bhagavad Gita means this and so onand so forth. But Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita is the authentic BhagavadGita, the bona fide Bhagavad Gita because it is presenting Arjuna’sunderstanding of this wisdom that is spoken by Krishna. Bhagavad Gitawas given to Arjuna, it was for him to understand and act accordingly.And we in order to derive the specific benefit out of the BhagavadGita we have to follow that course, the way Arjuna understood.In Bhagavad Gita Mahatmya, in the glorification of Bhagavad Gita,describing the essence of Bhagavad Gita, it has been mentioned“sarvopanishado gavo”, all the Upanishads have been compared to a cow.Dogdha gopalanandana, and who gave the cow? Upanishad is a cow and themilker of that cow is Gopala Krishna, Krishna. And this cow gives themilk for the sake of the calf, Arjuna. Arjuna is the calf of this cow.And those who are really intelligent, those who are seriouslyconcerned about their spiritual welfare they drink this milk ofBhagavad Gita. They drink this nectar of Bhagavad Gita.sarvopanishado gavo dogdha gopalanandanaparthovatsa sudhirbhoktha dugdham gitamrtam mahatThis dugdham Gita, Gita is a milk which is like amrtam. What is thecharacteristic of nectar? What is the specific quality of nectar? TheSanskrit word for nectar is ‘amrta’. Amrta means negation of death.Negation of death, meaning immortality. You read Bhagavad Gita youbecome immortal. You’ll achieve immortality. That is the real purposeof Bhagavad Gita. How? As you are reading now, Krishna is pointing outthat the body is perishable. Body dies but the soul is immortal.The next verse you will see that point very clearly: na jayate mriyateva kadacin [Bg 2.20]. This spirit soul is never born nor will it everdie. Na jayate means it is never born. Mriyate va kadacin, nor will itever die. Ajo nityah sasvato ‘yam purano na hanyate na hanyamanesarire. Even if the body is slain, even if the body is killed the soulcannot be killed. Soul may leave the body. In a certain condition whenthe body is severed by some weapon or body is burned by fire then thesoul may leave the body and when the soul leaves the body, body diesbut the soul never dies. And what is our real identity? Our actualidentity is the body or the soul? [audience: soul] Very good! How manyof you think that you are a spirit soul? Thank you. And the soul isimmortal. How many of you accept that the soul is immortal? Thank you!So you are a spirit soul and the soul is immortal. Therefore you are…?[audience: immortal] So you reached your immortality? [audience: yes!]Right from the second chapter of Bhagavad Gita you reachedimmortality! [laughter] Dughdam gitamrtam mahat, this great, nectarianmilk of the Bhagavad Gita gives us immortality. Drink it and becomeimmortal. But how do you drink this nectar? Some things you drink withyour mouth and some things else you drink with your ears. You drinkthis nectar of Bhagavad Gita through your ears and you will achieveimmortality.So in the second chapter that is what Krishna is doing, at thebeginning of the second chapter. Krishna is reminding Arjuna andthrough Arjuna Krishna is actually reminding us. This is an importantpoint to also consider through this analogy of the milk of the cow.Although the cow gives milk for the sake of the calf but the calfdoesn’t drink all the milk. Those who have any experience with cowsyou know that if the calf drinks all the milk of the cow or if thecalf drinks too much of the milk the calf becomes sick. So that meansit’s nature’s arrangement that cow’s milk is meant for human beings.Cow gives the milk, of course the calf is the impetus for the milk ofthe cow, but it is meant for the human beings to drink.So similarly, Krishna gave Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna that the actualpurpose of Bhagavad Gita is for human beings to drink it. Sudhi,sudhi. Wich people, with individuals drink this milk. Sudhi. Dhi meansintelligence. And su means very advanced, very developed. Also itmeans very beautiful. So whose intelligence is advanced, whoseintelligence is active and whose intelligence is beautiful, BhagavadGita is meant for them. It is meant for those individuals.It needs a certain degree of intelligence to actually understand andappreciate Bhagavad Gita, and when you begin to appreciate BhagavadGita we see what an inconceivable wealth of wisdom this Bhagavad Gitacontains. Everything is there in Bhagavad Gita. At the beginning ofBhagavad Gita we are getting the understanding of the soul and ouridentities being spiritual. Before coming across Bhagavad Gita orbefore coming across Srila Prabhupada’s teachings how many of youconsidered that you are a spirit soul? Okay. And what was yourunderstanding of spirit soul? Think about it very deeply. Did youreally have a clear understanding of spirit soul? Before coming acrossPrabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita or Prabhupada’s teachings there was noclear understanding of who the soul is. Actually, I mean, I don’t knowin America but I came across a very well educated, well set personfrom the European background, Christian background. He is thegrandfather of one of our devotees and I was having a discussion withhim. He was a High Court judge and I had a difficult time to make himunderstand that animals have souls. His belief was that animals don’thave souls and here he is a High Court judge. It took me about twentyminutes to make him understand what actually the soul is. So mainthing is that he didn’t have any understanding about what the soul is,therefore, he just went along with the Christian concept: only humanbeings have souls, animals don’t have souls.So the reality is that wherever there is life, wherever there isconsciousness, we have to conclude that there is a soul. Trees andplants, are they conscious? [Audience: yes] Therefore, they areliving. Therefore, there is a spirit soul. The trees are borne and thetrees will die at some point just as human beings. Animals areconscious. You beat an animal it will cry. You attack an animal and itwill defend itself. So this is how we can see that wherever there isconsciousness we have to conclude that there is a spirit soul. Now thenature of the spirit soul…Yes, we may have accepted the existence ofthe spirit soul and the identity of the spirit soul, or the identitybeing spiritual, but there is no clear understanding of what a spiritsoul is. Now let’s get a better understanding of the spirit soul. Thespirit soul is what makes this body alive.Spirit soul is the source of consciousness. It is due to the presenceof spirit soul that the body is alive. The body goes through so manywonderful changes the body performs so many wonderful activities. Likeevery single organ of this body is such a complex mechanism… like thekidney, a simple organ of this body. What does it do? It is filteringthe blood. The blood in the course of circulation is becoming impure,contaminated and the kidney is purifying that. When it goes bad, thenwe have to go for dialysis and a huge complex machine but in the bodyit is naturally there without even us knowing about it. So this is theresult of the presence of the soul. The soul is in the body and somany wonderful organs are functioning .The kidney, the liver, thelungs, the heart and on top of that the blood circulation, therespiratory system, nervous system, and the brain, like… simply due tothe presence of the soul and that is our real identity. We are spiritsoul. That is what we understand when we study the scriptures likeBhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita gives us a very basic understanding.First consideration is difference between the matter and spirit, thebody and soul, and we begin to recognize that our actual identity isspiritual and that is immortal. The soul is immortal – we change thebody. The departure of the soul from one body is called death and theacceptance of a new body by the soul is called birth. Birth is soul’sacceptance of a new body and death is the soul’s departure from theold body. And the period between, as long as the soul is in the bodywe call it life.Jai Sri Sri Pancatattava Ki Jai;Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadhara SrivasadiGaura Bhakta VrindaSo that is what so wonderfully has been explained. And then it goes tounderstanding Krishna. We understand the soul, we being spiritual, ouridentity being spiritual, we being spirit soul. And then we get tounderstand the difference between us and the supreme soul – Krishna.That also Krishna has done very wonderfully in the 4th chapter. Inthe second chapter Krishna has established the identity of spiritualentity called the Spirit soul. In the 3rd chapter Krishna gives theknowledge of Karma yoga – how to function. This arrangement from thetime of creation has been designed by the Supreme Personality ofGodhead and there are different arrangements. There are demigods,there are living entities and the demigods are here to supply theneeds of the human beings and the human beings in return are supposedto react towards the demigods in certain ways like paying them tax inthe form of sacrifices and so forth and then in the beginning of 4thchapter Krishna told Arjuna that I gave this knowledge first toVivashvan – the Sun Godimam vivasvate yogam proktavn aham avyayam, vivasvan manave praha thenSun God Vivasvan gave it to his son Manu manur iksvakave ‘bravit…thenManu gave it to his son Ikvasku. evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayoviduh…in this way through a chain of disciplic succession of saintlykings, this knowledge was flowing, but in course of time it has becomelost. sa kaleneha mahata yogo nastah parantapa. Then he says, saevayam maya te ‘dya yogah proktah puratanah…now that whole yoga that Ihave spoken long time ago, I will give it to you, to re-establish thiswisdom. Then Arjuna had a natural question because we have tounderstand the relationship between Arjuna and Krishna is that ofcousins. Arjuna’s mother was Krishna’a aunt and Krishna’s father wasArjuna’s uncle. They were brother and sister. Vasudev and Kunti werebrother and sister. So that way they were relatives – cousins. Andthey were of the same age. Therefore they had a very intimaterelationship. So Arjuna naturally asked him, look Krishna you are bornjust the other day aparam? bhavato janma param janma param janmavivasvatah?…Vivasvan was born so long ago param? janma vivasvatah?katham etad vijnayam tvam dau proktavan iti. How can we understand youspoke this wisdom to Vivasvan because Vivasvan was born so manymillions of years ago and you were born just the other day. How can Iunderstand that you have spoken? Then Krishna told him bah?ni mevyat?t?ni janm?ni tava c?rjuna t?ny aham? veda sarv?n?i na tvam?vettha parantapa. Many many times both you and I have taken birth. Butabout those births, you do not remember anything whereas I remembereverything. t?ny aham? veda sarv?n?i. Sarvani means all – about allthose births, all those activities, of every single moment I remembereverything and then Krishna says that actually I am unborn, I don’tneed to take birth but still I take birth, not take birth, I appear bythe arrangement of my internal potency – yoga maya. ajo ‘pi sannavyayam bhatanam isvaro ‘pi san prakritim svam adhisthaya sambhavamyatma-mayaya…atma mayayaya, my internal potency, sambhavani, not borne,sambhavami manifest by, and why Krishna comes that He explains – whenthere is a decline of religious principles and increase ofirreligiosity, to establish the principle of dharma, principle ofreligion He comes. So in this way Krishna establishes the differencebetween us and Him. We should not think that Krishna is one of us, No,Krishna is the origin of all of us, Krishna is the source of all ofus. So in this way in Upanishads example is given just like the sunand innumerable rays are coming out of the sun. Now each ray of thesun qualitatively is one with the sun but quantitatively they aredifferent. It is a tiny little ray whereas the sun is an inconceivablesource of all the rays. We are tiny, we are minute but Krishna isabsolute. Krishna is the absolute. But qualitatively we are same.Krishna is sachidananda, Krishna is spiritual, we are spiritual.Krishna is sac-cid-ananda. Krishna is eternal, full of knowledge, fullof bliss. We are also eternal, full of bliss. But those qualities, thespiritual qualities of Krishna will be there in us only when we areconnected with Him. When we become submissive to Krishna we becomeendowed with those qualities. But when we become separated fromKrishna we lose those qualities. An example has been given. Like, aspark is also fire. A spark is fire, isn’t it? But the spark is a tinypart, a tiny speck of fire. When the spark comes out of the fire thenwhat happens? Yeah, it loses its fiery qualities. It’s extinguishedand it falls on a heap of ash just next to the fire. And it becomesash, losing its fiery qualities. Our condition is somewhat like that.We are spiritual but being separated from Krishna we lost ourspiritual qualities and falling into matter we are now identifyingourselves with matter. We are thinking we are this body. The speck offire that was a spark now it became ash, but it has the ability to beignited. But for that it has to go back to the fire. Similarly when wereestablish our relationship with Krishna we resume our spiritualqualities. And Krishna consciousness means to establish ourrelationship with Krishna again. Now we are identifying ourselves withmatter and as a result of that we are thinking we are the body and weare functioning according to the moves of the body, according thedemands of the body and according to the cravings of the body. Butwhen we reestablish our relationship with Krishna then we will regainour spiritual qualities again. Just as you take the speck ofinflammable particle that used to be a spark at one time back to fire,what happens? Immediately it becomes fire. So that is what Krishnaconsciousness is.And how to reestablish our lost relationship with Krishna? Bydeveloping our loving relationship with Him. Love is the criteria.Love is the force. Love is the factor that unites us with Krishna andthat love is called bhakti or devotional service. Devotional service,love, real love is expressed through service, through action. So if welove Krishna we have to express that love, because we are activeelements. We all are active individuals. We have to act. So when weact in order to express our love for Krishna then we becomereconnected, reunited with Him. So that is the simple teaching ofBhagavad Gita and all the Vedic scriptures.Thank you all very much! Hare Krishna! [applause]Thank you. Does anybody have any question or comment? Yes?Question: Maharaja, can you please explain the difference between Yogamaya, Atma maya and Daivi maya?BCS: Yes, actually Daivi maya,Yoga Maya and Atma maya is the same.Maya means energy of the Lord. And there are two types of energies inthat respect: external energy which is called Maha maya and internalenergy of the Lord which is called Yoga maya or Atma maya or Daivimaya. Daivi hy esa guna-mayi [Bg 7.14]. So here it is Daivi becausealthough indicating Maha maya but it is implying that this maya isMine, therefore it is Daivi maya. Daivi means divine. But mayaactually is a potency of the Lord it also means the illusory effect ofthe Lord’s energy. In both the natures, in material and spiritual, theLord’s energy is bewildering us. Like, in the material nature it isbewildering us and taking us away from Krishna, and imprisoning usinto the material nature. Whereas in the spiritual nature Yoga maya isengaging us in Krishna’s service making the arrangements. That’s alsoa kind of illusion. Especially Yoga maya is in Vrindavana. InVrindavana Yoga maya causes the living entities or devotees orresidents of Vrindavana to forget that Krishna is the SupremePersonality of Godhead. But here also we can consider that this mayais of two types. Maya means illusion. Illusion means not to recognizean object as it is. That’s what illusion is. So in the material natureour illusion or forgetfulness is due to our ignorance. But in thespiritual nature the forgetfulness of Krishna as the SupremePersonality of Godhead is Yogamaya’s arrangement, or the effect ofYogamaya which is due to love. Forgetfulness due to love. One is,sometimes we forget due to our ignorance and sometimes we forget dueto love. For example, the son became the state president. It’s notthat the mother doesn’t know that her son is the state president butbecause of her love for him she doesn’t care that he is the statepresident. It is not important that he is the state president. If hecomes home late she chastises him, “What were you doing so late?!” Sothis is the forgetfulness due to love.There were some questions? Yes?Question: You were explaining that this is Bhagavad Gita As It Is, orthis way Krishna spoke the subject, right? And Vyasadeva is the onewho compiled it [unclear]. So what Krishna said and what Arjunaunderstood did Vyasadeva explain that?BCS: Very good. You see, what Vyasadeva did, he just…thesepersonalities like Vyasadeva they have an inconceivable memory. Like,you can consider a tape recorder. Their memory is like a first classtape recorder. Everything is recorded here. And they could repeat itanytime. So, after Krishna’s pastimes Vyasadeva got Ganesha to write.So Vyasadeva was just narrating what was happening and he wrote.Vyasadeva didn’t give any commentary, but the understanding comes froma qualified teacher. Vyasadeva wrote the book who is like a publisher.He printed the book and marketed the book. But you, just by buying thebook from a bookshop cannot master the subject. So what’s yourprofession? [Audience member: engineer] You are an engineer. To becomean engineer what you have to do? You go to an engineering college, youhave to study the books according to the syllabus and then under theguidance of a qualified teacher. So it is a qualified teacher whosimplifies the knowledge from the book. So that is the business of ateacher. So here, Prabhupada, as a perfect teacher he explained theactual meaning of Bhagavad Gita the way Krishna spoke and the wayArjuna understood. I will tell you one thing. As I was telling aboutreading Bhagavad Gita, I was reading Bhagavad Gita and actually oneinconceivable (?) thing I would kind of feel at that time, when I wasreading second chapter I thought second chapter is THE Bhagavad Gita.Then I went to the first chapter I said, “Well, this is IT!Here is Prabhupada as a perfect teacher, he is explaining the actualmeaning of Bhagavad Gita the way Krsna spoke and the way Arjunaunderstood. That’s way you will see, like why I will tell you onething… as I was telling you about reading Bhagavad Gita. I was readingBhagavad Gita and actually one confusing thing that I used to kind offeel at one time. When I as reading 2nd chapter, I felt 2nd chapter isthe Bhagavad Gita then I went to the 3rd chapter, I felt this is itand then when I went to the 4th chapter I felt this is it.But Srila Prabhupada when he gave Bhagavad Gita, he gave the lastinstruction of Krishna in Bhagavad Gita as the first instruction.Recognize that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead andsurrender unto Him. Then only you will be able to understand BhagavadGita not otherwise. Now a qualified teacher or bonafide teacher likePrahupada only teaches like that. Because he has the totalunderstanding that’s why he brings the last thing as the first for ourclarity. Right.Yes you have a question. YesQuestion you have spoken about knowledge and devotion. . Inorder to advance in knowledgeGurumaharaj: Very good point. Very good point. You see, materialnature and spiritual nature function in different ways. In materialnature you first know, you first learn and then you have it. Whereasin the spiritual world, you just become situated there and itautomatically comes, right? For example, like in the material natureyou have to perceive and then you have to conceive. Right. You seethings, you know about it and then you retain it, in your mind in yourintelligence in your brain. Whereas in spiritual nature you justpractice devotional service and the knowledge automatically comes toyour heart. Are you familiar with the expression – Divya Gyan HrdyaPrakasito…Do you come to Gurupuja in the temple, Prabhupada guru puja?Do you sing that song? Sri Guru Carana Padama… Do you know the lineDivya Gyan Hrdya Prakasito : one line from that song is thetranscendental knowledge is revealed in the heart. It is not retainedhere it is revealed in the heart. It also has been analyzed in thisway that bhakti devi is the mother. Bhakti is the mother, and she hastwo sons, those two sons are gyana and vairagya – Knowledge andrenunciation. So wherever the mother goes, the son will follow. Sowherever there is practice of bhakti there will be knowledge–transcendental knowledge and automatically natural detachment. Itwill automatically come. Right. Thank you. Hare KrishnaYes.Gurumaharaj: Very good point. That reminds me, recently, we were inPennsylvania (at) a retreat, and there, one devotee presented a skit –kind of a drama, dramatically. The drama was about a conversationbetween twins in the womb of the mother. So the way he portrayed it,one girl was … two actors were sitting on two chairs crouched likethey were in the womb and a girl was standing behind them with a pieceof cloth which was covering them, and then she removed the thingpartly showing that what’s going on. So one of the embryos is sleepingand the other one wakes him up. So he wakes up very agitated – let mesleep, I slept only for 20 hours today and then he goes back to sleepagain. Then the other boy wakes him up again and he says look I havesomething very important to say. He says I heard that there is lifeafter birth (GM laughs). And he says, and in that world there islight. So the other says, how it is possible, how can there be light.How can there be life after birth. This everything, just don’t thinkbeyond this. This is everything and try to enjoy as much as possible(audience laughter). And then he continued, you know there we can eatwith our mouth and we can walk with our feet. So he was speaking likethat and the other boy, he was completely denied it – how is itpossible? Is there anyway we can eat except the umbilical cord. And hesaid no really it can be …and so then in this way you know like itjust goes on. So I thought it was brilliant. Now when we look at oursituation form that context , don’t we see that our situation is likethat. We are living in a world, …O then it goes into, another veryimportant thing. He says do you know, we have a mother? He says how isit possible, have you ever seen her? (Audience laughter). He says Idid not see her but I can feel her. Don’t you realize, don’t you feelthat it is because of her that we are existing and then he says, Ohcommon there is no mother. He says, but we can see, she is all aroundus. Although we do not see her, but she is all around us and it isbecause of her that we are getting everything that we need. She istaking care of us in all respects. And … anyway so I thought ofsharing. Like you know, I mean, It is so foolish actually, its sostupid to think that this world is everything and our existing here iseverything. There is nothing beyond it. But for that to receive thoseinformations we need a bonafide teacher. We need Vaisnav teachings.Spiritual master means (unclear ) who himself has the knowledge andwho can impart the knowledge to others. So Prabhupada has created somany bonafide spiritual masters all over the world who aredistributing this knowledge and as a result of that the world willbenefit.Ok. Thank you very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
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