BG 18.54–78

Giriraj Swami: So, we have been asked to speak on the Bhagavad-gītā Chapter Eighteen, which is the last Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā—the conclusion. And I will begin with Text fifty-four.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 54

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

TRANSLATION

One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.

COMMENT

So we’ll have that in Spanish?

Host: One second Maharaja because I am not in my home, and I am looking for it on the internet, and the internet is so slow where I’m at right now.

Giriraj Swami: Oh okay, we have a Spanish Gītā?

Host: Can someone read it in Spanish while I look for it, for the purport?

[A devotee is translating into Spanish]

Giriraj Swami: Purport by Srila Prabhupada.

Host: You want me to translate it now, the purport?

Giriraj Swami: I’m just thinking because we have only so much time, maybe I’ll just speak on this verse. So there are many important words in this verse.

So, brahma-bhūtaḥ means being one with the absolute and prasannātmā means fully joyful. So when we come to Krishna consciousness, we should be prasannātmā, we should be fully joyful. Because to begin, we realize that we are not the body, that all miseries pertain to the body, but we are not the body, we are the ātmā or soul within the body, and the ātmā is by nature joyful. The spirit soul is part and parcel of this Supreme Soul, Krishna, and the Supreme Soul, Krishna, is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, He is always full of ānanda or bliss. So we are by nature blissful. And when we realize our identity with Brahman, we become fully joyful.

And then na śocati na kāṅkṣati, never laments or desires to have anything. In one talk in Boston, Srila Prabhupada said how every conditioned soul is just hankering and lamenting, hankering and lamenting, hankering and lamenting, they’re never satisfied. At one time, the richest man in the world was John Paul Getty, and one interviewer asked him, “Can you tell us in one word what is your philosophy of life?” And, he said, “Yes, more.” Now, that’s a pretty sad statement in a way because it means, with all that he had, he wasn’t satisfied, he wanted more. So that is, kāṅkṣati, hankering, hankering for more, not satisfied. But a devotee, he is satisfied, or fully joyful, prasannātmā. And samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, he is equally disposed toward every living entity. He sees every living entity as part and parcel of God. And as parts and parcel of God or as children of God, he wants to serve them by helping to awaken their Krishna consciousness, and as we will read soon, that work of preaching is very dear to Krishna. The preacher is very dear to Krishna.

TEXT 55

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti

yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā

viśate tad-anantaram

TRANSLATION

One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

So that is our goal, to enter into the kingdom of God, specifically Goloka Vrindavan, where we can associate with Krishna in loving reciprocation. And I will read a little from the purport.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

One who is fully conversant with the Kṛṣṇa science becomes eligible to enter into the spiritual kingdom, the abode of Kṛṣṇa. Becoming Brahman does not mean that one loses his identity. Devotional service is there, and as long as devotional service exists, there must be God, the devotee, and the process of devotional service. Such knowledge is never vanquished, even after liberation. Liberation involves getting free from the concept of material life; in spiritual life the same distinction is there, the same individuality is there, but in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Impersonalists generally give the example of a river flowing into the ocean and merging. This may be a source of happiness for the impersonalist, but the personalist keeps his personal individuality like an aquatic in the ocean. We find so many living entities within the ocean, if we go deep.

COMMENT

So at every step, Srila Prabhupada is counteracting or defeating the impersonal philosophy. And Srila Prabhupada refers to the impersonalist example of the river flowing into the ocean and merging into the ocean, but even in the ocean there are people, aquatics, so Krishna consciousness or devotional service is the state of activities after liberation. It is not that activities cease after liberation. Material activity cease but spiritual activities become prominent. And in the last paragraph, Srila Prabhupada makes the same point, he says that. . .

PURPORT (continued)

After liberation the process of bhakti, or transcendental service, continues. The Vedānta-sūtra (4.1.12) confirms this: ā-prāyaṇāt tatrāpi hi dṛṣṭam. This means that after liberation the process of devotional service continues. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, real devotional liberation is defined as the reinstatement of the living entity in his own identity, his own constitutional position.

COMMENT

Yes, the Bhāgavatam says muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ, that means mukti, liberation, hitvānyathā rūpaṁ—giving up all other false identities, muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa; svarūpa, one’s constitutional position, sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ, being reinstated in one’s constitutional position.

Yeah, so mukti means giving up all other false identifications and being reinstated in one’s constitutional position as a servant of Krishna.

So now, well, there are so many beautiful verses. Alright, we’ll go to Text fifty-seven, one of my favorites.

Are you with me?

Host: Yes

Giriraj Swami:

TEXT 57

cetasā sarva-karmāṇi

mayi sannyasya mat-paraḥ

buddhi-yogam upāśritya

mac-cittaḥ satataṁ bhava

TRANSLATION

In all activities just depend upon Me and work always under My protection. In such devotional service, be fully conscious of Me.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

When one acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he does not act as the master of the world. Just like a servant, one should act fully under the direction of the Supreme Lord.

A servant acting on behalf of the supreme master is unaffected by profit and loss. He simply discharges his duty faithfully in terms of the order of the Lord.

COMMENT

And here Srila Prabhupada raises a very important point, he says. . .

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Now, one may argue that Arjuna was acting under the personal direction of Kṛṣṇa but when Kṛṣṇa is not present how should one act? If one acts according to the direction of Kṛṣṇa in this book, as well as under the guidance of the representative of Kṛṣṇa, then the result will be the same.

The Sanskrit word mat-paraḥ is very important in this verse. It indicates that one has no goal in life save and except acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness just to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. And while working in that way, one should think of Kṛṣṇa only: “I have been appointed to discharge this particular duty by Kṛṣṇa.” While acting in such a way, one naturally has to think of Kṛṣṇa.

One should, however, note that after doing something whimsically he should not offer the result to the Supreme Lord. That sort of duty is not in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One should act according to the order of Kṛṣṇa. This is a very important point. That order of Kṛṣṇa comes through disciplic succession from the bona fide spiritual master. Therefore the spiritual master’s order should be taken as the prime duty of life. If one gets a bona fide spiritual master and acts according to his direction, then one’s perfection of life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is guaranteed.

COMMENT

So then after having explained the whole Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, in Text sixty-three Krishna says to Arjuna. . .

TEXT 63

iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ

guhyād guhya-taraṁ mayā

vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa

yathecchasi tathā kuru

TRANSLATION

Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Here the words yathecchasi tathā kuru – “As you like, you may act” – indicate that God does not interfere with the little independence of the living entity.

COMMENT

And toward the end of the purport, Srila Prabhupada explains. . .

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Arjuna is being directly ordered by the Personality of Godhead to fight. Surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is in the best interest of the living entities. It is not for the interest of the Supreme. Before surrendering, one is free to deliberate on this subject as far as the intelligence goes; that is the best way to accept the instruction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such instruction comes also through the spiritual master, the bona fide representative of Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENT

And then Krishna gives His final instructions to Arjuna. Text sixty-four.

TEXT 64

sarva-guhyatamaṁ bhūyaḥ

śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ

iṣṭo ‘si me dṛḍham iti

tato vakṣyāmi te hitam

TRANSLATION

Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit.

COMMENT

And what Krishna is saying to Arjuna, also applies to us. “Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit.”

Now here we come, this is it, these extra verses are the conclusion.

TEXT 65

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto

mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru

mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te

pratijāne priyo ‘si me

TRANSLATION

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada often emphasized how simple these four processes are, man-manā—think of Krishna, and that can be achieved very easily by chanting the holy names of Krishna. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And bhava mad-bhakto—become my devotee. If we chant Hare Krishna then naturally, we will become Krishna’s devotee. mad-yājī—worship Krishna, that is also very easy. māṁ namaskuru—offer obeisances unto Me, and that is also very easy.

TEXT 66

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo

mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

TRANSLATION

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

COMMENT

And what exactly does surrender mean? There is a nice verse that describes the six divisions of surrender. It appears in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa and also in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta: ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ pratikūlyasya varjanam. So ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ means to accept whatever is favorable, ānukūl means favorable and pratikūlyasya varjanam and to reject whatever is unfavorable. Rakṣhiṣhyatīti viśhvāso goptṛitve varaṇaṁ tathā, that means that one should consider that Krishna is one’s only protector.

So yes, rakṣhiṣhyatīti viśhvāso, so one should have a strong conviction that Krishna will protect one and provide for him. And then the last item is ātmanikṣhepa, which means full surrender and kārpaṇye means humility. These are the six divisions of surrender, so we should refer to this verse and see how we are doing in terms of our surrender. And as Srila Prabhupada wrote, surrender is in our interest, it’s not particularly in the interest of the Lord, but it’s in our interest. So we should see how we are doing in terms of these six items.

So now, we’ve received the ultimate instructions of Krishna in terms of our personal practice and then Krishna glorifies the preacher and tells us what result awaits the preacher.

TEXT 68

ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ

mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati

bhaktiṁ mayi parāṁ kṛtvā

mām evaiṣyaty asaṁśayaḥ

TRANSLATION

For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.

TEXT 69

na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu

kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ

bhavitā na ca me tasmād

anyaḥ priya—taro bhuvi

TRANSLATION

There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.

COMMENT

So certainly, Srila Prabhupada exemplified these verses, thus he is the dear most servant of Lord Krishna.

So then, having spoken so much to Arjuna, Krishna asked Arjuna, “What is your position?”

TEXT 72

kaccid etac chrutaṁ pārtha

tvayaikāgreṇa cetasā

kaccid ajñāna-sammohaḥ

praṇaṣṭas te dhanañ-jaya

TRANSLATION

O son of Pṛthā, O conqueror of wealth, have you heard this with an attentive mind? And are your ignorance and illusions now dispelled?

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Lord was acting as the spiritual master of Arjuna. Therefore it was His duty to inquire from Arjuna whether he understood the whole Bhagavad-gītā in its proper perspective. If not, the Lord was ready to re-explain any point, or the whole Bhagavad-gītā if so required. Actually, anyone who hears Bhagavad-gītā from a bona fide spiritual master like Kṛṣṇa or His representative will find that all his ignorance is dispelled.

COMMENT

And now, what did Arjuna reply?

TEXT 73

arjuna uvāca

naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā

tvat-prasādān mayācyuta

sthito ‘smi gata-sandehaḥ

kariṣye vacanaṁ tava

TRANSLATION

Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.

COMMENT

That should be our conclusion, as well. Yes, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava, I’m prepared to act according to Your instructions.

And we come now to the last verse of the Bhagavad-gītā.

TEXT 78

yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo

yatra pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ

tatra śrīr vijayo bhūtir

dhruvā nītir matir mama 

TRANSLATION

Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.

COMMENT

So we should always try to keep company with Krishna and Arjuna, and we will enjoy the benefits of śrī—opulence, vijay—victory, bhūtir—exceptional power, and nītir—morality.

This has been a very exhilarating discussion, and I thank the organizers for inviting me and giving me such a nectarean subject. And now if there is time, we can take questions and comments. I guess if you want to say something you can raise your hand. And again, as far as possible, please turn on your cameras so we can see you.

Host: Okay there is a question, let me see if I can see it, I don’t know how to get the question.

Giriraj Swami: There is a question in the chat.

Host: Yes, I’m trying to get it. I’m on my cell phone, I really don’t know how to get the questions out, that I’m figuring out in one second.

Hare Krishna, it is from Devaki-nandana dasa from Uruguay. “Hare Krishna, my reverence, what happens when there is no joy in the process, to see as we see that the heart is full of so many dirty things and that we are so far away from the ideal?”

Giriraj Swami: Well, actually there is a very nice verse in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which describes, let me read it, I mean it has a wonderful purport, fantastic purport. Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, Texts twenty-seven and twenty-eight.

TEXT 27–28

jāta-śraddho mat-kathāsu
nirviṇṇaḥ sarva-karmasu
veda duḥkhātmakān kāmān
parityāge ’py anīśvaraḥ

tato bhajeta māṁ prītaḥ
śraddhālur dṛḍha-niścayaḥ
juṣamāṇaś ca tān kāmān
duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan

Host: Maharaja, please pardon me, we should read this verse in Spanish because we didn’t read in Spanish and then there are some people on Facebook so they could listen also.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, so do you have it in Spanish?

Host: I think I do, I don’t see the translation here for the Canto eleven because I do have it at home but I’m not at home, but I will try my best to translate the text.

Giriraj Swami: So these two verses and the purport, addresses the part of his question that he is far from the ideal.

TRANSLATION

Having awakened faith in the narrations of My glories, being disgusted with all material activities, knowing that all sense gratification leads to misery, but still being unable to renounce all sense enjoyment. My devotee should remain happy and worship Me with great faith and conviction. Even though he is sometimes engaged in sense enjoyment, My devotee knows that all sense gratification leads to a miserable result. And he sincerely repents such activities.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

So a sincere devotee has practically seen that all material activities lead only to sense gratification and all sense gratification leads only to misery, thus a devotee’s sincere desire is to engage twenty-four hours a day in the loving service of Lord Krsna without any personal motivation. The word anīśvara

indicates that because of one’s past sinful activities and bad habits one may not be able to completely extinguish the enjoying spirit. The Lord here encourages such a devotee not to be overly depressed or morose, but to remain enthusiastic and to go on with his loving service. The word dṛḍha-niścaya (“steadfast conviction”)

indicates that in any circumstance a devotee is completely determined to go on with his prescribed duties for Krishna, thus the devotee thinks, “By my previous shameful life, my heart is polluted with many illusory attachments, but whether the Lord removes such attachments immediately or lets me go on being afflicted by them. I will never give up my devotional service. Although I am attached to material things, I can see very clearly that they lead to no good. Therefore, I sincerely repent my foolish attachments to so many material things and I am patiently waiting for Lord Krsna’s mercy.”

The word prīta indicates that a devotee feels exactly like the son or subject of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is very attached with his relationship with the Lord. Therefore, although sincerely lamenting occasional lapses into sense enjoyment, he never gives up his enthusiasm to serve Lord Krsna.

COMMENT

So I think this addresses that part of the question about the devotee Devaki-nandana dasa’s feeling far from his ideal, that he should still continue with enthusiasm and sincerely repent his occasional lapses into sense gratification. And then, what was the other part of the question?

Host: Why are we so far from the ideal? Or I would say, from the goal?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah well, I did address that with that verse.

Host: There is a devotee that would like to ask a question.

Giriraj Swami: Okay.

Host: Hare Krishna, he wants to know where he could find the verse?

Giriraj Swami: It’s in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Eleven, Chapter Twenty, verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight.

Host: Hare Krishna, we have a question from Sripada Madhvacharya prabhu.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I just wanted to say that thank you so much for your nectarean kathā, and I’m feeling very encouraged and inspired, thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. Malati dasi has her hand up.

Devotee: Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. As you said that we have got minute independence and we tend to do the worst by using it, so as said Krishna hears all your prayers, and if we are praying in such a way that please like we want to be fully dependent, we don’t want that minute independence because we tend to do all the wrong things, so how do we come to know that the action performed by us is guided by Krishna and your spiritual master? So because if the prayer is answered all your prayers are answered, so Krishna does help in such things like such prayer, so how do we come to know that we are guided in the right way? Your action is guided by Krishna and your spiritual master.

Giriraj Swami: Well if what you are doing is according to Krishna and your spiritual master, then you know you are being guided by them. And if your actions are contrary to their instructions, then you are probably being guided by your mind under the influence of maya. But in your case, I doubt that happens.

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja

Giriraj Swami: There is a hand up. Chandrika Priya dasi.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet, all glories to you, all glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you for the very nice class Guru Maharaja, I just had a question regarding the verse where Krishna says that those who preach to the devotees are the most dear to Me, but Guru Maharaja, sometimes we don’t know whether we are actually, like, when we distribute books we don’t know whether we are giving to devotees sometimes because I mean they are interested in spirituality most of them who take the books, so how do we like. . . how can we distinguish or be careful on that part?

Giriraj Swami: Well Srila Prabhupada has explained that devotees can be more merciful than Krishna. And sometimes they take a risk in presenting the message of the Bhagavad-gītā. That people who are not really qualified to hear the message, they might also hear it but we don’t know, and so we take the chance. And Srila Prabhupada, yeah, he encouraged book distribution and as he sometimes said, the books are like time bombs. A time bomb is a bomb that has a clock attached to it, and it will not go off immediately but it will go off after some time, it will explode after some time. So similarly, we may give the book to someone and the person may not read it immediately. He may keep it on the shelf and then sometime later open it. Or he may give the book away to someone else and then that person or someone in touch with that person will benefit. So we should distribute the books as far as possible, the distribution will never go in vain.

Devotee: Thank you, Guru Maharaja. Thank you, a lot. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Maharaja, may I ask you one question also?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: [01:30:45 Inaudible] Krishna says, “Surrender unto Me, abandon all the other religions.” So, this translation is dharma, dharma being translated as religion because we don’t have in English equivalent for dharma, Prabhupada translated as a religion but it doesn’t really convey the whole meaning of what dharma mean, so my question is, do you think Maharaja that sometimes devotees misunderstand the meaning of “he should give up”? In other words giving up, sometimes devotees they give up their families, their children, send them to Krishna in the name of surrender because they understand this verse [01:31:46 Inaudible] they want to surrender to Krishna, the mode of passion but then there is like a negative outcome and then they you know, I don’t know but let me translate it in Spanish myself because I think it’s kind of a very long sentence.

Giriraj Swami: To surrender to Krishna means to do what Krishna wants. Now, in general, Krishna doesn’t want you to abandon your family responsibilities or abandon your children. Srila Prabhupada often says, “You don’t have to give up anything, but you just add Krishna to what you are already doing.” There is a very important verse in the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that says that no one should become a father or a mother or a husband or a guru, unless he or she can deliver his dependent from the repetition of birth and death. So you should not give up your responsibilities, but you should execute your duties in Krishna consciousness. And then everything will be adjusted properly.

Devotee: Okay, thank you, Maharaja.

Host: Anyone else? Maharaja, when should we end? We almost did two hours now.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, we can end now

Host: If there are no more questions, perhaps we can take one more question, and then if there is no more question, then maybe we finish here?

Host: Seems like we do not have any question, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Alright, then I suggest that we conclude by offering Vaishnava praṇāma.

[Giriraj Swami leads the Vaishnava praṇāma]

Host: Thank you so much Maharaja. Thank you again.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you.