BG 15.7 – The Yoga of Divine Love

Giriraj Swami: So, you’ve almost all heard of the Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā is the basic textbook of yoga, and it was spoken by Sri Krishna, who is the supreme authority on, not only yoga, but on all matters, because He is the Supreme Person and the origin of everything that exists, including us.

So we all have a very intimate relationship with Krishna, but due to the influence of the material energy, we have forgotten our relationship with Krishna. And the word yoga means to link.

[Something happens to a child in class] He was very brave, he didn’t cry, he didn’t make a scene. Very good.

So the word yoga means to link or connect. The English word yoke, a yoke oxen, comes from the word yoga. And the question is to link with who, or to connect with whom? And the answer is with the Supreme, with Krishna.

And although we are all parts and parcels of Krishna, because we are covered with these material bodies and minds, we feel a sense of separation from Krishna, and not only from Krishna, but from each other as well. But when we become free from the material covering, we realize that we have an eternal relationship with Krishna and also with each other. 

In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says He is the father of all living entities, and if we recognize His fatherhood, then it means that we are all brothers and sisters. So, by developing our love for Krishna we automatically develop love for all living entities.

And that love is already there, but it’s covered—nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema that love for Krishna is eternally situated within the heart. It does not have to come from any other source, but it is awakened by chanting and hearing about Krishna in the association of devotees.

And so it is a very natural process. You can see even children can participate, old people can participate because it is a spiritual process, there is no material qualification or disqualification. And there is nothing we do that a child can’t do or an old person can’t do.

So, now I’ll read a verse. It’s from a little later in the Bhagavad-gītā, but it really encapsulates the philosophy that we have begun to discuss. So, this is the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Fifteen, “The Yoga of the Supreme Person,” Text Seven. Now, these verses are in Sanskrit, and they are mantras. So even though you don’t understand the meaning of the words, you benefit just from hearing the verses or the mantras. And gradually as you learn the meaning of the mantra, you get more benefit, but even without understanding the meaning you get tremendous benefit.

TEXT 7

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke

jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ

manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi

prakṛti-sthāni karṣati

TRANSLATION

The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

COMMENT

So, the Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by Krishna, so when He says, “The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts,” it means we are the eternal fragmental parts of Krishna.

Now, I’ll read the purport by Srila Prabhupada, who is our teacher, and has translated this book.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

In this verse the identity of the living being is clearly given. The living entity is the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord – eternally.

COMMENT

The word eternal means without beginning and without end. Everything in the material world has a beginning and an end but the living entity which is the spiritual fragment of Krishna, has no beginning and no end. So he is the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, eternally. That means we never stop being the fragmental part and parcel of Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

It is not that he assumes individuality in his conditional life and in his liberated state becomes one with the Supreme Lord. He is eternally fragmented. It is clearly said, sanātanaḥ.

COMMENT

So, this is a very important point because we suffer in the material world, and sometimes people have the idea that to escape the suffering of the material world, they should give up their individual existence and merge and become one with the light or enter into the void. Have you ever heard this type of philosophy? Yes. Now, the living entity is by nature active, we are all active. And why should we think that the living entity would be inactive in the liberated state?

See, the material world is like a prison. So the prisoners are active in the prison, and when they are released from the prison, they are still active. It’s not like they are active in the prison and then when they are released, they merge into something and disappear. So, the solution to conditional life is not to give up our individuality which is impossible, not to give up activity which is impossible, but to give up the activities that got us in the prison; in other words, to give up activities based on the false ego of wanting to enjoy without Krishna.

And when we give up the false identity of the body, and along with the body, the mentality that I’m the enjoyer, I’m the proprietor, I’m the controller, then we can be released from the prison, and then there is no more suffering.

PURPORT (continued)

According to the Vedic version

COMMENT

Veda means knowledge, literally. Veda means knowledge. It’s a Sanskrit word, and generally the body of sacred Texts are called Veda.

PURPORT (continued)

According to the Vedic version the Supreme Lord manifests and expands Himself in innumerable expansions, of which the primary expansions are called viṣṇu-tattva and the secondary expansions are called the living entities. In other words, the viṣṇu-tattva is the personal expansion, and the living entities are the separated expansions.

COMMENT

So this is also very important because people who become interested in Vedic philosophy or yoga often come in touch with different names of different personalities. For example, Rama. Have you heard the name Rama? Vishnu, have you heard the name Vishnu? Shiva, you heard the name Shiva? Durga, you heard the name Durga? [Unintelligible 00:18:38], have you heard the name Durga?

Devotee: No, I haven’t.

Giriraj Swami: You have not heard the name Durga. Ganesh, have you heard the name Ganesh?

So, now who are all these, do they exist even, or are they just names? So, according to the Bhagavad-gītā and Vedic literatures, they do exist; they are real. But they are not all in the same category. So, the impersonalists, the people who want to escape from their misery by merging and becoming one, they often say that these are all just different names and forms of the same Supreme One, and that it doesn’t matter which one you worship, or which name you chant because ultimately you will go beyond these names and forms and merge into the oneness. Have you heard this philosophy?

This philosophy is not supported in the Bhagavad-gītā or any Vedic Text, and if you actually analyze it, it doesn’t hold up, it doesn’t make sense. But just to give you a brief idea, Krishna’s the Original Personality of God, and He expands into different forms which are the same as Him. And the example is given that from one candle, you can light a second candle; from the second candle, you can light a third candle; from the third candle, you can light a fourth candle. And all the candles have the same candle power, the flame is the same. But still, there is one original candle, and that is Krishna. And He expands as Rama, Nṛsiṁha, Vishnu, and different forms.

Now, Shiva is in a different category. Although he is similar to Krishna or Vishnu, there is also some difference. And the example is given that if milk comes in contact with some agent, the milk turns into yogurt. So in one sense, yogurt is the same as milk. But, although milk can become yogurt, yogurt cannot become milk. And that agent that you could say causes the transformation of Vishnu into Shiva is the material nature. Vishnu has no direct contact with the material nature, but Shiva, he emanates from Vishnu, and coming in touch with the material nature makes him little different from Vishnu. It’s technical but because all these things are in the air, in the ether, we should know who they are.

Then, there is another category who are devas. They are within the material world, and they are living entities like we are, but they are more powerful than we are, and they have various functions within the universe. So Brahma is in charge of creation, Shiva is in charge of destruction, and Sarasvati is in charge of learning, music, and culture. And so they are different ones in charge of different aspects of universal management. But our origin is from Krishna, and so our natural love is for Him, and He has natural love for us. In fact, one of the great sages has said that the two most basic necessities of the living entity are to love and to be loved. But that desire to love and be loved can be perfectly fulfilled in relation to our origin, to Krishna. And bhakti-yoga is the process by which our dormant love for Him is awakened.

Now, are there any questions so far? Yes.

Devotee: How do we become conditioned? How do we get into the state of forgetfulness?

Giriraj Swami: Well, when we come into the material nature, we become conditioned. Have you heard the word maya? Maya means illusion, one meaning of maya is illusion. And maya has two functions. One is that she pulls us down into illusion, and the other is that she keeps us down in illusion. So when we come in under the influence of maya, we forget our eternal relationship with Krishna. And later in the same Chapter Krishna says that daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā [Bg. 7.14] maya is very difficult to overcome mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te but one who surrenders to Krishna can easily cross over maya, so we want to surrender to Krishna and follow the process of yoga.

And in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna mentions different types of yoga, but after describing them, He says that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yukta-tamo mataḥ [Bg. 6.47]. Of all the yogis, he who serves Krishna with love and devotion is the highest of all and is the most intimately connected with Him through yoga. So, all the different types of yoga are like stepping stones of the way to bhakti-yoga. But when one comes to the stage of bhakti-yoga, he can fully realize his eternal relationship with Krishna.

And there are different processes within bhakti-yoga, but the first is śravaṇam – which means hearing, like what you are doing now. That’s bhakti-yoga, you are hearing about Krishna. And then after hearing is kīrtanam to chant about Krishna, to glorify Krishna, to sing about Krishna. So you’ve heard the word kirtan. So technically, kirtan is one of the processes of bhakti-yoga. śravaṇam, then kīrtanam, and then smaraṇam. Smaraṇam means to remember Krishna. So if you hear about Krishna, if you chant about Krishna, then it’s natural that you will remember Him.

Now, we have different types of material coverings, but to Krishna it doesn’t make any difference what your material covering is because that’s not really you. These bodies are compared to clothes, if I say to Anthony, “Who are you or what are you?” and if he says, “Yellow shirt,” it makes no sense because he is not the shirt; he is just wearing the shirt. If I say to Jason, “Who are you, or what are you?” and if he says, “Gray shirt,” and then if they fight, I’m a yellow shirt and you are a gray shirt, I don’t like gray shirts, it makes no sense. But that’s exactly what’s going on in the world, because people identify with the body, but the body is just a dress, just clothing.

Now, the real person is the soul. And so Krishna is not concerned with the material covering of the soul, but He is concerned with the soul, that’s you. But, we have these bodies and minds, what do we do with them? Well, we use them to serve Krishna. And it doesn’t matter what your abilities are, what your talents are, but whatever you can do, if you do it for Krishna, that will purify your consciousness and that will help you to revive your relationship with Krishna.

So, now, of course cooking is useful for everyone to know, but if you can cook, you can cook for Krishna. If you can paint, you can paint for Krishna. If you can play a musical instrument, you can play the musical instrument for Krishna. You can basically do anything for Krishna, with whatever ability you have. But it should be according to what Krishna wants. If you love someone, you offer the person what the person likes. So, we have to know what Krishna likes. But He pretty much likes everything that is offered with devotion and which is beneficial for others.

Now, we all have these bodies, we have to eat. So, our idea is whatever we do, we should do for Krishna, so how do we eat for Krishna? Well, in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg. 9.26] that if you offer Him with love and devotion a leaf, a fruit, a flower, or some water, He will accept it. And there are more descriptions in the Bhagavad-gītā of different types of food which are favorable for our practice of bhakti-yoga.

So those categories include almost everything, but not meat, fish, or eggs. You cannot offer Krishna flesh, the flesh of animals, the flesh of fish, or eggs. But pretty much anything else vegetarian, you can offer. So then when you offer it, which means you pray to Krishna to eat what you are giving Him, then He accepts the offering if it’s offered with love and devotion, and then that food becomes spiritualized.

What you ate before you sat down here, that food was offered to Krishna—that’s called prasāda—prasāda means mercy. And the Bhagavad-gītā says that people who prepare food just for themselves, whatever they cook the food and eat it, by that eating they are becoming implicated in material reactions. But those who offer their food to Krishna and eat the remnants of the offering, they become liberated from material reactions. So, even eating is part of bhakti-yoga, because you have to eat. And the idea is that everything can be done in bhakti-yoga, in Krishna consciousness.

So, we don’t deny anything like in some of the other schools, the impersonal schools, where they try to stamp out desires, which is not possible, it’s completely artificial, but they think that because of desire they suffer, and so they want to stop desire. But it’s not possible. And the problem is not desire per se, the problem is desiring the wrong thing. Selfish desires to enjoy without Krishna, they do lead to suffering, but spiritual desires to revive our relationship with Krishna and give pleasure to Krishna, and those are a source of happiness, not a source of misery.

So when you come here, many of you have said you like to come here because of the devotees. So, the devotees do things that regular people do, so-called regular people, ordinary people but they do them for Krishna. They cook, they sing, they clean, they talk, they do everything, but for Krishna. And so it’s very easy and natural and blissful.

And of all of those different processes, of course the one that’s most recommended for the present age, and most effective in the present age, is the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, which we did. Do you know the words? Do you know them by heart? Can you say them?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Giriraj Swami: Very good. Rex, do you know? Let’s hear you.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Jaya!

Giriraj Swami: Do you want to try?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Giriraj Swami: Wonderful. And did you say your name was Jennifer, Jenette? Do you know them by heart? Can you close your eyes and say it?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, very good. So you can do that anytime, anywhere. Actually, the more you do it the better it is. When you wake up, you chant. When you are in the shower, you chant. When you are riding to work, you can chant or walking, you just chant.

And of course it’s nice to do it in the association of devotees. And that’s also a very important principle for success in any endeavor, and that is to associate with people who are in the same line. And so it’s very good that you are coming on Tuesday, and the more you can associate with devotees, the better it will be. Are there any further questions now, or comments? Yes, Jason.

Devotee: So, I told my mom, and she is very concerned about who Krishna is. And I have this necklace, and she saw baby Krishna on my necklace, and she said to me, is that comparable to your Jesus Christ. And I told her yes, because there is only one Supreme Personality of Godhead. But, then after saying that, I was wondering, is that true? Is Jesus Christ the same person as Krishna?

Giriraj Swami: Who would like to answer this question? Do you think you can answer? Yes.

Devotee: I believe that Jesus Christ is, similar to what you were talking about earlier, that he is also an extension, but he is a designated representative of Krishna for that time. Is that right?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, it is, it is. So, in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says He is the father of all living entities. And Jesus said that he is the son of God, so there is no contradiction. But the father is an individual and the son is an individual, but they are one in the sense that they have the same purpose, the same mission. And what he also said is that. . . You’ve heard the word avatar? So avatar literally means one who descends. So there are different categories of avatars. And Krishna is avatāri, avatāri meaning He is the source of all avatars. But there are different categories of avatars, and one category is called śakty-āveśa-avatāra which means someone who is empowered by Krishna, or imbued with the potency of Krishna.

And so our teacher’s teacher, he opined Jesus is śakty-āveśa-avatāra, which means he descended into this world and was endowed with some special power from God to preach God consciousness. Yes.

Devotee: What if they transform so much that they lose their original purpose? Because I wondered about this, [Unintelligible 00:48:15 – 00:48:30] but also the fact that all this information comes from India, for me, sometimes it’s really a bit strange because I’ve never been very familiarized with Indian culture. So sometimes by accustomed to Krishna, mentioned before it is always hard to [Unintelligible 00:48:40 – 00:49:01] I feel like I missed something by the fact that I’ve never been very close to Indian culture. And I’m wondering, I think it’s beautiful and it’s one thing I’m enjoying learning about, but sometimes I feel like an alien because of that fact.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, okay. Well, in the Bhagavad-gītā, or in any of the Vedic literatures, you won’t find the word Indian or Hindu. Actually, this is a spiritual science, it’s not Indian or Hindu. It’s for everyone. It’s not that the body is a covering only for Indians or Hindus, the body is a covering for everyone. Now, the fact that you are not familiar with some of the language or culture, that will change by association. But it’s not Indian.

I didn’t explain in detail but beyond the material world is the spiritual sky, and in the spiritual sky, there are spiritual planets, and on each spiritual planet a form of God presides. And the Supreme spiritual planet is the planet of Krishna. But Rama also has a planet, and Vishnu has a planet like that. And there is a, you could say an eternal culture, on those spiritual planets. And so that culture is replicated here. So, you could say, its God’s culture. And it can be helpful to us to participate in that culture. But that feeling of being alien, I think you don’t need to worry about it. You’ll sort of absorb it naturally. I mean, it’s a very common example, but I think many people who are from Mexico come to America, and there are many things about America that are alien to them, but they hoped they’d find something better in America that they didn’t have in Mexico, so they tolerate the alienness. And then eventually, they overcome it.

Any other questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:53:45 – 00:55:15].

Giriraj Swami: Well, is it alright to say, to who? I mean, by the standards of the definition of śakty-āveśa-avatāra, Srila Prabhupada would also qualify as a śakty-āveśa-avatāra. But Srila Prabhupada himself said because a Vaishnava is humble, Srila Prabhupada himself said that he is not even fit to touch the dust of the feet of Jesus Christ, and he said that it’s due to the grace of Jesus Christ that the Krishna consciousness movement is spreading in the Western world. So, we should have that mood of humility that every true devotee has. I don’t think it would be, we are not trying to compare in that sense, although it’s true that both could be considered śakty-āveśa-avatāra. Basically we just want to appreciate everyone’s service and not compare. Is that alright? Yes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:56:35 – 00:57:52]

Giriraj Swami: What you’ve said is perfectly right. The essence of Jesus’ message is to love the Lord, love thy God with all thy soul and all thy might. So we are trying to fulfill the same commandment, but the distinctive feature of bhakti-yoga is that it gives a scientific, systematic process for awakening our love for God. And without that, it can remain a sort of phrase, to love God. Anyone can say I love God. But what is the test, what is the proof?

But to really love God you have to know who God is, and what He wants of you, and then if you love God, then you will obey His commandments. But the goal is the same, to love God.

And Jesus also told his followers that I have much more to tell you, but you are not ready to hear it. So that means that Jesus had more knowledge than he was able to share with his students, and that knowledge is available in the Bhagavad-gītā. For example, the Bible will say thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, and thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. So, what is the level of people who need to hear that? Suppose we greet you at the door to the yoga center, and we say you are welcome, but you can’t kill anyone, you can’t steal anyone, you can’t go after anyone’s husband. So, it means not a very high level.

And the Bhagavad-gītā by contrast, if you know the context, Arjuna who was Krishna’s student, hearing the Bhagavad-gītā, he didn’t want to fight, he was so renounced and so compassionate that he didn’t want to fight. Even though the kingdom was rightfully his, he said let them enjoy the kingdom, I can live by begging. So, it’s a very high level of audience.

The basic principles are the same. It’s like the abridged dictionary and the complete dictionary. You know the word abridged? It means not complete, but smaller. So, everything in the abridged dictionary is in the complete dictionary, but there are things in the complete dictionary that aren’t in the abridged dictionary. But what’s there, it doesn’t contradict.

So, when Jesus says I have many more things to tell you, but you are not ready to hear them, so those things are in the Bhagavad-gītā. It’s not anything different.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:02:52 – 01:03:32]

Giriraj Swami: No, there are books on the subject of Jesus going to India. And why not?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:04:02 – 01:04:37]

Giriraj Swami: How do you know the wise men from the East are from Persia?

Devotee: Indirectly. [Unintelligible 01:04:45 – 01:05:18] Sometimes I pick up the Bible, and a lot of people can relate. So, I can relate to a lot of what’s written in the Bible, there is only one thing I struggle with, and that is the way the Bible puts Jesus Christ as the only son of God that you are supposed to accept as the savior. So, I mean everything else in the Bible I can relate to, I grew up with it, I can connect with it, and I can understand everything, but that’s the one thing in the Bible that’s a struggle.

Giriraj Swami: Well, there are many things in the Bible. So one is this idea that Jesus is the only son of God, and so Srila Prabhupada’s answer to that is, even an ordinary man can have more than one son. So what to speak of God, He can have many sons. So what does it mean, that he is the only son? So Srila Prabhupada explained it in Sanskrit. The concept will be common, but in Sanskrit there is two different words, one is for a good son, [Unintelligible 01:01:07:19], and the other is for a bad son, [Unintelligible 01:07:23]. And so the idea that Jesus is the only son of God can be understood that at the time, he was the only good son.

Just to give the common example that in a family there is two sons, and one runs away and becomes a criminal, so the father can say, “He is my only son. Not in a literal sense, but he is my only real son, because he stayed faithful to me.”

But the Bible was put together after the time of Jesus, and anyway that’s another topic, we don’t have to discuss that now.

But there are sort of mystical sects of Christians, and many of their practices are similar to Krishna consciousness. They would chant the name of Jesus over and over. There is a group called the Desert Fathers, they were a monastic group that would chant the name of Jesus. And they had many of the same principles. But now those types of really surrendered souls are quite rare.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:10:10 – 01:10:25].

Giriraj Swami: But the beauty of Krishna consciousness is that you don’t have to live in a monastery. You can learn how to do everything for Krishna, and even being in a big city like Dallas, you can be as pure and as spiritual as someone in a monastery, even more. But you need the association, that’s the only thing. You need the association.

Any other last questions or comments? Yes Jason.

Devotee: I’m just thinking about this, I’m just so curious. Why in some religions, they say it is okay to eat meat, and then in Krishna consciousness, I know in Krishna consciousness why we don’t eat meat, because Krishna doesn’t accept the destruction of dead animals, but I’m just curious why some religions say it is okay. I’m not expecting anything.

Giriraj Swami: Well, the Bible says, “Thou shall not kill,” so I mean that’s one of the problems, that people are very eager to say I’m an Hindu, I’m a Christian, I’m a Muslim, but they don’t actually follow what their scriptures teach. The Bible says, “Thou shall not kill.” And, yes, even in the Vedas, if there is nothing else to eat, you can eat fish or whatever, but now you can pretty much get everything everywhere. Even if you live in the desert, they fly in everything. So there is really no need to eat fish, for example. I think it is pretty much in every tradition when you come to the sort of mystical side, they are all vegetarian. I mean, when I was in Pakistan, I used to go to Pakistan, and there was an old book I came across, vegetarianism in the Quran. So it’s just like that. The ones who are really serious about purifying their existence and approaching God, then it’s recommended or required that they be vegetarian. And when I was based in Bombay, I made friends with a certain Muslim sect you could say, and they said that in their tradition the prayers that you offer to God before sunrise are heard by God more than the prayers after sunrise, so that’s also quite common in the mystical sects in every tradition, to rise very early in the morning.