BG 3.10

Giriraj Swami: We shall read from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Three, “Karma-yoga,” Text Ten.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 10

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā
purovāca prajāpatiḥ
anena prasaviṣyadhvam
eṣa vo ‘stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

TRANSLATION

In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The material creation by the Lord of creatures (Viṣṇu) is a chance offered to the conditioned souls to come back home – back to Godhead. All living entities within the material creation are conditioned by material nature because of their forgetfulness of their relationship to Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT

Reading this I was reminded of a statement that Srila Prabhupada made, that we will not say that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one purport, we will say that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every purport. And he does it right here. 

PURPORT (continued)

The Vedic principles are to help us understand this eternal relation, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. The Lord says that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Him. In the Vedic hymns it is said: patiṁ viśvasyātmeśvaram. Therefore, the Lord of the living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also (2.4.20) Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes the Lord as pati in so many ways:

śriyaḥ patir yajña-patiḥ prajā-patir
dhiyāṁ patir loka-patir dharā-patiḥ
patir gatiś cāndhaka-vṛṣṇi-sātvatāṁ
prasīdatāṁ me bhagavān satāṁ patiḥ

The prajā-pati is Lord Viṣṇu, and He is the Lord of all living creatures, all worlds, and all beauties, and the protector of everyone. The Lord created this material world to enable the conditioned souls to learn how to perform yajñas (sacrifices) for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, so that while in the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety, and after finishing the present material body they can enter into the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

So, this is a very nice proposal. I think we would all agree that we would like to follow this course of action, and that is. . .

PURPORT (continued)

While in the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety, and after finishing the present material body they can enter into the kingdom of God. That is the whole program for the conditioned soul.

COMMENT

And how do we realize that? How do we fulfill that?

PURPORT (continued)

By performance of yajña, the conditioned souls gradually become Kṛṣṇa conscious and become godly in all respects. In the Age of Kali, the saṅkīrtana-yajña (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age. Saṅkīrtana-yajña and Kṛṣṇa consciousness go well together. Lord Kṛṣṇa in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the saṅkīrtana-yajña:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

“In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña.”

COMMENT

So, just to discuss the verse in a little more detail, varṇaṁ has two meanings. One is category, varnashrama-dharma. So, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ means He is in the category of Krishna. And varṇaṁ also means to describe or glorify. So, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ means He is in the category of Krishna, meaning He is Krishna, and He is always glorifying or describing Krishna. And tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ means but His color is not Krishna, which means blackish, and we know it is golden. Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam, and He is accompanied by His associates who are His astras, His weapons for fighting Kali-yuga, for defeating the influence of Kali.

TEXT 32

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ

sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam

yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair

COMMENT

Again, by the performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña, yajanti, He is worshiped by the performance of the saṅkīrtana-yajña, He is sumedhasaḥ, by those who are very intelligent. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna uses the word [Unintelligible 00:14:14], which means less intelligent, or unintelligent, to refer to the worshipers of the demigods. And here, he uses the opposite word; sumedhasaḥ—highly intelligent, to describe those who perform saṅkīrtana-yajña. So, if anyone accuses you of being unintelligent, you can say, “No. It is right here in the shastra. I am highly intelligent because I engage in saṅkīrtana-yajña.”

PURPORT (continued)

Other yajñas prescribed in the Vedic literatures are not easy to perform in this Age of Kali, but the saṅkīrtana-yajña is easy and sublime for all purposes, as recommended in Bhagavad-gītā also (9.14).

COMMENT

And you are familiar with this verse, but still, I will read it because it is so relevant, and Srila Prabhupada mentions it.

TEXT 14

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate

TRANSLATION

Always chanting My glories.

COMMENT

Or always engaging in kirtan. This is the same instruction that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gives in His Śikṣāṣṭakam—kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. 

TRANSLATION

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination.

COMMENT

Dṛḍha-vratāḥ means strong determination. Namasyantaś, offering obeisances. Ca māṁ bhaktyā, in devotion. Nitya-yuktā upāsate, perpetually worshiping.

TRANSLATION

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.

COMMENT

Of course, it is a very nice purport, but I will just skip ahead.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As described in the second verse of this chapter, not only is this devotional service easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyāsī or a brahmacārī; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahātmā, a great soul.

COMMENT

When we were staying with Srila Prabhupada in Bombay at Sea Face Park, before we had proper arrangements for Srila Prabhupada in Juhu, he had one friend named Karekeya Mahadevya, who had a flat at Sea Face Park, and Karekeya Mahadevya had a brother, [Unintelligible 00:19:22], who also had a flat at Sea Face Park, and that flat was vacant. And so, Srila Prabhupada and some disciples were staying there, and every evening, he would speak on The Nectar of Devotion to the devotees. But occasionally, someone from the area would hear that Srila Prabhupada was speaking and come, and then Srila Prabhupada would immediately shift the level of discourse from The Nectar of Devotion to the Bhagavad-gītā. 

So, one evening, a big Hindu named B.M. Kamdaar came, and he asked Srila Prabhupada, “India is the land of mahatmas. So, everything should be good in India, but there are so many problems. How could there be so many problems in the presence of so many mahatmas?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “The reason there are so many problems is that you do not know how to distinguish who is a mahatma and who is not a mahatma.” And in the course of the conversation, he alluded indirectly to Mahatma Gandhi. He may not have fit the description of a mahatma given in the Bhagavad-gītā, but here in this verse, and in the previous verse, 9.13. . .

TEXT 13 

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

TRANSLATION

O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.

COMMENT

And also, earlier in the Bhagavad-gītā, Sri Krishna says. . .

TEXT 19

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ

COMMENT

Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante, after many births and deaths, one who is actually wise, surrenders to Krishna. Such a mahatma is very rare.

When I was a new devotee in Boston, in the day, we would go out to the Boston Commons and chant, and some of the devotees would circulate amongst the crowd that would gather to witness the hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana and distribute magazines. And I always stayed around the saṅkīrtana party, but one day, for some reason, I guess I had to get something from a shop, so I walked a block or two away to Common Wealth Avenue, one of the main streets in Boston, and as I was walking on the sidewalk, an ordinary, middle aged American man, seeing me, started going like this, “Mahatma, mahatma, mahatma.” I didn’t particularly consider myself a mahatma, but he continuously did that. 

So, now, this is the whole program for the conditioned soul. By performance of yajña, and especially saṅkīrtana-yajña, he can live comfortably and happily in his life, without any anxiety, and at the end, go back home, back to Godhead. That is the whole program for the conditioned soul. And so, it is very appropriate that we are gathering to perform hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana.

So, now, there is going to be more kirtan, right? Madhukant Prabhu, what is the program, actually? Well, I will say we can take a few minutes for questions and comments, and then we can have more kirtan. So, if you have any questions or comments?

Yes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:25:51].

Giriraj Swami: Did you all hear? Well, we want to have enough facility so that we can live comfortably and not be distracted by material wants. But we shouldn’t stay in our comfort zone. That is a different use of the word comfort. We should not stay in our comfort zone, in the sense that we don’t try to go beyond what’s comfortable and easy for us, or rather, we should do things that may be challenging to us. That will help us to progress in Krishna consciousness and help spread Krishna consciousness.

So, Srila Prabhupada liked his books to be distributed. It may not be easy to go out and distribute books, but they go out of their comfort zone to please Srila Prabhupada and increase their Krishna consciousness. And then, after leaving their comfort zone, they can come back to their comfortable home and engage in Krishna consciousness there.

Any other questions or comments?