BG 2.41 – Faith Means Unflinching Trust in Krishna and Guru

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. This evening we shall read a verse from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is Chapter Two: “Contents of the Gītā Summarized.”

TEXT 41

vyavasāyātmikā buddhir

ekeha kuru-nandana

bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca

buddhayo ‘vyavasāyinām

TRANSLATION

Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

A strong faith that by Kṛṣṇa consciousness one will be elevated to the highest perfection of life is called vyavasāyātmikā intelligence. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.62) states:

‘śraddhā’-śabde – viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha niścaya
kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya

Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime. When one is engaged in the duties of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he need not act in relationship to the material world with obligations to family traditions, humanity or nationality. Fruitive activities are the engagements of one’s reactions from past good or bad deeds. When one is awake in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he need no longer endeavor for good results in his activities. When one is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all activities are on the absolute plane, for they are no longer subject to dualities like good and bad. The highest perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is renunciation of the material conception of life. This state is automatically achieved by progressive Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

COMMENT

The beginning of bhakti-yoga is sraddha, ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu- saṅga, sraddha means faith and attraction. When one has some preliminary faith and attraction he or she can begin the resolute practice of bhakti-yoga, ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu- saṅga, and then one will regularly associate with other practitioners of bhakti-yoga. For success in any field of endeavor association is a most important factor. There are societies and associations to support and develop practically any type of endeavor, material or spiritual. And in order to progress one must have faith as defined in the verse quoted from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, faith that by engagement in bhakti-yoga or devotional service to Krishna, all other activities are performed and all other results are achieved. In that consciousness one can progress. 

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the example that just as by watering the root of a tree, the trunk, the branches, the leaves, all the parts of the tree are automatically watered, and just as by putting food in the stomach all of the limbs of the body are nourished, similarly by engaging in devotional service to Krishna all living entities, all the demigods, the forefathers, the family members, everyone is benefited. So this is sraddha, firm faith. I will give one example, it comes from the past times of Sri Krishna Chaitanya. According to Vedic knowledge and it is a fact, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the absolute truth, the origin of all that be, including you and me. And Krishna came to earth again five hundred years ago in the form of Sri Krishna Chaitanya who was Krishna Himself but in the role of a devotee. It is said that example is more important than precept. So in the Bhagavad-gītā as we are reading, Krishna tells us how to surrender to Him, how to engage in devotional service. And as Sri Krishna Chaitanya, He showed by His personal example how to surrender to Krishna and engage in devotional service. 

So Krishna or Chaitanya had a devotee named Srivasa Pandit. We worship the Pancha-tattva, the Lord in five features; Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasa. So I am referring here to Srivasa. So Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Srivasa Pandit’s home and he observed his behavior as a family man. And one day he called him aside confidentially and spoke with him. And he said, “Srivasa I notice that you never go out to beg alms.” Srivasa Pandit was a brahman and in Vedic culture the brahmans are given charity. The point here is that Srivasa Pandit never went out to earn anything. 

So Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked him, “Srivasa, I see that you never go out to earn anything, how will you maintain yourself and your family? You have a large family. How will you maintain yourself?” And Srivasa replied, “I have no desire to go out. Whatever is destined to come to us will come.” And Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, “Then you should take sannyasa.” Sannyasa means that one leaves home and just depends on Krishna; depends on Krishna for oneself and depends on Krishna to provide for those left behind. So Srivasa Pandit replied, “I do not have the power to take sannyasa. So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Then what will you do? If you don’t go out, you won’t be able to get any sustenance for your family.” And Srivasa Thakura clapped his hands three times and said, “One, two, three. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “What does that mean, one two three? How does that answer my question?” And Srivasa Pandit replied that, “If for three meals I have to fast, in other words if three times food does not come, I will drown myself in the Ganges River.” When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu heard these words he became very animated and he said, “Srivasa have you forgotten my words in the Bhagavad-gītā? ananyāś cintayanto māṁ, yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham. In the Bhagavad-gītā I personally guarantee that anyone who is fully surrendered and devoted to me I will provide what they need. I will preserve what they have and carry what they lack. What are you saying? You would have to fast for three meals. Even if the goddess of fortune herself Lakshmi, one day becomes poverty stricken and has to beg but you will never know any want.” 

So this is the Lord’s promise. Now of course we may be thinking, that might have applied five hundred years ago or it might apply to someone on the level of Srivasa Thakura, but how does it apply to me? Well, it applies to you. It applies to each and every one of us. It doesn’t mean that we don’t work, that is another point. In the Vedic social system and spiritual system there are different orders of life and one has occupational duties. But it means that ultimately we do have faith in Krishna. And in life there are always reversals. We may have what we think is a very safe and secure job or position or career or business and suddenly there can be some reversal. And what do we do then? How do we react? So a devotee who has faith in Krishna, and by definition devotee means someone who does have faith in Krishna, will not be disturbed. Yes there may be some initial reaction which is natural, but ultimately he will not be disturbed because he has faith in Krishna, and we cannot proceed in the practice of bhakti-yoga if we are too disturbed. 

And as Srila Prabhupada says in the purport that a devotee is beyond the dualities of material existence. The dualities of material existence include happiness and distress, pain and pleasure, good and bad, and so on. Because a devotee ultimately knows only Krishna and service to Krishna, and therefore there is no good or bad or as Caitanya-caritāmṛta says conceptions of good and bad are only mental concoctions. There is no good or bad or to put it another way, anything in Krishna consciousness is good and anything outside of Krishna consciousness is bad, but material conceptions of good and bad have no relevance in Krishna consciousness.

PURPORT (continued)

The resolute purpose of a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is based on knowledge. 

COMMENT

It is not fanaticism or sentiment, that those are different. This is based on knowledge.

PURPORT (continued)

Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ: a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the rare good soul who knows perfectly that Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, is the root of all manifested causes. As by watering the root of a tree one automatically distributes water to the leaves and branches, so by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness one can render the highest service to everyone – namely self, family, society, country, humanity, etc. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied by one’s actions, then everyone will be satisfied.

COMMENT

Again I quote an incident from the histories. Some of you may be familiar with it or maybe not but it illustrates the principle, yasmin tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭam, that if Krishna is satisfied the whole world will be satisfied. This incident took place about five thousand years ago. A great sage named Durvasa Muni, with his ten thousand disciples, came to visit the home of the Pandavas who were great devotees of Krishna. And they came after the family had eaten; after they had honored prasāda, and there was no food left. But the rule is that if a saintly person comes to your home you must feed him but they had no food to give him. And furthermore Durvasa Muni, although he was a very powerful mystic, but he was known to have a bad temper and so they were very afraid of what might happen if they couldn’t feed him and his disciples. And due to circumstances, the Pandavas didn’t have food in stock. So not knowing what to do they just said, “Please go to the river with your disciples and take bath and in the meantime we will arrange food.” And so they went to the river to take bath. So at that time Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, what did she do? What would we do? 

By her example she shows us what we should do. What did she do? She prayed to Krishna and Krishna, of course Krishna was manifesting His pastimes on earth at the time, but Krishna hearing the plaintive cries of His devotee, He came to the residence of the Pandavas. So Draupadi explained the difficulty, the awkward situation they were in, and Krishna said, “Is there any food left, anything at all left from lunch?” So she said, “No, we have eaten everything, there is just nothing left.” So Krishna said, “Look, just see if you can find something.” So she found just a little morsel of prasāda that had not been cleaned up and she presented it to Krishna. He said, “Okay I will eat this.” So he ate that small portion, not even portion, particle almost, ate that small particle and because Krishna is satisfied by devotion only, not by anything material, so when He ate that particle of food prepared with love and devotion and offered with love and devotion by Draupadi, He felt satisfied. He felt completely satisfied. And when he felt satisfied yasmin tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭam, when he felt satisfied Durvasa Muni and all of his disciples at the river also felt satisfied. In fact they became very embarrassed because they were thinking, Oh no, Draupadi must have cooked for all of us and we are so satiated, we can’t even eat another morsel. And so they didn’t even go back to the residents of the Pandavas because they were so embarrassed. How could they face her? She would have cooked a whole meal for them and they couldn’t eat one morsel. 

So this is another example of the principle that if Krishna is satisfied everyone is satisfied. And therefore our focus should be on satisfying Krishna, not satisfying a, b, c. or d. And we can’t satisfy them anyway; that is another point. But let us continue because our time is limited. 

PURPORT (continued)

Service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is, however, best practiced under the able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Kṛṣṇa, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As such, to be well versed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness one has to act firmly and obey the representative of Kṛṣṇa, and one should accept the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master as one’s mission in life.

COMMENT

Now this verse which I am reading this evening, is a very significant verse in the life of our founder acharya and our life and soul, His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. When Srila Prabhupada was a young man, he met his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. And at the very first meeting Srila Bhaktisiddhanta instructed him that he should preach the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language throughout the world. And Srila Bhaktisiddhanta repeated the same instruction just about two weeks before he left this world, but as Srila Prabhupada it he was he was a family man newly married and he did not feel himself capable of executing the order immediately. But he always kept that instruction in mind and he was waiting for the opportunity when he could execute it. 

Although sometimes he said, but that is for our instruction, sometimes he said that he had made a mistake actually he should have taken it up immediately, but as he said, better late than never. The turning point was when he read this very verse in the Bhagavad-gītā with the commentary. And in Srila Prabhupada’s purport he gives a hint of the commentary, and so I will continue reading that. But you can keep that in mind that when Srila Prabhupada was reading the Bhagavad-gītā with this commentary that was the moment at which that firm resolution took place that, “Yes now I must leave everything and follow the order of my spiritual master and go to America.” He chose to come to America and because of that order from his spiritual master and his faith in the order of his spiritual master, we are all here now. This temple is here, Radha Kalahandi is here, and we are here. 

PURPORT (continued)

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows:

yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ‘pi
dhyāyan stuvaṁs tasya yaśas tri-sandhyaṁ
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam

COMMENT

We sing this prayer every morning. 

PURPORT (continued)

“By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied.

COMMENT

So our instruction has been that by satisfying Krishna everyone is satisfied. But then how do we satisfy Krishna? So this verse tells us by satisfying the spiritual master, Krishna is satisfied. 

PURPORT (continued)

 “By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I should, therefore, meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day, and offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master.”

COMMENT

Now this process of developing faith, obviously has to extend to the spiritual master because if one doesn’t have faith in the spiritual master, then how will he satisfy Krishna. But that faith also must be based on knowledge and not on sentiment or fanaticism, what to speak of other considerations like of false prestige or fashion.

PURPORT (continued)

The whole process, however, depends on perfect knowledge of the soul beyond the conception of the body

COMMENT

And this is the very first instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā, very first instruction, that you are not the body but the soul within the body. And that soul, that jīvātmā is part and parcel of the supreme soul or Paramātmā and it has an eternal relationship of service with the supreme soul. If we identify with the body, we cannot really progress in Krishna consciousness. Real bhakti-yoga begins after we realize that we are not the body. 

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

And then we can understand how to really help others, because they are spirit souls, they are part and parcel of Krishna and the best thing we can do for them is to help them reawaken their eternal relationship with Krishna, and that will solve all of their problems permanently. So with this conviction we ourselves practice Krishna consciousness and we relish Krishna consciousness and we distribute Krishna consciousness, by chanting, by speaking, by distributing books, by distributing prasāda, and so many other methods. But the basis is the understanding that “I am not the body but I am the ātmā, the soul, part and parcel of the Supreme soul.”

PURPORT (continued)

The whole process, however, depends on perfect knowledge of the soul beyond the conception of the body – not theoretically but practically, when there is no longer a chance for sense gratification manifested in fruitive activities.

COMMENT

Now this is also a subtle point because a devotee may be seen to work but his work is not on the same level as the work of ordinary, materialistic people who don’t have faith in Krishna and devotional service, and who feel that if they don’t work they won’t get money and they won’t be able to enjoy sense gratification or help others enjoy sense gratification.

PURPORT (continued)

One who is not firmly fixed

COMMENT

Because that was the beginning of the verse, vyavasāyātmikā buddhir, ekeha kuru-nandana, that those who are on this path are resolute in purpose and those who are not in Krishna consciousness, who do not have faith in Krishna and devotional service, they are irresolute and their consciousness is many branch. There is many branch because they don’t have faith. They think, I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do this, I have to do that, and they are engaged in so many other activities and they may miss the real essence, which is pure devotional service.

Sri Sri Radha Kalahandi ki jaya! Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai ki jaya! Sri Jagannatha Baladeva Subhadra ki jaya!

So please repeat after me. All of this knowledge can be realized by chanting the holy name so please repeat after me

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,

So are there any questions or comments? Yes sir. 

Devotee: I had a question going back to your comment that if you satisfy Krishna then everybody is satisfied and I am trying to put that into context of a real life example that is different than the story that you told us. So let us take an example; let us say you have parents who have a young son that is eighteen, twenty-one years old and he wants to become a sannyasi but his parents want him to get married and have kids and all the other stuff that people usually do. If the son decides to become the sannyasi how will his parents be satisfied?

Giriraj Swami: Yes that is a good question and my initial response is that they will be satisfied but they may not be satisfied immediately. I have come across so many cases of parents, including my own who were not happy that I left home and went to India, but who at the end had very glorious departures. And what had happened with my father who passed away before my mother, one devotee sent me a quote from Srila Prabhupada and it is so true and I have repeated it often since then. And the quotation was that Srila Prabhupada said, “The parents of my disciples will realize their good fortune at the time of their passing away.” And my father, it was actually quite amazing and the whole family was there, I was there and my sister was there, we were only two siblings, and my mother and all the cousins, my father had one brother and so his two sons and their wives, they are all there, and none of them are devotees. And my sister is a rational, modern, scientific minded, practical, person but at the final moment my father’s eyes opened very wide and this big smile came on his face and he left his body. And everyone was stunned; usually I would imagine when someone leaves the body, the relatives and loved ones they start to cry but everyone was just stunned by what they had seen and by the atmosphere that was in the room. And my sister said “My God, I wonder what he saw.” Because his eyes opened up and he smiled. 

So yes it is true that when a son or a daughter takes to Krishna consciousness, the parents may they misunderstand and not be satisfied initially. Sometimes they see the value of it sooner but if not sooner then it is very likely at the time of death, especially if the children have remained faithful in their practice then it is practically guaranteed at the time of death as Prabhupada said, “The parents of my disciples will realize their good fortune that at the time of their passing away.”

Any other questions or comments? Yes 

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. I have a question about when we start to understand that we are not body we are soul, is the soul is the same as spiritual body because we all have a spiritual body right? 

Giriraj Swami: Yes. 

Devotee: It is the same, the ātmā and spiritual body 

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I will answer that question. In the Bhagavad-gītā Sri Krishna says that the body is like a dress for the soul. It is like clothing for the ātmā. So just like say a shirt, a coat, pants, it has a shape because the body within that shirt and pants has a shape. So the body itself is like clothing for the souls and the body has shape so that means that the soul has shape. But what our exact form is in the liberated condition in the spiritual realm when we go to serve Krishna eternally, we don’t know what the exact shape is. But it is there, you could say maybe a seed form within us right now, and by the process of bhakti-yoga that spiritual body becomes developed. And then when we are completely self-realized or when we go back home back to Godhead, we see exactly who we are. 

Srila Prabhupada gave the example that when you are asleep, you could dream you are in any kind of body. You could forget your real identity and dream something completely different but when you wake up immediately you remember, Oh I am so and so, so and so are my parents, I have to get up, I have to bathe, I have to get dressed, I have to whatever, go to the temple, go to school, go to work. When you wake up from your dream everything about your real life, so-called real life or present life, is immediately remembered by you. So in the same way, when we wake up from this dream of material existence we will immediately know. “Oh I am a cowherd boy in Vrindavan, I have to get up, I have to go and meet Krishna and take the cows out to pasture.” Everything about our identity in our eternal service to Krishna will be remembered. So it is there but we are not fully conscious of it and you could even say it is not fully developed yet but it is there in a seed form and as we develop spiritually it will become fully manifest. 

Devotee: Thank you. 

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.