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The Upanishad
The Upanishad (उपनिषद्, Upaniṣad) are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most schools of Hinduism.

A note: When -a a- come together at the join in a Sanskrit compound word, they run together to form -ā-, e.g. Vedānta is from Veda-anta = “Veda end”. See sandhi.
The Upanishad are commentaries on the Veda, their putative end and essence, and thus known as Vedānta = “End of the Veda”. The term Upanishad derives from the Sanskrit words upa (near), ni (down) and ṣad (to sit) = “sitting down near” a spiritual teacher to receive instruction in the Guru-shishya tradition or parampara. The teachers and students appear in a variety of settings (husband answering questions about immortality, a teenage boy being taught by Yama, or Death personified, etc.). Sometimes the sages are women and at times the instructions (or rather inspiration) are sought by kings.

Different Upanishad serve as commentaries or extensions of each of the four Veda (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda and Atharvaveda). The longest Upanishad are the Bŗhadāraṇyaka and the Chhāndogya.

According to tradition they were transmitted orally and at the end of Dvapara Yuga written down by Vyasa. Scholars’ opinions vary on when they first were written and estimates range between the 16th to 7th century BCE. Most scholars agree that many of the early Upanishads were written before the time of Buddha. Initially there were over two hundred Upanishads, but the philosopher Shankara only considered fifteen or so to be primary. Of the 123 books considered to be part of the Upanishad, 12 are accepted by all Hindus as primary. The Upanishad were not fully recorded until 1656, at the order of Dara Shikoh.

These philosophical and meditative tracts form the backbone of Hindu thought. Of the early Upanishads, the Aitareya and Kauṣītāki belong to the Rig Veda, Kena and Chhāndogya to the Samaveda, Īṣa and Taittirīya and Bŗhadāraṇyaka to the Yajurveda, and Praṣna and Muṇd.aka to the Atharvaveda. (Associated Upanishad and Vedic book information taken from Radhakrishnan Indian Philosophy, Vol. 1.) In addition, the Māṇd.ukya, Katha, Ṣvetāṣvatara are very important. Others also include Mahānārāyaṇa and Maitreyi Upanishads as key.

Origins
Scholarly breakdowns of the Vedic books see the four Vedas as poetic liturgy, collectively called mantra or sam.hitā-, adoration and supplication to a sort of melded monist and henotheist notion of the Gods/Goddesses and an overarching Order (Ŗta) that transcended even the Gods and stemmed from One Ultimate Source.

The Brāhmaṇa were a collection of ritual instructions, books detailing the priestly functions (which first were available to all men, and so concretized into strictly Brahmin privilege). These came after the Mantra.

Then we have the Upanishad, which consist of the Aranyaka and Upanishad. The `Araṇyaka’ (”of the forest”) detail meditative yogic practices, contemplations of the mystic one and the manifold manifested principles. The Upanishad basically realized all the monist and universal mystical ideas that started in earlier Vedic hymns, and have exerted an influence unprecedented on the rest of Hindu and Indian philosophy. However, by adherents they are not considered philosophy alone, and form meditations and practical teachings for those advanced enough to benefit from their wisdom.

The Upanishad give no clue as to when and who composed these texts. This anonymity emphasizes the eternal nature of the truths within. Often, critics of the Hindu/Vedic tradition will use the term Brahminical to imply a karma-kanda, or ritual-based mode of worship, a priests’ word that loses sight of deeper spirituality. However, it is widely acknowledged that those who wrote the mystic verse of the Upanishads were in all likelihood Brahmins as well.

Contents
The Taittiriya Upanishad says this in the Ninth Chapter:
“He who knows the Bliss of Brahman, whence words together with the mind turn away, unable to reach It? He is not afraid of anything whatsoever. He does not distress himself with the thought: “Why did I not do what is good? Why did I do what is evil?”. Whosoever knows this regards both these as Atman; indeed he cherishes both these as Atman. Such, indeed, is the Upanishad, the secret knowledge of Brahman.”

The Upanishad hold information on basic Hindu beliefs, including belief in a world soul, a universal spirit, Brahman, and an individual soul, Atman (Smith 10). A variety of lesser gods are seen as aspects of this one divine ground, Brahman (different from Brahma). Brahman is the ultimate, both transcendent and immanent, the absolute infinite existence, the sum total of all that ever is, was, or ever shall be. For Advaita philosophers Brahman is not a God in the monotheistic sense, as they do not ascribe to it any limiting characteristics, not even those of being and non-being, and this is reflected in the fact that in Sanskrit, the word brahman is of neuter (as opposed to masculine or feminine) gender. Dvaita philosophy holds that Brahman is ultimately a personal God, Vishnu, or Krishna (brahmano hi pratisthaham, Bhagavad Gita 14.27).

“Who is the Knower” “What makes my mind think?” “Does life have a purpose, or is it governed by chance?” “What is the cause of the Cosmos?” The sages of the Upanishad try to solve these mysteries and seek knowledge of a Reality beyond ordinary knowing. They also show a preoccupation with states of consciousness, and observed and analysed dreams as well as dreamless sleep.

The philosophy of the Upanishad
Due to their mystic nature and intense philosophical bent that does away with all ritual and completely embraces principals of One Brahman and the inner Atman, the Upanishad have a universal feel that has led to their explication in numerous manners, giving birth to the three schools of Vedanta.

Monist philosopher Adi Shankara summed up all the Upanishad in one phrase “Tat Twam Asi” (Thou Art That) and said that in the end, the ultimate, formless, inconceivable Brahman is the same as our soul, Atman. We only have to realize it through discrimination and piercing through Maya.

A distinctive quotation that is indicative of the call to self-realization, one that inspired Somerset Maugham in titling a book he wrote on Christopher Isherwood, is as follows:

Get up! Wake up! Seek the guidance of an
Illumined teacher and realize the Self.
Sharp like a razor’s edge is the path,
The sages say, difficult to traverse.
— Death Instructing Nachiketa in the Katha (Word) Upanishad

The Upanishads also contain the first and most definitive explications of aum as the divine word, the cosmic vibration that underlies all existence and contains multiple trinities of being and principles subsumed into its One Self. The Isha says of the Self (Verses 6, 7 & 8 of Ishopanishad):

Whoever sees all beings in the soul
and the soul in all beings
does not shrink away from this.
In whom all beings have become one with the knowing soul
what delusion or sorrow is there for the one who sees unity?
It has filled all.
It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable,
without tendons, pure, untouched by evil.
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
it organizes objects throughout eternity.
“Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti” This, too, is found first in the Upanishads, the call for tranquility, for divine stillness, for Peace everlasting.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “The Upanishad”.

Love’s not attachment. Love does not yield sorrow. Love has no despair or hope. Love cannot be made respectable, part of the social scheme. When it is not there, every form of travail begins.
To possess and to be possessed is considered a form of love. This urge to possess, a person or a piece of property, is not merely the demands of society and circumstances but springs from a far deeper source. It comes from the depths of loneliness. Each one tries to fill this loneliness in different ways, drink, organized religion, belief, some form of activity and so on. All these are escapes but it’s still there.
To commit oneself to some organization, to some belief or action is to be possessed by them, negatively; and positively is to possess. The negative and positive possessiveness is doing good, changing the world and the so-called love. To control another, to shape another in the name of love is the urge to possess; the urge to find security, safety in another and the comfort. Self-forgetfulness through another, through some activity makes for attachment. From this attachment, there’s sorrow and despair and from this there is the reaction, to be detached. And from this contradiction of attachment and detachment arises conflict and frustration.
There’s no escape from loneliness: it is a fact and escape from facts breeds confusion and sorrow.
But not to possess anything is an extraordinary state, not even to possess an idea, let alone a person or a thing. When idea, thought, takes root, it has already become a possession and then the war to be free begins. And this freedom is not freedom at all; it’s only a reaction. Reactions take root and our life is the ground in which roots have grown. To cut all the roots, one by one, is a psychological absurdity. It cannot be done. Only the fact, loneliness, must be seen and then all other things fade away.

Avatars
In Hinduism, an avatar or avatara (Sanskrit अवतार), is the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of an Immortal Being, or of the Ultimate Supreme Being. It derives from the Sanskrit word avatāra which means “descent” and usually implies a deliberate descent into mortal realms for special purposes. The term is used primarily in Hinduism, for incarnations of Vishnu the Preserver, whom many Hindus worship as God. The Dasavatara (see below) are ten particular “great” incarnations of Vishnu.

Unlike Christianity, and Shaivism, Vaishnavism believes that God takes a special (including human) form whenever there is a decline of righteousness (dharma) and rise of evil. Lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, according to Vaishnavism that is espoused by Ramanuja and Madhva, and God in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, said in the Gita: “For the protection of the good, for destruction of evil, and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age.” (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, verse 8.) In any event, all Hindus believe that there is no difference between worship of Vishnu and His avatars as it all leads to Him.

The word has also been used by extension by non-Hindus to refer to the incarnations of God in other religions, notably Christianity, for example Jesus.

Teachings and significance
The philosophy reflected in the Hindu epics is the doctrine of the avatar (incarnation of Vishnu or God as an animal or a human form). The two main avatars of Vishnu that appear in the epics are Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, and Krishna, the friend of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. Unlike the superhuman devas (gods) of the Vedic Samhitas and the abstract Upanishadic concept of the all-pervading Brahman, the avatars in these epics are intermediaries between the Supreme Being represented as either Saguna Brahman or Nirguna Brahman and mere mortals.

This doctrine has had a great impact on Hindu religious life, for to many it means that God has manifested Himself in a form that could be appreciated even by the least sophisticated. Rama and Krishna have remained prominent as beloved and adored manifestations of the Divine for thousands of years among Hindus. The Upanishadic concept of the underlying unity of Brahman is revered by many to be the pinnacle of Hindu thought, and the concept of the avatars has purveyed this concept to the average Hindu as an expression of the manifestation of the Hindu’s highest single divinity as an aid to humanity in difficult times. The Hindu cycle of creation and destruction contains the essence of the idea of “avatars” and indeed relies on a final avatar of Vishnu, that of Kalki, as the final destructive force at the end of the world.

Aside from Rama and Krishna there are many other human or animal forms which appeared on earth or elsewhere in the universe. Scriptures do not describe any appearance as an avatar by Brahma or Shiva (they are themselves listed as guna avatars) of nirguna Brahman, but emanations of Vishnu have appeared a number of times. Some Hindus, based on the Ramayana, aver that Shiva incarnated once as the monkey-god Hanuman. Hanuman is more well-known as the son of Vayu, the deva of wind or his emanation. (Hanuman lived in a jungle and is called vanara, which means people having characteristics of monkey, and was one of the greatest devotees of Vishnu).

The ten Avatars, or Dasavatara
The Maha Avatara (Great Avatars) of Vishnu are usually said to be ten and this is popularly known as the Dasavatara (dasa (dasha) in Sanskrit means ten). The first four of the ten avatars have appeared in the Krita Yuga (the first of the four Yugas or Ages that comprise one Mahayuga - for more details please read the section above on Lord Brahma). The next three avatars appeared in the Treta Yuga, the eighth incarnation in the Dwapar Yuga and the ninth in the Kali Yuga. The tenth is expected to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga.

Matsya, the fish, appeared in the Satya Yuga.
Kurma, the tortoise, appeared in the Satya Yuga.
Varaha, the boar, appeared in the Satya Yuga.
Narasimha, the Man-Lion (Nara = man, simha = lion), appeared in the Satya Yuga.
Vamana, the Dwarf, appeared in the Treta Yuga.
Parashurama, Rama with the axe, appeared in the Treta Yuga.
Rama, Sri Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya, appeared in the Treta Yuga.
Krishna (meaning dark or black; see also other meanings in the article about him.), appeared in the Dwapar Yuga.
Balarama (meaning one who holds a plough). Balarama is said to have appeared in the Dwaper Yuga (along with Krishna).
Kalki (”Eternity”, or “time”, or “The Destroyer of foulness”), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist, which will end in the year 428899 CE.

The 24 Avatars of the Puranas
Puranas list twenty-five avataras of Vishnu. A description of these is found in the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 1.

1) Catursana 2) Narada 3) Varaha 4) Matsya 5) Yajna 6) Nara-Narayana 7) Kapila 8. Dattatreya 9) Hayasirsa 10) Hamsa 11) Prsnigarbha 12) Rsabha 13) Prithu 14) Narasimha 15) Kurma 16) Dhanvantari 17) Mohini 18) Vamana 19) Parasurama 20) Raghavendra (Rama) 21) Vyasa 22) Balarama 23) Krishna 24) Kalki

Types of avatars

Avatars(as believed) of Madhvacharya. From top (in order of occurrence): Hanuman, Bhima and Shri MadhvacharyaAccording to Madhvacharya, all avatars of Vishnu are alike in potency and every other quality. There is no gradation among them, and perceiving or claiming any differences among avatars is a cause of eternal damnation. (See Madhva’s commentary on the Katha Upanishad, or his Mahabharata-Tatparya-Nirnaya.)
According to Vaishnava doctrine, there are two type of avatars, primary avatars and secondary avatars. The most common type of primary avatars are called Svarupavatars, in which He manifests Himself in His Sat-cid-ananda form. In the primary avatars, such as Narasimha, Rama, Krishna, Vishnu directly descends. The Svarupavatars are subdivided into Amsarupavatars and Purna avatars. In Amsarupavatars, Vishnu is fully present in the body but He is manifest in the person only partially. Such avatars include the first five avatars from Matsya to Vamana except for Narasimha. Narasimha, Rama and Krishna, on the other hand, are types of Purna avatars, in which all the qualities and powers of the Lord are expressed. Narasimha and Rama are also additionally considered to be Lila avatars.
Other avatars are secondary avatars, such as Parashurama in which Vishnu does not directly descend. Parashurama is the only one of the traditional ten avatars that is not a direct descent of Vishnu. There are two types of secondary avatars: 1) Vishnu enters a soul with His form. (e.g., Parashurama) or 2) Vishnu does not enter a soul with His own form, but gives him extraordinary divine powers. (e.g., Veda Vyasa.) The secondary avatar class is sometimes called Saktyamsavatar, Saktyaveshavatar or avesha avatar.
Note that the secondary avatars are not worshipped. Only the direct, primary avatars are worshipped. However, in practice, the direct avatars that are worshipped today are the Purna avatars of Narasimha, Rama and Krishna. Krishna, among most Vaishnavites, is considered to be the highest kind of Purna avatar. However, followers of Chaitanya (including ISKCON), Nimbarka, Vallabhacharya differ philosophically from other Vaishnavites, such as Ramanuja and Madhva and consider Krishna to be the ultimate Godhead, and not simply an avatar. In any event, all Hindus believe that there is no difference between worship of Vishnu and His avatars as it all leads to Him.
References are cited and given below.
A number of people in more recent times have are considered to be avatars by themselves or by others. See List of other people considered to be avatars.

The Ninth Avatar: Balarama or Buddha?
Balarama is the ninth avatar according to Puranic tradition. According to Puranas, Buddha is never considered as a part of Dasa Avatar. In fact, Buddha is against Hinduism and its concepts. Hence it is not at all possible for Hinduism to accept Buddha as one of its avatars. The only avatar in Kali Yuga is that of Kalki and He is yet to appear.

Symbolism
Many claim that the ten avatars represent the evolution of life and of mankind on earth. Matsya, the fish, represents life in water. Kurma, the tortoise, represents the next stage, amphibianism. The third animal, the boar Varaha, symbolizes life on land. Narasimha, the Man-Lion, symbolizes the commencement development of mammals. Vamana, the dwarf, symbolizes this incomplete development of human. Then, Parashurama, the forest-dwelling hermit armed with an axe, connotes completion of the basic development of humankind. The King Rama signals man’s ability to govern nations. Krishna, an expert in the sixty-four fields of science and art according to Hinduism, indicates man’s advancement in cultural and civilization. Buddha, the Enlightened one, symbolizes the enlightenment and social advancement of man. Balarama, whose weapon was a plough could stand for the development of agriculture.

Note that the time of the avatars also has some significance: Thus, kings rule reached its ideal state in Treta Yuga with Rama Avatar and social justice and Dharma reached its ideal state in Dwapar Yuga with the avatar of Krishna. Thus the avatars represent the evolution of life and society with changing epoh from Krita Yuga to Kali yuga. The animal evolution and development connotations also bear striking resemblances to the modern scientific theory of Evolution.

List of other people considered to be avatars
For more details on this topic, see List of people considered to be avatars.
Besides the ten traditional avatars of Hinduism, some other Indian Hindus are considered to be avatars by themselves or by others. Some of these include:

Chaitanya (1486-1534) is claimed to be an avatar of Krishna by the Gaudiya Vaishnavism sect. He is also known as the ‘Golden Avatar’. His appearance is predicted in the latter texts of the Srimad Bhagavatam. For more information, see Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology.
Ayya Vaikundar (1809-1851) According to Akilattirattu Ammanai, the religious book of Ayyavazhi, Lord Vaikundar arose from the sea as the Avatar of Narayana.
Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) and Sri Sarada Devi (1853-1920). Ramakrishna is reported to have said to Swami Vivekananda, “He who was Rama and Krishna is now, in this body, Ramakrishna.” Sarada Devi, who was married to Ramakrishna in a traditional Indian child marriage, is likewise considered by many to be an incarnation of Kali. This pairing of contemporaneous avatars is rare if not unique in Hindu history. Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi, and Vivekananda are worshipped by devotees worldwide as a holy trinity, the latter not as an avatar but as someone who has obtained moksha, total enlightnenment and liberation from samsara, the cycle of birth and death.
Shirdi Sai Baba (18??-1918) some of his followers believed him to be an avatar of Dattatreya
Meher Baba (1894- 1969)
Hans Ji Maharaj (1900-1966) Declared that the Satguru is an avatar with the 64 kalas [1]
Sathya Sai Baba (1926?-1929?-present) claims to be an avatar of Shiva, Shakti and Krishna
Mother Meera (1960-present) claims to be an Avatar of Adipara-Shakti
Narayani Amma (1976-present) claimed as the real Narayani Avatar
Some Hindus with a universalist outlook view the central figures of various non-Hindu religions as avatars. Many others Hindus reject the the idea of avatars outside of traditional Hinduism. Some of these religious figures include:

Zoroaster (Zarathustra) the prophet of Zoroastrianism.
Mahavira (599 BC-527 BC) originator of the tenents of Jainism.
Gautama Buddha (563-483BC-543BC) the key figure in Buddhism. See Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan and Vaishnava Theology.
Jesus (4 BC-36) whose teachings inspired Christianity.
Muhammed (570-632) the prophet of Islam.
Bahá’u'lláh (1817-1892) the founder-prophet of the Bahá’í Faith, believed to be Kalki Avatar.
The label of avatar has been used by others outside of the Indian subcontinent and the umbrella of mainstream religions. Some of these are:

Samael Aun Weor (1917-1977) claimed as the real Kalki Avatar and Buddha Maitreya
Adi Da (1939-present) claims to be the Kalki avatar

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Avatars”.

Osho: The Path of Yoga - Part 1

We live in a deep illusion — the illusion of hope, of future, of tomorrow. As man is, man cannot exist without self-deception.

Nietzsche says somewhere that man cannot live with the true: he needs dreams, he needs illusions, he needs lies to exist. And Nietzsche is true. As man is he cannot exist with the truth. This has to be understood very deeply, because without understanding it there can be no entry into the inquiry which is called Yoga.

The mind has to be understood deeply — the mind which needs lies, the mind which needs illusions, the mind which cannot exist with the real, the mind which needs dreams. You are not only dreaming in the night; even while awake you are continuously dreaming. You may be looking at me, you may be listening to me, but a dream current goes on within you. The mind is continuously creating dreams, images, fantasies.

Now scientists say that a man can live without sleep but he cannot live without dreams. In the old days it was understood that sleep was a necessity, but now modern research says sleep is not really a necessity; sleep is needed only so that you can dream. Dreaming is the necessity. If you are allowed to sleep but not allowed to dream, you will not feel fresh, alive, in the morning. You will feel tired, as if you have not been able to sleep at all.

In the night there are periods — periods for deep sleep and periods for dreaming. There is a rhythm, just like day and night. There is a rhythm: in the beginning you fall into deep sleep for near about forty, forty-five minutes, then the dream phase comes in; then you dream; then again dreamless sleep, then again dreaming. This goes on the whole night. If your sleep is disturbed while you are deeply asleep without dreaming, in the morning you will not feel that you have missed anything. But while you are dreaming if your dream is disturbed then in the morning you will feel completely tired, exhausted.

Now this can be known from the outside. If someone is sleeping you can judge whether he is dreaming or asleep. If he is dreaming his eyes will be continuously moving, as if he is seeing something with closed eyes. When he is fast asleep the eyes will not move; they will remain steady. So if your sleep is disturbed while your eyes are moving, in the morning you will feel tired. While your eyes are not moving sleep can be disturbed; in the morning you will not feel anything is missing.

Many researchers have proved that the human mind feeds on dreams; dreaming is a necessity, and dreaming is total auto-deception. And this is so not only in the night: while awake also the same pattern follows. Even in the day you can notice — sometimes there will be dreams floating in the mind, sometimes there will be no dreams.

When there are dreams you will be doing something but you will be absent. Inside you are occupied. For example, you are here. If your mind is passing through a dream-state you will listen to me without listening at all, because your mind will be occupied within. If you are not in a dreaming state, only then can you listen to me.

Day and night, mind goes on moving from no-dream to dream, then from dream to no-dream again. This is an inner rhythm.

Not only do we continuously dream, in life also we project hopes into the future.

The present is almost always a hell: you can prolong this hell only because of the hope that you have projected into the future. You can live today because of the tomorrow. You are hoping something is going to happen tomorrow — some doors of paradise will open tomorrow. They never open today, and when tomorrow will come it will not come as tomorrow, it will come as today, but by that time your mind has moved again. You go on moving ahead of you: this is what dreaming means. You are not one with the real, that which is nearby, that which is here and now, you are somewhere else — moving ahead, jumping ahead.

And that tomorrow, that future, you have named it in so many ways. People call it heaven, some people call it moksha, but it is always in the future. Somebody is thinking in terms of wealth, but that wealth is going to be in the future. And somebody is thinking in terms of paradise, and that paradise is going to be after you are dead — far away in the future. You waste your present for that which is not: this is what dreaming means. You cannot be here and now. To be just in the moment seems to be arduous.

You can be in the past, because again that is dreaming — memories, remembrance of things which are no more — or you can be in the future, which is projection, which again is creating something out of the past. The future is nothing but the past projected again — more colorful, more beautiful, more pleasant, but it is the past refined.

You cannot think anything other than the past: the future is nothing but the past projected again — and both are not. The present is, but you are never in the present. This is what dreaming means. And Nietzsche is right when he says that man cannot live with the truth. He needs lies, he lives through lies. Nietzsche says that we go on saying that we want the truth, but no one wants it. Our so-called truths are nothing but lies, beautiful lies. No one is ready to see the naked reality.

This mind cannot enter on the path of Yoga because Yoga means a methodology to reveal the truth. Yoga is a method to come to a non-dreaming mind. Yoga is the science to be in the here and now. Yoga means now you are ready not to move into the future. Yoga means now you are ready not to hope, not to jump ahead of your being.

Yoga means to encounter the reality as it is.

So one can enter Yoga, or the path of Yoga, only when he is totally frustrated with his own mind as it is. If you are still hoping that you can gain something through your mind, Yoga is not for you. A total frustration is needed — the revelation that this mind which projects is futile, the mind that hopes is nonsense, it leads nowhere. It simply closes your eyes, it intoxicates you, it never allows reality to be revealed to you. It protects you against reality.

Your mind is a drug. It is against that which is. So unless you are totally frustrated with your mind, with your way of being, with the way you have existed up to now…if you can drop it unconditionally, then you can enter on the path.

So many become interested but very few enter, because your interest may be just because of your mind. You may be hoping that now, through Yoga, you may gain something, but the achieving motive is there — that you may become perfect through Yoga, you may reach to the blissful state of perfect being, you may become one with the Brahman, you may achieve the satchitananda…. This may be the cause of why you are interested in Yoga. If this is the cause then there can be no meeting between you and the path which is Yoga. Then you are totally against it, moving in a totally opposite dimension.

Yoga means: “Now no hope, now no future, now no desires. But I am ready to know what is. I am not interested in what can be, what should be, what ought to be. I am not interested! I am interested only in that which is” — because only the real can free you, only the reality can become liberation.

Total despair is needed. That despair is called dukkha by Buddha. If you are really in misery don’t hope, because your hope will only prolong the misery. Your hope is a drug. It can help you to continue, but where are you moving? It will help you to reach only death and nowhere else. All your hopes can lead you only to death — they are leading.

Become totally hopeless — no future, no hope. Difficult…it needs courage to face the real. But such a moment comes to everyone, sometime or other. A moment comes to every human being when he feels total hopelessness. Absolute meaninglessness happens to him. When he becomes aware that whatsoever he is doing is useless, wheresoever he is going he is going to nowhere, all life is meaningless — suddenly hopes drop. Future drops, and for the first time you are in tune with the present, for the first time you are face to face with reality.

Unless this moment comes to you…you can go on doing asanas, postures; that is not Yoga. Yoga is an inward turning. It is a total about-turn. When you are not moving into the future, not moving towards the past, then you start moving within yourself — because your being is here and now, it is not in the future. You are present here and now, you can enter this reality. But then mind has to be here.

This moment is indicated by the first sutra of Patanjali. Before we talk about the first sutra, a few other things have to be understood.

Yoga is not a religion, remember that. Yoga is not Hindu, it is not Mohammedan. Yoga is a pure science just like mathematics, physics or chemistry. Physics is not Christian, physics is not Buddhist. If Christians have discovered the laws of physics, then too physics is not Christian. It is just accidental that Christians have come to discover the laws of physics. But physics remains just a science. Yoga is a science — it is just an accident that Hindus discovered it. It is not Hindu. It is a pure mathematics of the inner being. So a Mohammedan can be a yogi, a Christian can be a yogi, a Jaina, a Buddhist can be a yogi.

Yoga is pure science.

And Patanjali is the greatest name as far as the world of Yoga is concerned. This man is rare — there is no other name comparable to Patanjali. For the first time in the history of humanity this man brought religion to the status of a science. He made religion a science: pure laws, no belief is needed.

So-called religions need beliefs. There is no other difference between one religion and another; the difference is only of beliefs. A Mohammedan has certain beliefs, a Hindu certain others, a Christian certain others. The difference is of beliefs. Yoga has nothing as far as belief is concerned; Yoga doesn’t say to believe in anything. Yoga says “Experience.” Just as science says “Experiment,” Yoga says “Experience.” Experiment and experience are both the same; their directions are different. Experiment means there is something you can do outside; experience means there is something you can do inside. Experience is an inner experiment.

Science says, “Don’t believe, doubt as much as you can,” but also, “Don’t disbelieve” — because disbelief is again a sort of belief. You can believe in God, you can believe in the concept of no-God. You can say, “God is” with a fanatic attitude; you can say quite the reverse, that “God is not,” with the same fanaticism. Atheists, theists, are all believers, and belief is not the realm for science. Science means to experience something, that which is; no belief is needed.

So the second thing to remember is that Yoga is existential, experiential, experimental. No belief is required, no faith is needed — only courage to experience — and that’s what is lacking. You can believe easily because in belief you are not going to be transformed. Belief is something added to you, something superficial. Your being is not changed, you are not passing through some mutation. You may be a Hindu — you can become a Christian the next day. You simply change, you change the Gita for a Bible. You can change it for a Koran, but the man who was holding the Gita and is now holding the Bible remains the same. He has changed his beliefs.

Beliefs are like clothes. Nothing substantial is transformed, you remain the same. Dissect a Hindu, dissect a Mohammedan — inside they are the same. The Hindu goes to a temple, the Mohammedan hates the temple. The Mohammedan goes to the mosque and the Hindu hates the mosque but inside they are the same human beings.

Belief is easy because you are not really required to do anything, just a superficial dressing, a decoration, something which you can put aside any moment you like. Yoga is not belief; that’s why it is difficult, arduous — and sometimes it seems impossible. It is an existential approach. You will come to the truth not through belief but through your own experience, through your own realization. That means you will have to be totally changed — your viewpoints, your way of life, your mind; your psyche as it is has to be shattered completely. Something new has to be created. Only with that new will you come in contact with the reality.

So Yoga is both a death and a new life. As you are you will have to die, and unless you die the new cannot be born. The new is hidden in you. You are just a seed for it and the seed must fall down, be absorbed by the earth. The seed must die, only then will the new arise out of you. Your death will become your new life. Yoga is both a death and a new birth. Unless you are ready to die you cannot be reborn. So it is not a question of changing beliefs.

Yoga is not a philosophy.

I say it is not a religion and I say it is not a philosophy. It is not something you can think about. It is something you will have to be; thinking won’t do. Thinking goes on in your head. It is not really deep into the roots of your being, it is not your totality. It is just a part, a functional part. It can be trained and you can argue logically, you can think rationally, but your heart will remain the same. Your heart is your deepest center, your head is just a branch. You can be without the head but you cannot be without the heart. Your head is not basic.

Yoga is concerned with your total being, with your roots. It is not philosophical. So with Patanjali we will not be thinking, speculating. With Patanjali we will be trying to know the ultimate laws of being, the laws for its transformation, the laws of how to die and how to be reborn again, the laws for a new order of being. That is why I call it a science.

Patanjali is rare. He is an enlightened person like Buddha, like Krishna, like Christ, like Mahavira, Mohammed, Zarathustra, but he is different in one way. Buddha, Krishna, Mahavira, Zarathustra, Mohammed — none of them has a scientific attitude. They are great founders of religions. They have changed the whole pattern of the human mind and its structure, but their approach is not scientific.

Patanjali is like an Einstein in the world of buddhas. He is a phenomenon. He could easily have been a Nobel Prize winner like an Einstein or Bohr or Max Planck or Heisenberg. He has the same attitude, the same approach as a rigorous, scientific mind. He is not a poet; Krishna is a poet. He is not a moralist; Mahavira is a moralist. He is basically a scientist who is thinking in terms of laws. And he has come to deduce absolute laws of the human being, the ultimate working structure of the human mind and of reality.

And if you follow Patanjali you will come to know that he is as exact as any mathematical formula. Simply do what he says and the result will happen. The result is bound to happen — it is just like two plus two become four; it is just like you heat water up to one hundred degrees and it evaporates. No belief is needed, you simply do it and know. It is something to be done and known. That’s why I say there is no comparison: never again has a man existed on this Earth like Patanjali.

You can find poetry in Buddha’s utterances; it is bound to be there. Many times while Buddha is expressing himself he becomes poetic. The realm of ecstasy, the realm of ultimate knowing is so beautiful, the temptation is so strong to become poetic…the beauty is such, the benediction is such, the bliss is such that one starts talking in poetic language.

But Patanjali resists that. It is very difficult, no one else has been able to resist. Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, they all became poetic. When the splendor, the beauty explode within you, you will start dancing, you will start singing. In that state you are just like a lover who has fallen in love with the whole universe.

Patanjali resists that. He will not use poetry; he will not even use a single poetic symbol. He will not do anything with poetry. He will not talk in terms of beauty: he will talk in terms of mathematics, he will be exact. And he will give you maxims — those maxims are just indications of what is to be done. He will not explode into ecstasy, he will not say things that cannot be said, he will not try the impossible. He will just put down the foundation and if you follow the foundation you will reach the peak which is beyond. He is a rigorous mathematician, remember this.

The first sutra: Now the discipline of Yoga.

Athayoganushasanam: Now the discipline of Yoga.

Each single word has to be understood, because Patanjali will not use a single superfluous word.

Now the discipline of Yoga…. First try to understand the word “now.” This “now” is an indication to the state of mind I was just talking to you about.

If you are disillusioned, if you are hopeless, if you have completely become aware of the futility of all desires; if you see your life as meaningless; whatsoever you have been doing up to now has simply fallen dead…. Nothing remains in the future, you are in absolute despair — what Kierkegaard calls anguish — you are in anguish, suffering…. Not knowing what to do, not knowing where to go, not knowing to whom to turn, just on the verge of madness or suicide or death, your whole pattern of life has suddenly become futile…. If this moment has come, Patanjali says, “Now the discipline of Yoga” — only now can you understand the science of Yoga, the discipline of Yoga.

If that moment has not come you can go on studying Yoga: you can become a great scholar but you will not be a yogi. You can write theses on it, you can give discourses on it, but you will not be a yogi. The moment has not come for you. Intellectually you can become interested, through your mind you can be related to Yoga, but Yoga is nothing if it is not a discipline. Yoga is not a shastra; it is not a scripture. It is a discipline, it is something you have to do. It is not curiosity, it is not philosophical speculation. It is deeper than that — it is a question of life and death.

If the moment has come when you feel that all directions have become confused, all roads have disappeared, the future is dark and every desire has become bitter and through every desire you have known only disappointment, all movement into hopes and dreams has ceased: Now the discipline of Yoga.

This “now” may not have come. Then I may go on talking about Yoga but you will not listen. You can listen only if the moment is present in you. Are you really dissatisfied? Everybody will say yes, but that dissatisfaction is not real. You are dissatisfied with this, you may be dissatisfied with that, but you are not totally dissatisfied. You are still hoping. You are dissatisfied because of your past hopes but you are still hoping for the future. Your dissatisfaction is not total: you are still hankering for some satisfaction somewhere, for some gratification somewhere.

Sometimes you feel hopeless but that hopelessness is not true. You feel hopeless because certain hopes have not been achieved, certain hopes have fallen away — but hoping is still there, hoping has not fallen away. You will still hope. You are dissatisfied with this hope, that hope, but you are not dissatisfied with hope as such. If you are disappointed with hope as such the moment has come, and then you can enter Yoga. And then this entry will not be an entering into a mental, speculative phenomenon. This entry will be an entry into a discipline.

What is discipline?

Discipline means what creates an order within you. As you are you are a chaos. As you are you are totally disorderly. Gurdjieff used to say — and Gurdjieff is in many ways like Patanjali, he was again trying to make the core of religion a science…. Gurdjieff said that you are not one, you are a crowd; not even when you say “I,” is there any I. There are many I’s in you, many egos. In the morning one I, in the afternoon another I, in the evening a third I, but you never become aware of this mess — because who will become aware of it? There is not a center that can become aware.

The discipline of Yoga means Yoga wants to create a crystallized center in you. As you are you are a crowd and a crowd has many phenomena. One is that you cannot believe a crowd. Gurdjieff used to say that man cannot promise. Who will promise? You are not there. If you promise who will fulfill the promise? Next morning the one who promised is no more.

People come to me and they say, “Now I will take the vow. I promise to do this,” and I tell them, “Think twice before you promise something. Are you confident that the next moment the one who promised it will be there?” You decide from tomorrow to get up early in the morning at four o’clock, and at four o’clock somebody in you says, “Don’t bother. It is so cold outside. And why are you in such a hurry? We can do it tomorrow” — and you fall asleep again. When you get up you repent and you think, “This is not good. I should have done it.” You decide again, “Tomorrow I will do it”; and the same is going to happen tomorrow because at four in the morning the one who promised is no more there, somebody else is in the chair. You are a Rotary Club: the chairman goes on changing and every member becomes a Rotary chairman. There is rotation: every moment someone else is the master.

Gurdjieff used to say, “This is the chief characteristic of man — that he cannot promise.” You cannot fulfill a promise. You go on giving promises, and you know well that you cannot fulfill them because you are not one; you are a disorder, a chaos. Hence Patanjali says, “Now the discipline of Yoga.” If your life has become an absolute misery, if you have realized that whatsoever you do creates hell, then the moment has come. This moment can change your dimension, your direction of being.

Up until now you have lived as a chaos, a crowd. Yoga means now you will have to be a harmony, you will have to become one. A crystallization is needed, a centering is needed. And unless you attain a center all that you do is useless; it is wasting life and time. A center is the first necessity, and only a person who has a center can be blissful. Everybody asks for it. But you cannot ask — you have to earn it! Everybody hankers for a blissful state of being. But only a center can be blissful, a crowd cannot be blissful. A crowd has got no self, there is no atman. Who is going to be blissful?

Bliss means absolute silence, and silence is possible only when there is harmony — when all the discordant fragments have become one, when there is no crowd, but one. When you are alone in the house and nobody else is there, you will be blissful. Right now everybody else is in your house, you are not there. Only the guests are there, the host is always absent — and only the host can be blissful.

This centering Patanjali calls discipline, anushasanam. The word “discipline” is beautiful. It comes from the same root as the word “disciple.” “Discipline” means the capacity to learn, the capacity to know. But you cannot know, you cannot learn unless you have attained the capacity to be.

One man once went to Buddha and he said….

He must have been a social reformer, a revolutionary…he said to Buddha, “The world is in misery. I agree with you.”

Buddha has never said that the world is in misery. Buddha says you are the misery, not the world; life is misery, not the world; man is misery, not the world; mind is misery, not the world. But that revolutionary said, “The world is in misery, I agree with you. Now tell me, what can I do? I have a deep compassion and I want to serve humanity.”

Service must have been his motto! Buddha looked at him and remained silent. Buddha’s disciple, Ananda, said, “This man seems to be sincere. Guide him. Why are you silent?”

Then Buddha said to that revolutionary, “You want to serve the world, but where are you? I don’t see anyone inside. I look in you — there is no one. You don’t have any center, and unless you are centered whatsoever you do will create more mischief.”

All your social reformers, your revolutionaries, your leaders, they are the great mischief creators, mischief-mongers. The world would be better if there were no leaders. But they can not help: they must do something because the world is in misery and they are not centered, so whatsoever they do will create more misery. Compassion alone will not help, service alone will not help. Compassion through a centered being is something totally different. Compassion through a crowd is mischief; that compassion is poison.

Now the discipline of Yoga.

“Discipline” means the capacity to be, the capacity to know, the capacity to learn. We must understand these three things.

The capacity to be….

All the Yoga postures are not really concerned with the body, they are concerned with the capacity to be. Patanjali says if you can sit silently without moving your body for a few hours, you are growing in the capacity to be. Why do you move? You cannot sit without moving even for a few seconds: your body starts moving, somewhere you feel itching, the legs go dead, many things start happening — these are just excuses for you to move.

You are not a master. You cannot say to the body, “Now I will not move for one hour.” The body will revolt immediately! Immediately it will force you to move, to do something. And it will give reasons: “You have to move because an insect is biting.” You may not find the insect when you look. You are not a being, you are a trembling — a continuous hectic activity. Patanjali’s asanas, postures, are not really concerned with any kind of physiological training but with an inner training of being: just to be, without doing anything, without any movement, without any activity. Just remain — that remaining will help centering.

If you can remain in one posture the body will become a slave; it will follow you. And the more the body follows you the more you will have a greater being within you, a stronger being within you. And remember, if the body is not moving your mind cannot move, because mind and body are not two things. They are two poles of one phenomenon. You are not body and mind, you are bodymind. Your personality is psychosomatic, bodymind, both. The mind is the most subtle part of the body. Or you can say the reverse, that body is the most gross part of the mind. So whatsoever happens in the body happens in the mind and vice versa, whatsoever happens in the mind happens in the body. If the body is non-moving and you can attain a posture, if you can say to the body, “Keep quiet,” the mind will remain silent. Really, the mind starts moving and tries to move the body, because if the body moves then the mind can move. In a non-moving body the mind cannot move; it needs a moving body.

If the body is non-moving, the mind is non-moving — you are centered. This non-moving posture is not only a physiological training, it is just to create a situation in which centering can happen, in which you can become disciplined. When you are, when you have become centered, when you know what it means to be, then you can learn because then you will be humble. Then you can surrender. Then no false ego will cling to you because once centered you know all egos are false. Then you can bow down. Then a disciple is born.

To become a disciple is a great achievement. Only through discipline will you become a disciple. Only through being centered will you become humble, will you become receptive, will you become empty and the guru, the master, can pour himself into you. In your emptiness, in your silence, he can come and reach to you. Communication becomes possible.

A disciple means one who is centered, humble, receptive, open, ready, alert, waiting, prayerful. In Yoga the master is very, very important, absolutely important, because only when you are in the close proximity of a being who is centered will your own centering happen.

That is the meaning of satsang. You have heard the word satsang; it is totally wrongly used. Satsang means, in close proximity to the truth; it means, near the truth, it means near a master who has become one with the truth — just being near him, open, receptive and waiting.

If your waiting has become deep, intense, a deep communion will happen.

The master is not going to do anything. He is simply there, available. If you are open he will flow within you. This flowing is called satsang. With a master you need not learn anything else. If you can learn satsang, that’s enough — if you can just be near him without asking, without thinking, without arguing; just present there, available, so the being of the master can flow in you…. And being can flow. It is already flowing. Whenever a person achieves integrity his being becomes a radiation. He is flowing. Whether you are there to receive or not, that is not the point. He flows like a river. If you are empty like a vessel, ready, open, he will flow in you.

A disciple means one who is ready to receive, who has become a womb…the master can penetrate into him. This is the meaning of the word satsang. It is not basically a discourse; satsang is not a discourse. There may be a discourse but the discourse is just an excuse. You are here and I will talk on Patanjali’s sutras — that is just an excuse. If you are really here then the discourse, the talk, becomes just an excuse for your being here, for you to be here. And if you are really here, satsang starts. I can flow, and that flow is deeper than any talk, any communication through language, than any intellectual meeting with you.

While your mind is engaged…if you are a disciple, if you are a disciplined being, if your mind is engaged in listening to me, then your being can be in satsang. Then your head is occupied. If your heart is open then on a deeper level a meeting happens. That meeting is satsang, and everything else is just an excuse just to find ways to be close to the master.

Closeness is all — but only a disciple can be close. Anybody and everybody cannot be close. Closeness means a loving trust. Why are we not close? — because there is fear. Too close may be dangerous, too open may be dangerous, because you become vulnerable and then it will be difficult for you to defend. So just as a security measure we keep everybody, we never allow anyone to enter a certain distance.

Bhagavad Gita 3.1

By Bhagavan Sri Krishna

Text 1

arjuna uvaca
jyayasi cet karmanas te
mata buddhir janardana
tat kim karmani ghore mam
niyojayasi keshava

Translation

Arjuna said: O Janardana, O Keshava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna has very elaborately described the constitution of the soul in the previous chapter, with a view to delivering His intimate friend Arjuna from the ocean of material grief. And the path of realization has been recommended: buddhi-yoga, or Krishna consciousness. Sometimes Krishna consciousness is misunderstood to be inertia, and one with such a misunderstanding often withdraws to a secluded place to become fully Krishna conscious by chanting the holy name of Lord Krishna. But without being trained in the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, it is not advisable to chant the holy name of Krishna in a secluded place, where one may acquire only cheap adoration from the innocent public. Arjuna also thought of Krishna consciousness or buddhi-yoga, or intelligence in spiritual advancement of knowledge, as something like retirement from active life and the practice of penance and austerity at a secluded place. In other words, he wanted to skillfully avoid the fighting by using Krishna consciousness as an excuse. But as a sincere student, he placed the matter before his master and questioned Krishna as to his best course of action. In answer, Lord Krishna elaborately explained karma-yoga, or work in Krishna consciousness, in this Third Chapter.

Chapter13
Arjuna said: O my dear Krishna, I wish to know about prakriti [nature], purusha [the enjoyer], and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: This body, O son of Kunti, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

Arjuna was inquisitive about prakriti (nature), purusha (the enjoyer), kshetra (the field), kshetra-jna (its knower), and knowledge and the object of knowledge. When he inquired about all these, Krishna said that this body is called the field and that one who knows this body is called the knower of the field. This body is the field of activity for the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul is entrapped in material existence, and he attempts to lord it over material nature. And so, according to his capacity to dominate material nature, he gets a field of activity. That field of activity is the body. And what is the body? The body is made of senses. The conditioned soul wants to enjoy sense gratification, and, according to his capacity to enjoy sense gratification, he is offered a body, or field of activity. Therefore the body is called kshetra, or the field of activity for the conditioned soul. Now, the person, who should not identify himself with the body, is called kshetra-jna, the knower of the field. It is not very difficult to understand the difference between the field and its knower, the body and the knower of the body. Any person can consider that from childhood to old age he undergoes so many changes of body and yet is still one person, remaining. Thus there is a difference between the knower of the field of activities and the actual field of activities. A living conditioned soul can thus understand that he is different from the body. It is described in the beginning—dehino ’smin—that the living entity is within the body and that the body is changing from childhood to boyhood and from boyhood to youth and from youth to old age, and the person who owns the body knows that the body is changing. The owner is distinctly kshetra-jna. Sometimes we think, “I am happy,” “I am a man,” “I am a woman,” “I am a dog,” “I am a cat.” These are the bodily designations of the knower. But the knower is different from the body. Although we may use many articles—our clothes, etc.—we know that we are different from the things used. Similarly, we also understand by a little contemplation that we are different from the body. I or you or anyone else who owns the body is called kshetra-jna, the knower of the field of activities, and the body is called kshetra, the field of activities itself.

In the first six chapters of Bhagavad-gita the knower of the body (the living entity) and the position by which he can understand the Supreme Lord are described. In the middle six chapters of the Bhagavad-gita the Supreme Personality of, the Godhead and the relationship between the individual soul and the Supersoul in regard to devotional service are described. The superior position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the subordinate position of the individual soul are definitely defined in these chapters. The living entities are subordinate under all circumstances, but in their forgetfulness they are suffering. When enlightened by pious activities, they approach the Supreme Lord in different capacities—as the distressed, those in want of money, the inquisitive, and those in search of knowledge. That is also described. Now, starting with the Thirteenth Chapter, how the living entity comes into contact with material nature and how he is delivered by the Supreme Lord through the different methods of fruitive activities, cultivation of knowledge, and the discharge of devotional service are explained. Although the living entity is completely different from the material body, he somehow becomes related. This also is explained.

Introduction to Bhagavad Gita (The Divine song of God)
By Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

om ajnana-timirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri-gurave namah

“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.”

Bhagavad-gita is also known as Gitopanishad. It is the essence of Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upanishads in Vedic literature. Of course there are many commentaries in English on the Bhagavad-gita, and one may question the necessity for another one. This present edition can be explained in the following way. Recently an American lady asked me to recommend an English translation of Bhagavad-gita. Of course in America there are so many editions of Bhagavad-gita available in English, but as far as I have seen, not only in America but also in India, none of them can be strictly said to be authoritative because in almost every one of them the commentator has expressed his own opinions without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gita as it is.

The spirit of Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita itself. It is just like this: If we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the directions written on the label. We cannot take the medicine according to our own whim or the direction of a friend. It must be taken according to the directions on the label or the directions given by a physician. Similarly, Bhagavad-gita should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker Himself. The speaker of Bhagavad-gita is Lord Sri Krishna. He is mentioned on every page of Bhagavad-gita as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. Of course the word bhagavan sometimes refers to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, and certainly here bhagavan designates Lord Sri Krishna as a great personality, but at the same time we should know that Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as is confirmed by all great acaryas (spiritual masters) like Shankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Nimbarka Svami, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and many other authorities of Vedic knowledge in India. The Lord Himself also establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gita, and He is accepted as such in the Brahma-samhita and all the Puranas, especially the Srimad-Bhagavatam, known as the Bhagavata Purana (krishnas tu bhagavan svayam). Therefore we should take Bhagavad-gita as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself. In the Fourth Chapter of the Gita (4.1–3) the Lord says:

imam vivasvate yogam
proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha
manur iksvakave ’bravit

evam parampara-praptam
imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata
yogo nastah parantapa

sa evayam maya te ’dya
yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto ’si me sakha ceti
rahasyam hy etad uttamam

Here the Lord informs Arjuna that this system of yoga, the Bhagavad-gita, was first spoken to the sun-god, and the sun-god explained it to Manu, and Manu explained it to Ikshavaku, and in that way, by disciplic succession, one speaker after another, this yoga system has been coming down. But in the course of time it has become lost. Consequently the Lord has to speak it again, this time to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra.

He tells Arjuna that He is relating this supreme secret to him because Arjuna is His devotee and His friend. The purport of this is that Bhagavad-gita is a treatise which is especially meant for the devotee of the Lord. There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jnani, the yogi and the bhakta, or the impersonalist, the meditator and the devotee. Here the Lord clearly tells Arjuna that He is making him the first receiver of a new parampara (disciplic succession) because the old succession was broken. It was the Lord’s wish, therefore, to establish another parampara in the same line of thought that was coming down from the sun-god to others, and it was His wish that His teaching be distributed anew by Arjuna. He wanted Arjuna to become the authority in understanding the Bhagavad-gita. So we see that Bhagavad-gita is instructed to Arjuna especially because Arjuna was a devotee of the Lord, a direct student of Krishna, and His intimate friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is best understood by a person who has qualities similar to Arjuna’s. That is to say he must be a devotee in a direct relationship with the Lord. As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he also has a direct relationship with the Lord. That is a very elaborate subject matter, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of five different ways:

1. One may be a devotee in a passive state;
2. One may be a devotee in an active state;
3. One may be a devotee as a friend;
4. One may be a devotee as a parent;
5. One may be a devotee as a conjugal lover.

Arjuna was in a relationship with the Lord as friend. Of course there is a gulf of difference between this friendship and the friendship found in the material world. This is transcendental friendship, which cannot be had by everyone. Of course everyone has a particular relationship with the Lord, and that relationship is evoked by the perfection of devotional service. But in the present status of our life, not only have we forgotten the Supreme Lord, but we have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of the many, many billions and trillions of living beings, has a particular relationship with the Lord eternally. That is called svarupa. By the process of devotional service, one can revive that svarupa, and that stage is called svarupa-siddhi—perfection of one’s constitutional position. So Arjuna was a devotee, and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship.

How Arjuna accepted this Bhagavad-gita should be noted. His manner of acceptance is given in the Tenth Chapter (10.12–14):

arjuna uvaca
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusham sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum

ahus tvam rsayah sarve
devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah
svayam caiva bravisi me

sarvam etad rtam manye
yan mam vadasi keshava
na hi te bhagavan vyaktim
vidur deva na danavah

“Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. O Krishna, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the demigods nor the demons, O Lord, can understand Your personality.”

After hearing Bhagavad-gita from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna accepted Krishna as param brahma, the Supreme Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, but the supreme living being, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the Supreme Brahman. Param dhama means that He is the supreme rest or abode of everything; pavitram means that He is pure, untainted by material contamination; purusham means that He is the supreme enjoyer; sasvatam, original; divyam, transcendental; adi-devam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ajam, the unborn; and vibhum, the greatest.

Now one may think that because Krishna was the friend of Arjuna, Arjuna was telling Him all this by way of flattery, but Arjuna, just to drive out this kind of doubt from the minds of the readers of Bhagavad-gita, substantiates these praises in the next verse when he says that Krishna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself but by authorities like Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasadeva. These are great personalities who distribute the Vedic knowledge as it is accepted by all acaryas. Therefore Arjuna tells Krishna that he accepts whatever He says to be completely perfect. Sarvam etad rtam manye: “I accept everything You say to be true.” Arjuna also says that the personality of the Lord is very difficult to understand and that He cannot be known even by the great demigods. This means that the Lord cannot even be known by personalities greater than human beings. So how can a human being understand Lord Sri Krishna without becoming His devotee?

Therefore Bhagavad-gita should be taken up in a spirit of devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Krishna, nor should he think that Krishna is an ordinary personality or even a very great personality. Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So according to the statements of Bhagavad-gita or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita, we should at least theoretically accept Sri Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and with that submissive spirit we can understand the Bhagavad-gita. Unless one reads the Bhagavad-gita in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gita, because it is a great mystery.

Just what is the Bhagavad-gita? The purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to deliver mankind from the nescience of material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in having to fight the Battle of Kurukshetra. Arjuna surrendered unto Sri Krishna, and consequently this Bhagavad-gita was spoken. Not only Arjuna, but every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence. Our very existence is in the atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatened by nonexistence. Our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we are put into asat. Asat refers to that which does not exist.

Out of so many human beings who are suffering, there are a few who are actually inquiring about their position, as to what they are, why they are put into this awkward position and so on. Unless one is awakened to this position of questioning his suffering, unless he realizes that he doesn’t want suffering but rather wants to make a solution to all suffering, then one is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiry is awakened in one’s mind. In the Brahma-sutra this inquiry is called brahma jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. Every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure unless he inquires about the nature of the Absolute. Therefore those who begin to question why they are suffering or where they came from and where they shall go after death are proper students for understanding Bhagavad-gita. The sincere student should also have a firm respect for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a student was Arjuna.

Lord Krishna descends specifically to reestablish the real purpose of life when man forgets that purpose. Even then, out of many, many human beings who awaken, there may be one who actually enters the spirit of understanding his position, and for him this Bhagavad-gita is spoken. Actually we are all swallowed by the tigress of nescience, but the Lord is very merciful upon living entities, especially human beings. To this end He spoke the Bhagavad-gita, making His friend Arjuna His student.

Being an associate of Lord Krishna, Arjuna was above all ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignorance on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra just to question Lord Krishna about the problems of life so that the Lord could explain them for the benefit of future generations of human beings and chalk out the plan of life. Then man could act accordingly and perfect the mission of human life.

The subject of the Bhagavad-gita entails the comprehension of five basic truths. First of all, the science of God is explained and then the constitutional position of the living entities, jivas. There is ishvara, which means the controller, and there are jivas, the living entities which are controlled. If a living entity says that he is not controlled but that he is free, then he is insane. The living being is controlled in every respect, at least in his conditioned life. So in the Bhagavad-gita the subject matter deals with the ishvara, the supreme controller, and the jivas, the controlled living entities. Prakriti (material nature) and time (the duration of existence of the whole universe or the manifestation of material nature) and karma (activity) are also discussed. The cosmic manifestation is full of different activities. All living entities are engaged in different activities. From Bhagavad-gita we must learn what God is, what the living entities are, what prakriti is, what the cosmic manifestation is, how it is controlled by time, and what the activities of the living entities are.

Out of these five basic subject matters in Bhagavad-gita it is established that the Supreme Godhead, or Krishna, or Brahman, or the supreme controller, or Paramatma—you may use whatever name you like—is the greatest of all. The living beings are in quality like the supreme controller. For instance, the Lord has control over the universal affairs of material nature, as will be explained in the later chapters of Bhagavad-gita. Material nature is not independent. She is acting under the directions of the Supreme Lord. As Lord Krishna says, mayadhyaksena prakritih suyate sa-caracaram: “This material nature is working under My direction.” When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind this cosmic manifestation there is a controller. Nothing could be manifested without being controlled. It is childish not to consider the controller. For instance, a child may think that an automobile is quite wonderful to be able to run without a horse or other animal pulling it, but a sane man knows the nature of the automobile’s engineering arrangement. He always knows that behind the machinery there is a man, a driver. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the driver under whose direction everything is working. Now the jivas, or the living entities, have been accepted by the Lord, as we will note in the later chapters, as His parts and parcels. A particle of gold is also gold, a drop of water from the ocean is also salty, and similarly we the living entities, being part and parcel of the supreme controller, ishvara, or Bhagavan, Lord Sri Krishna, have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity because we are minute ishvaras, subordinate ishvaras. We are trying to control nature, as presently we are trying to control space or planets, and this tendency to control is there because it is in Krishna. But although we have a tendency to lord it over material nature, we should know that we are not the supreme controller. This is explained in Bhagavad-gita.

What is material nature? This is also explained in Gita as inferior prakriti, inferior nature. The living entity is explained as the superior prakriti. Prakriti is always under control, whether inferior or superior. Prakriti is female, and she is controlled by the Lord just as the activities of a wife are controlled by the husband. Prakriti is always subordinate, predominated by the Lord, who is the predominator. The living entities and material nature are both predominated, controlled by the Supreme Lord. According to the Gita, the living entities, although parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are to be considered prakriti. This is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. Apareyam itas tv anyam prakritim viddhi me param/ jiva-bhutam: “This material nature is My inferior prakriti, but beyond this is another prakriti—jiva-bhutam, the living entity.”

Material nature itself is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. Above these modes there is eternal time, and by a combination of these modes of nature and under the control and purview of eternal time there are activities, which are called karma. These activities are being carried out from time immemorial, and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. For instance, suppose I am a businessman and have worked very hard with intelligence and have amassed a great bank balance. Then I am an enjoyer. But then say I have lost all my money in business; then I am a sufferer. Similarly, in every field of life we enjoy the results of our work, or we suffer the results. This is called karma.

Ishvara (the Supreme Lord), jiva (the living entity), prakriti (nature), kala (eternal time) and karma (activity) are all explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Out of these five, the Lord, the living entities, material nature and time are eternal. The manifestation of prakriti may be temporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that the manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaishnavas, this is not so. The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it is accepted as real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves across the sky, or the coming of the rainy season, which nourishes grains. As soon as the rainy season is over and as soon as the cloud goes away, all the crops which were nourished by the rain dry up. Similarly, this material manifestation takes place at a certain interval, stays for a while and then disappears. Such are the workings of prakriti. But this cycle is working eternally. Therefore prakriti is eternal; it is not false. The Lord refers to this as “My prakriti.” This material nature is the separated energy of the Supreme Lord, and similarly the living entities are also the energy of the Supreme Lord, although they are not separated but eternally related. So the Lord, the living entity, material nature and time are all interrelated and are all eternal. However, the other item, karma, is not eternal. The effects of karma may be very old indeed. We are suffering or enjoying the results of our activities from time immemorial, but we can change the results of our karma, or our activity, and this change depends on the perfection of our knowledge. We are engaged in various activities. Undoubtedly we do not know what sort of activities we should adopt to gain relief from the actions and reactions of all these activities, but this is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita.

The position of ishvara, the Supreme Lord, is that of supreme consciousness. The jivas, or the living entities, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are also conscious. Both the living entity and material nature are explained as prakriti, the energy of the Supreme Lord, but one of the two, the jiva, is conscious. The other prakriti is not conscious. That is the difference. Therefore the jiva-prakriti is called superior because the jiva has consciousness which is similar to the Lord’s. The Lord’s is supreme consciousness, however, and one should not claim that the jiva, the living entity, is also supremely conscious. The living being cannot be supremely conscious at any stage of his perfection, and the theory that he can be so is a misleading theory. Conscious he may be, but he is not perfectly or supremely conscious.

The distinction between the jiva and the ishvara will be explained in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. The Lord is kshetra-jna, conscious, as is the living being, but the living being is conscious of his particular body, whereas the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Because He lives in the heart of every living being, He is conscious of the psychic movements of the particular jivas. We should not forget this. It is also explained that the Paramatma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone’s heart as ishvara, as the controller, and that He is giving directions for the living entity to act as he desires. The living entity forgets what to do. First of all he makes a determination to act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the actions and reactions of his own karma. After giving up one type of body, he enters another type of body, as we put on and take off clothes. As the soul thus migrates, he suffers the actions and reactions of his past activities. These activities can be changed when the living being is in the mode of goodness, in sanity, and understands what sort of activities he should adopt. If he does so, then all the actions and reactions of his past activities can be changed. Consequently, karma is not eternal. Therefore we stated that of the five items (ishvara, jiva, prakriti, time and karma) four are eternal, whereas karma is not eternal.

The supreme conscious ishvara is similar to the living entity in this way: both the consciousness of the Lord and that of the living entity are transcendental. It is not that consciousness is generated by the association of matter. That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gita. Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the covering of material circumstances, just as light reflected through colored glass may appear to be a certain color, but the consciousness of the Lord is not materially affected. Lord Krishna says, mayadhyaksena prakritih [Bg. 9.10]. When He descends into the material universe, His consciousness is not materially affected. If He were so affected, He would be unfit to speak on transcendental matters as He does in the Bhagavad-gita. One cannot say anything about the transcendental world without being free from materially contaminated consciousness. So the Lord is not materially contaminated. Our consciousness, at the present moment, however, is materially contaminated. The Bhagavad-gita teaches that we have to purify this materially contaminated consciousness. In pure consciousness, our actions will be dovetailed to the will of ishvara, and that will make us happy. It is not that we have to cease all activities. Rather, our activities are to be purified, and purified activities are called bhakti. Activities in bhakti appear to be like ordinary activities, but they are not contaminated. An ignorant person may see that a devotee is acting or working like an ordinary man, but such a person with a poor fund of knowledge does not know that the activities of the devotee or of the Lord are not contaminated by impure consciousness or matter. They are transcendental to the three modes of nature. We should know, however, that at this point our consciousness is contaminated.

When we are materially contaminated, we are called conditioned. False consciousness is exhibited under the impression that I am a product of material nature. This is called false ego. One who is absorbed in the thought of bodily conceptions cannot understand his situation. Bhagavad-gita was spoken to liberate one from the bodily conception of life, and Arjuna put himself in this position in order to receive this information from the Lord. One must become free from the bodily conception of life; that is the preliminary activity for the transcendentalist. One who wants to become free, who wants to become liberated, must first of all learn that he is not this material body. Mukti, or liberation, means freedom from material consciousness. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam also the definition of liberation is given. Muktir hitvanyatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih: mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world and situation in pure consciousness. All the instructions of Bhagavad-gita are intended to awaken this pure consciousness, and therefore we find at the last stage of the Gita’s instructions that Krishna is asking Arjuna whether he is now in purified consciousness. Purified consciousness means acting in accordance with the instructions of the Lord. This is the whole sum and substance of purified consciousness. Consciousness is already there because we are part and parcel of the Lord, but for us there is the affinity of being affected by the inferior modes. But the Lord, being the Supreme, is never affected. That is the difference between the Supreme Lord and the small individual souls.

What is this consciousness? This consciousness is “I am.” Then what am I? In contaminated consciousness “I am” means “I am the lord of all I survey. I am the enjoyer.” The world revolves because every living being thinks that he is the lord and creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychic divisions. One is that I am the creator, and the other is that I am the enjoyer. But actually the Supreme Lord is both the creator and the enjoyer, and the living entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, is neither the creator nor the enjoyer, but a cooperator. He is the created and the enjoyed. For instance, a part of a machine cooperates with the whole machine; a part of the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands, legs, eyes, and so on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the enjoyers. The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teeth chew, and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principal factor that nourishes the body’s organization. Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the tree by watering its root, and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach, for if the body is to be kept in a healthy state, then the parts of the body must cooperate to feed the stomach. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer and the creator, and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate to satisfy Him. This cooperation will actually help us, just as food taken by the stomach will help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand think that they should take the food themselves instead of giving it to the stomach, then they will be frustrated. The central figure of creation and of enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy. The relation is also like that of the master and the servant. If the master is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied. Similarly, the Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency to become the creator and the tendency to enjoy the material world are there also in the living entities because these tendencies are there in the Supreme Lord who has created the manifested cosmic world.

We shall find, therefore, in this Bhagavad-gita that the complete whole is comprised of the supreme controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time and karma, or activities, and all of these are explained in this text. All of these taken completely form the complete whole, and the complete whole is called the Supreme Absolute Truth. The complete whole and the complete Absolute Truth are the complete Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. All manifestations are due to His different energies. He is the complete whole.

It is also explained in the Gita that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete Supreme Person (brahmano hi pratishthaham). Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sutra to be like the rays of the sunshine. The impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute whole, and so also is the conception of Paramatma. In the Fifteenth Chapter it shall be seen that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Purushottama, is above both impersonal Brahman and the partial realization of Paramatma. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. The Brahma-samhita begins in this way: ishvarah paramah krishnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah/ anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam. “Govinda, Krishna, is the cause of all causes. He is the primal cause, and He is the very form of eternity, knowledge and bliss.” Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of His sat (eternity) feature. Paramatma realization is the realization of sat-cit (eternal knowledge). But realization of the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is realization of all the transcendental features: sat, cit and ananda (eternity, knowledge, and bliss) in complete vigraha (form).

People with less intelligence consider the Supreme Truth to be impersonal, but He is a transcendental person, and this is confirmed in all Vedic literatures. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam. (Katha Upanishad 2.2.13) As we are all individual living beings and have our individuality, the Supreme Absolute Truth is also, in the ultimate issue, a person, and realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all of the transcendental features in His complete form. The complete whole is not formless. If He is formless, or if He is less than any other thing, then He cannot be the complete whole. The complete whole must have everything within our experience and beyond our experience, otherwise it cannot be complete.

The complete whole, Personality of Godhead, has immense potencies (parasya shaktir vividhaiva sruyate). How Krishna is acting in different potencies is also explained in Bhagavad-gita. This phenomenal world or material world in which we are placed is also complete in itself because the twenty-four elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation, according to Sankhya philosophy, are completely adjusted to produce complete resources which are necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. There is nothing extraneous, nor is there anything needed. This manifestation has its own time fixed by the energy of the supreme whole, and when its time is complete, these temporary manifestations will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the complete. There is complete facility for the small complete units, namely the living entities, to realize the complete, and all sorts of incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the complete. So Bhagavad-gita contains the complete knowledge of Vedic wisdom.

All Vedic knowledge is infallible, and Hindus accept Vedic knowledge to be complete and infallible. For example, cow dung is the stool of an animal, and according to smriti, or Vedic injunction, if one touches the stool of an animal he has to take a bath to purify himself. But in the Vedic scriptures cow dung is considered to be a purifying agent. One might consider this to be contradictory, but it is accepted because it is Vedic injunction, and indeed by accepting this, one will not commit a mistake; subsequently it has been proved by modern science that cow dung contains all antiseptic properties. So Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and mistakes, and Bhagavad-gita is the essence of all Vedic knowledge.

Vedic knowledge is not a question of research. Our research work is imperfect because we are researching things with imperfect senses. We have to accept perfect knowledge which comes down, as is stated in Bhagavad-gita, by the parampara (disciplic succession). We have to receive knowledge from the proper source in disciplic succession beginning with the supreme spiritual master, the Lord Himself, and handed down to a succession of spiritual masters. Arjuna, the student who took lessons from Lord Sri Krishna, accepts everything that He says without contradicting Him. One is not allowed to accept one portion of Bhagavad-gita and not another. No. We must accept Bhagavad-gita without interpretation, without deletion and without our own whimsical participation in the matter. The Gita should be taken as the most perfect presentation of Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge is received from transcendental sources, and the first words were spoken by the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord are called apaurusheya, meaning that they are different from words spoken by a person of the mundane world who is infected with four defects. A mundaner (1) is sure to commit mistakes, (2) is invariably illusioned, (3) has the tendency to cheat others and (4) is limited by imperfect senses. With these four imperfections, one cannot deliver perfect information of all-pervading knowledge.

Vedic knowledge is not imparted by such defective living entities. It was imparted unto the heart of Brahma, the first created living being, and Brahma in his turn disseminated this knowledge to his sons and disciples, as he originally received it from the Lord. The Lord is purnam, all-perfect, and there is no possibility of His becoming subjected to the laws of material nature. One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that the Lord is the only proprietor of everything in the universe and that He is the original creator, the creator of Brahma. In the Eleventh Chapter the Lord is addressed as prapitamaha [Bg. 11.39] because Brahma is addressed as pitamaha, the grandfather, and He is the creator of the grandfather. So no one should claim to be the proprietor of anything; one should accept only things which are set aside for him by the Lord as his quota for his maintenance.

There are many examples given of how we are to utilize those things which are set aside for us by the Lord. This is also explained in Bhagavad-gita. In the beginning, Arjuna decided that he should not fight in the Battle of Kurukshetra. This was his own decision. Arjuna told the Lord that it was not possible for him to enjoy the kingdom after killing his own kinsmen. This decision was based on the body because he was thinking that the body was himself and that his bodily relations or expansions were his brothers, nephews, brothers-in-law, grandfathers and so on. Therefore he wanted to satisfy his bodily demands. Bhagavad-gita was spoken by the Lord just to change this view, and at the end Arjuna decides to fight under the directions of the Lord when he says, karisye vacanam tava [Bg. 18.73]: “I shall act according to Your word.”

In this world men are not meant for quarreling like cats and dogs. Men must be intelligent to realize the importance of human life and refuse to act like ordinary animals. A human being should realize the aim of his life, and this direction is given in all Vedic literatures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-gita. Vedic literature is meant for human beings, not for animals. Animals can kill other living animals, and there is no question of sin on their part, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature. In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different modes of nature: the activities of goodness, of passion and of ignorance. Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness, passion and ignorance. All of this is clearly described, and if we properly utilize the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, then our whole life will become purified, and ultimately we will be able to reach the destination which is beyond this material sky. [Bg. 15.6]

That destination is called the sanatana sky, the eternal, spiritual sky. In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body, or a piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world there is another world of which we have information. That world consists of another nature, which is sanatana, eternal. Jiva is also described as sanatana, eternal, and the Lord is also described as sanatana in the Eleventh Chapter. We have an intimate relationship with the Lord, and because we are all qualitatively one—the sanatana-dhama, or sky, the sanatana Supreme Personality and the sanatana living entities—the whole purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to revive our sanatana occupation, or sanatana-dharma, which is the eternal occupation of the living entity. We are temporarily engaged in different activities, but all of these activities can be purified when we give up all these temporary activities and take up the activities which are prescribed by the Supreme Lord. That is called our pure life.

The Supreme Lord and His transcendental abode are both sanatana, as are the living entities, and the combined association of the Supreme Lord and the living entities in the sanatana abode is the perfection of human life. The Lord is very kind to the living entities because they are His sons. Lord Krishna declares in Bhagavad-gita, sarva-yonisu. .. aham bija-pradah pita: “I am the father of all.” Of course there are all types of living entities according to their various karmas, but here the Lord claims that He is the father of all of them. Therefore the Lord descends to reclaim all of these fallen, conditioned souls, to call them back to the sanatana eternal sky so that the sanatana living entities may regain their eternal sanatana positions in eternal association with the Lord. The Lord comes Himself in different incarnations, or He sends His confidential servants as sons or His associates or acaryas to reclaim the conditioned souls.

Therefore, sanatana-dharma does not refer to any sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord. Sanatana-dharma refers, as stated previously, to the eternal occupation of the living entity. Sripada Ramanujacarya has explained the word sanatana as “that which has neither beginning nor end,” so when we speak of sanatana-dharma, we must take it for granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has neither beginning nor end.

The English world religion is a little different from sanatana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith, and faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change this faith and adopt another, but sanatana-dharma refers to that activity which cannot be changed. For instance, liquidity cannot be taken from water, nor can heat be taken from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity cannot be taken from the living entity. Sanatana-dharma is eternally integral with the living entity. When we speak of sanatana-dharma, therefore, we must take it for granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has neither beginning nor end. That which has neither end nor beginning must not be sectarian, for it cannot be limited by any boundaries. Those belonging to some sectarian faith will wrongly consider that sanatana-dharma is also sectarian, but if we go deeply into the matter and consider it in the light of modern science, it is possible for us to see that sanatana-dharma is the business of all the people of the world—nay, of all the living entities of the universe.

Non-sanatana religious faith may have some beginning in the annals of human history, but there is no beginning to the history of sanatana-dharma, because it remains eternally with the living entities. Insofar as the living entities are concerned, the authoritative shastras state that the living entity has neither birth nor death. In the Gita it is stated that the living entity is never born and he never dies. He is eternal and indestructible, and he continues to live after the destruction of his temporary material body. In reference to the concept of sanatana-dharma, we must try to understand the concept of religion from the Sanskrit root meaning of the word. Dharma refers to that which is constantly existing with a particular object. We conclude that there is heat and light along with the fire; without heat and light, there is no meaning to the word fire. Similarly, we must discover the essential part of the living being, that part which is his constant companion. That constant companion is his eternal quality, and that eternal quality is his eternal religion.

When Sanatana Gosvami asked Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about the svarupa of every living being, the Lord replied that the svarupa, or constitutional position, of the living being is the rendering of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we analyze this statement of Lord Caitanya’s, we can easily see that every living being is constantly engaged in rendering service to another living being. A living being serves other living beings in various capacities. By doing so, the living entity enjoys life. The lower animals serve human beings as servants serve their master. A serves B master, B serves C master, and C serves D master and so on. Under these circumstances, we can see that one friend serves another friend, the mother serves the son, the wife serves the husband, the husband serves the wife and so on. If we go on searching in this spirit, it will be seen that there is no exception in the society of living beings to the activity of service. The politician presents his manifesto for the public to convince them of his capacity for service. The voters therefore give the politician their valuable votes, thinking that he will render valuable service to society. The shopkeeper serves the customer, and the artisan serves the capitalist. The capitalist serves the family, and the family serves the state in the terms of the eternal capacity of the eternal living being. In this way we can see that no living being is exempt from rendering service to other living beings, and therefore we can safely conclude that service is the constant companion of the living being and that the rendering of service is the eternal religion of the living being.

Yet man professes to belong to a particular type of faith with reference to particular time and circumstance and thus claims to be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or an adherent of any other sect. Such designations are non—sanatana-dharma. A Hindu may change his faith to become a Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faith to become a Hindu, or a Christian may change his faith and so on. But in all circumstances the change of religious faith does not affect the eternal occupation of rendering service to others. The Hindu, Muslim or Christian in all circumstances is servant of someone. Thus, to profess a particular type of faith is not to profess one’s sanatana-dharma. The rendering of service is sanatana-dharma.

Factually we are related to the Supreme Lord in service. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are His servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we become happy. We cannot become happy otherwise. It is not possible to be happy independently, just as no one part of the body can be happy without cooperating with the stomach. It is not possible for the living entity to be happy without rendering transcendental loving service unto the Supreme Lord.

In the Bhagavad-gita, worship of different demigods or rendering service to them is not approved. It is stated in the Seventh Chapter, twentieth verse:

kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah
prapadyante ’nya-devatah
tam tam niyamam asthaya
prakritya niyatah svaya

“Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.” Here it is plainly said that those who are directed by lust worship the demigods and not the Supreme Lord Krishna. When we mention the name Krishna, we do not refer to any sectarian name. Krishna means the highest pleasure, and it is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir or storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Ananda-mayo ’bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also become happy.

The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrindavana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krishna was in Vrindavana, His activities with His cowherd boyfriends, with His damsel friends, with the other inhabitants of Vrindavana and with the cows were all full of happiness. The total population of Vrindavana knew nothing but Krishna. But Lord Krishna even discouraged His father Nanda Maharaja from worshiping the demigod Indra, because He wanted to establish the fact that people need not worship any demigod. They need only worship the Supreme Lord, because their ultimate goal is to return to His abode.

The abode of Lord Sri Krishna is described in the Bhagavad-gita, Fifteenth Chapter, sixth verse:

na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama

“That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world.”

This verse gives a description of that eternal sky. Of course we have a material conception of the sky, and we think of it in relationship to the sun, moon, stars and so on, but in this verse the Lord states that in the eternal sky there is no need for the sun nor for the moon nor electricity or fire of any kind because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahmajyoti, the rays emanating from the Supreme Lord. We are trying with difficulty to reach other planets, but it is not difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. This abode is referred to as Goloka. In the Brahma-samhita (5.37) it is beautifully described: goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah. The Lord resides eternally in His abode Goloka, yet He can be approached from this world, and to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real form, sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. When He manifests this form, there is no need for our imagining what He looks like. To discourage such imaginative speculation, He descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Shyamasundara. Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us and plays with us as a human being. But because of this we should not consider the Lord one of us. It is by His omnipotency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and displays His pastimes, which are replicas of those pastimes found in His abode.

In the effulgent rays of the spiritual sky there are innumerable planets floating. The brahmajyoti emanates from the supreme abode, Krishnaloka, and the ananda-maya, cin-maya planets, which are not material, float in those rays. The Lord says, na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah/ yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6]. One who can approach that spiritual sky is not required to descend again to the material sky. In the material sky, even if we approach the highest planet (Brahmaloka), what to speak of the moon, we will find the same conditions of life, namely birth, death, disease and old age. No planet in the material universe is free from these four principles of material existence.

The living entities are traveling from one planet to another, but it is not that we can go to any planet we like merely by a mechanical arrangement. If we desire to go to other planets, there is a process for going there. This is also mentioned: yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]. No mechanical arrangement is necessary if we want interplanetary travel. The Gita instructs: yanti deva-vrata devan. The moon, the sun and higher planets are called Svargaloka. There are three different statuses of planets: higher, middle and lower planetary systems. The earth belongs to the middle planetary system. Bhagavad-gita informs us how to travel to the higher planetary systems (Devaloka) with a very simple formula: yanti deva-vrata devan. One need only worship the particular demigod of that particular planet and in that way go to the moon, the sun or any of the higher planetary systems.

Yet Bhagavad-gita does not advise us to go to any of the planets in this material world, because even if we go to Brahmaloka, the highest planet, through some sort of mechanical contrivance by maybe traveling for forty thousand years (and who would live that long?), we will still find the material inconveniences of birth, death, disease and old age. But one who wants to approach the supreme planet, Krishnaloka, or any of the other planets within the spiritual sky, will not meet with these material inconveniences. Amongst all of the planets in the spiritual sky there is one supreme planet called Goloka Vrindavana, which is the original planet in the abode of the original Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. All of this information is given in Bhagavad-gita, and we are given through its instruction information how to leave the material world and begin a truly blissful life in the spiritual sky.

In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, the real picture of the material world is given. It is said there:

urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham
ashvattham prahur avyayam
chandamsi yasya parnani
yas tam veda sa veda-vit

Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there are substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world.

The Lord suggests that we attain the spiritual world in the following manner (Bg. 15.5):

nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa
adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah
dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair
gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat

That padam avyayam, or eternal kingdom, can be reached by one who is nirmana-moha. What does this mean? We are after designations. Someone wants to become “sir,” someone wants to become “lord,” someone wants to become the president or a rich man or a king or something else. As long as we are attached to these designations, we are attached to the body, because designations belong to the body. But we are not these bodies, and realizing this is the first stage in spiritual realization. We are associated with the three modes of material nature, but we must become detached through devotional service to the Lord. If we are not attached to devotional service to the Lord, then we cannot become detached from the modes of material nature. Designations and attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to lord it over the material nature. As long as we do not give up this propensity of lording it over material nature, there is no possibility of returning to the kingdom of the Supreme, the sanatana-dhama. That eternal kingdom, which is never destroyed, can be approached by one who is not bewildered by the attractions of false material enjoyments, who is situated in the service of the Supreme Lord. One so situated can easily approach that supreme abode.

Elsewhere in the Gita (8.21) it is stated:

avyakto ’kshara ity uktas
tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama

Avyakta means unmanifested. Not even all of the material world is manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot even see all of the stars within this material universe. In Vedic literature we can receive much information about all the planets, and we can believe it or not believe it. All of the important planets are described in Vedic literatures, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, is described as avyakta, unmanifested. One should desire and hanker after that supreme kingdom, for when one attains that kingdom, he does not have to return to this material world.

Next, one may raise the question of how one goes about approaching that abode of the Supreme Lord. Information of this is given in the Eighth Chapter. It is said there:

anta-kale ca mam eva
smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
yati nasty atra samsayah

“Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this.” [Bg. 8.5] One who thinks of Krishna at the time of his death goes to Krishna. One must remember the form of Krishna; if he quits his body thinking of this form, he surely approaches the spiritual kingdom. Mad-bhavam refers to the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]—that is, His form is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. Our present body is not sac-cid-ananda. It is asat, not sat. It is not eternal; it is perishable. It is not cit, full of knowledge, but it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, nor do we even have perfect knowledge of this material world, where there are so many things unknown to us. The body is also nirananda; instead of being full of bliss it is full of misery. All of the miseries we experience in the material world arise from the body, but one who leaves this body thinking of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at once attains a sac-cid-ananda body.

The process of quitting this body and getting another body in the material world is also organized. A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. Higher authorities, not the living entity himself, make this decision. According to our activities in this life, we either rise or sink. This life is a preparation for the next life. If we can prepare, therefore, in this life to get promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after quitting this material body, we will attain a spiritual body just like the Lord’s.

As explained before, there are different kinds of transcendentalists—the brahma-vadi, paramatma-vadi and the devotee—and, as mentioned, in the brahmajyoti (spiritual sky) there are innumerable spiritual planets. The number of these planets is far, far greater than all of the planets of this material world. This material world has been approximated as only one quarter of the creation (ekamsena sthito jagat). In this material segment there are millions and billions of universes with trillions of planets and suns, stars and moons. But this whole material creation is only a fragment of the total creation. Most of the creation is in the spiritual sky. One who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman is at once transferred to the brahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord and thus attains the spiritual sky. The devotee, who wants to enjoy the association of the Lord, enters into the Vaikuntha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord by His plenary expansions as Narayana with four hands and with different names like Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Govinda associates with him there. Therefore at the end of life the transcendentalists think either of the brahmajyoti, the Paramatma or Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. In all cases they enter into the spiritual sky, but only the devotee, or he who is in personal touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikuntha planets or the Goloka Vrindavana planet. The Lord further adds that of this “there is no doubt.” This must be believed firmly. We should not reject that which does not tally with our imagination; our attitude should be that of Arjuna: “I believe everything that You have said.” Therefore when the Lord says that at the time of death whoever thinks of Him as Brahman or Paramatma or as the Personality of Godhead certainly enters into the spiritual sky, there is no doubt about it. There is no question of disbelieving it.

The Bhagavad-gita (8.6) also explains the general principle that makes it possible to enter the spiritual kingdom simply by thinking of the Supreme at the time of death:

yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state without fail.” Now, first we must understand that material nature is a display of one of the energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Vishnu Purana (6.7.61) the total energies of the Supreme Lord are delineated:

vishnu-shaktih para prokta
kshetra-jnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya shaktir isyate
- Cc. Madhya 6.154

The Supreme Lord has diverse and innumerable energies which are beyond our conception; however, great learned sages or liberated souls have studied these energies and have analyzed them into three parts. All of the energies are of vishnu-shakti, that is to say they are different potencies of Lord Vishnu. The first energy is para, transcendental. Living entities also belong to the superior energy, as has already been explained. The other energies, or material energies, are in the mode of ignorance. At the time of death either we can remain in the inferior energy of this material world, or we can transfer to the energy of the spiritual world. So the Bhagavad-gita (8.6) says:

yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state without fail.”

In life we are accustomed to thinking either of the material or of the spiritual energy. Now, how can we transfer our thoughts from the material energy to the spiritual energy? There are so many literatures which fill our thoughts with the material energy—newspapers, magazines, novels, etc. Our thinking, which is now absorbed in these literatures, must be transferred to the Vedic literatures. The great sages, therefore, have written so many Vedic literatures, such as the Puranas. The Puranas are not imaginative; they are historical records. In the Caitanya-caritamrita (Madhya 20.122) there is the following verse:

maya-mugdha jivera nahi svatah krishna-jnana
jivere kripaya kaila krishna veda-purana

The forgetful living entities or conditioned souls have forgotten their relationship with the Supreme Lord, and they are engrossed in thinking of material activities. Just to transfer their thinking power to the spiritual sky, Krishna-dvaipayana Vyasa has given a great number of Vedic literatures. First he divided the Vedas into four, then he explained them in the Puranas, and for less capable people he wrote the Mahabharata. In the Mahabharata there is given the Bhagavad-gita. Then all Vedic literature is summarized in the Vedanta-sutra, and for future guidance he gave a natural commentation on the Vedanta-sutra, called Srimad-Bhagavatam. We must always engage our minds in reading these Vedic literatures. Just as materialists engage their minds in reading newspapers, magazines and so many materialistic literatures, we must transfer our reading to these literatures which are given to us by Vyasadeva; in that way it will be possible for us to remember the Supreme Lord at the time of death. That is the only way suggested by the Lord, and He guarantees the result: “There is no doubt.”

tasmat sarveshu kaleshu
mam anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
mam evaishyasy asamsayah

“Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krishna and at the same time continue your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.” (Bg. 8.7)

He does not advise Arjuna simply to remember Him and give up his occupation. No, the Lord never suggests anything impractical. In this material world, in order to maintain the body one has to work. Human society is divided, according to work, into four divisions of social order—brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra. The brahmana class or intelligent class is working in one way, the kshatriya or administrative class is working in another way, and the mercantile class and the laborers are all tending to their specific duties. In the human society, whether one is a laborer, merchant, administrator or farmer, or even if one belongs to the highest class and is a literary man, a scientist or a theologian, he has to work in order to maintain his existence. The Lord therefore tells Arjuna that he need not give up his occupation, but while he is engaged in his occupation he should remember Krishna (mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7]). If he doesn’t practice remembering Krishna while he is struggling for existence, then it will not be possible for him to remember Krishna at the time of death. Lord Caitanya also advises this. He says, kirtaniyah sada harih: [Cc. adi 17.31] one should practice chanting the names of the Lord always. The names of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent. So Lord Krishna’s instructions to Arjuna to “remember Me” and Lord Caitanya’s injunction to “always chant the names of Lord Krishna” are the same instruction. There is no difference, because Krishna and Krishna’s name are nondifferent. In the absolute status there is no difference between reference and referrent. Therefore we have to practice remembering the Lord always, twenty-four hours a day, by chanting His names and molding our life’s activities in such a way that we can remember Him always.

How is this possible? The acaryas give the following example. If a married woman is attached to another man, or if a man has an attachment for a woman other than his wife, then the attachment is to be considered very strong. One with such an attachment is always thinking of the loved one. The wife who is thinking of her lover is always thinking of meeting him, even while she is carrying out her household chores. In fact, she carries out her household work even more carefully so her husband will not suspect her attachment. Similarly, we should always remember the supreme lover, Sri Krishna, and at the same time perform our material duties very nicely. A strong sense of love is required here. If we have a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then we can discharge our duty and at the same time remember Him. But we have to develop that sense of love. Arjuna, for instance, was always thinking of Krishna; he was the constant companion of Krishna, and at the same time he was a warrior. Krishna did not advise him to give up fighting and go to the forest to meditate. When Lord Krishna delineates the yoga system to Arjuna, Arjuna says that the practice of this system is not possible for him.

arjuna uvaca
yo ’yam yogas tvaya proktah
samyena madhusudana
etasyaham na pasyami
cancalatvat sthitim sthiram

“Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady.” (Bg. 6.33)

But the Lord says:

yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantaratmana
shraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah

“Of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion.” (Bg. 6.47) So one who thinks of the Supreme Lord always is the greatest yogi, the supermost jnani, and the greatest devotee at the same time. The Lord further tells Arjuna that as a kshatriya he cannot give up his fighting, but if Arjuna fights remembering Krishna, then he will be able to remember Krishna at the time of death. But one must be completely surrendered in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

We work not with our body, actually, but with our mind and intelligence. So if the intelligence and the mind are always engaged in the thought of the Supreme Lord, then naturally the senses are also engaged in His service. Superficially, at least, the activities of the senses remain the same, but the consciousness is changed. The Bhagavad-gita teaches one how to absorb the mind and intelligence in the thought of the Lord. Such absorption will enable one to transfer himself to the kingdom of the Lord. If the mind is engaged in Krishna’s service, then the senses are automatically engaged in His service. This is the art, and this is also the secret of Bhagavad-gita: total absorption in the thought of Sri Krishna.

Modern man has struggled very hard to reach the moon, but he has not tried very hard to elevate himself spiritually. If one has fifty years of life ahead of him, he should engage that brief time in cultivating this practice of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This practice is the devotional process:

shravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
- Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.23

These nine processes, of which the easiest is shravanam, hearing the Bhagavad-gita from the realized person, will turn one to the thought of the Supreme Being. This will lead to remembering the Supreme Lord and will enable one, upon leaving the body, to attain a spiritual body which is just fit for association with the Supreme Lord.

The Lord further says:

abhyasa-yoga-yuktena
cetasa nanya-gamina
paramam purusham divyam
yati parthanucintayan

“He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Arjuna, is sure to reach Me.” (Bg. 8.8)

This is not a very difficult process. However, one must learn it from an experienced person. Tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet:

tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham

“To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.”

[Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12] One must approach a person who is already in the practice. The mind is always flying to this and that, but one must practice concentrating the mind always on the form of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, or on the sound of His name. The mind is naturally restless, going hither and thither, but it can rest in the sound vibration of Krishna. One must thus meditate on paramam purusham, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual kingdom, the spiritual sky, and thus attain Him. The ways and the means for ultimate realization, ultimate attainment, are stated in the Bhagavad-gita, and the doors of this knowledge are open for everyone. No one is barred out. All classes of men can approach Lord Krishna by thinking of Him, for hearing and thinking of Him is possible for everyone.

The Lord further says (Bg. 9.32–33):

mam hi partha vyapasritya
ye ’pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaishyas tatha shudras
te ’pi yanti param gatim

kim punar brahmanah punya
bhakta rajarsayas tatha
anityam asukham lokam
imam prapya bhajasva mam

Thus the Lord says that even a merchant, a fallen woman or a laborer or even human beings in the lowest status of life can attain the Supreme. One does not need highly developed intelligence. The point is that anyone who accepts the principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, as the highest target, the ultimate goal, can approach the Lord in the spiritual sky. If one adopts the principles enunciated in Bhagavad-gita, he can make his life perfect and make a permanent solution to all the problems of life. This is the sum and substance of the entire Bhagavad-gita.

In conclusion, Bhagavad-gita is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. Gita-shastram idam punyam yah pathet prayatah puman: if one properly follows the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, one can be freed from all the miseries and anxieties of life. Bhaya-sokadi-varjitah. One will be freed from all fears in this life, and one’s next life will be spiritual. (Gita-mahatmya 1)

There is also a further advantage:

gitadhyayana-silasya
pranayama-parasya ca
naiva shanti hi papani
purva-janma-kritani ca

“If one reads Bhagavad-gita very sincerely and with all seriousness, then by the grace of the Lord the reactions of his past misdeeds will not act upon him.” (Gita-mahatmya 2) The Lord says very loudly in the last portion of Bhagavad-gita (18.66):

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayisyami ma sucah

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” Thus the Lord takes all responsibility for one who surrenders unto Him, and He indemnifies such a person against all reactions of sins.

maline mocanam pumsam
jala-snanam dine dine
sakrd gitamrita-snanam
samsara-mala-nasanam

“One may cleanse himself daily by taking a bath in water, but if one takes a bath even once in the sacred Ganges water of Bhagavad-gita, for him the dirt of material life is altogether vanquished.” (Gita-mahatmya 3)

gita su-gita kartavya
kim anyaih shastra-vistaraih
ya svayam padmanabhasya
mukha-padmad vinihsrta

Because Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad-gita. In the present age, people are so absorbed in mundane activities that it is not possible for them to read all the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary. This one book, Bhagavad-gita, will suffice, because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures and especially because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (Gita-mahatmya 4)

As it is said:

bharatamrita-sarvasvam
vishnu-vaktrad vinihsrtam
gita-gangodakam pitva
punar janma na vidyate

“One who drinks the water of the Ganges attains salvation, so what to speak of one who drinks the nectar of Bhagavad-gita? Bhagavad-gita is the essential nectar of the Mahabharata, and it is spoken by Lord Krishna Himself, the original Vishnu.” (Gita-mahatmya 5) Bhagavad-gita comes from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Ganges is said to emanate from the lotus feet of the Lord. Of course, there is no difference between the mouth and the feet of the Supreme Lord, but from an impartial study we can appreciate that Bhagavad-gita is even more important than the water of the Ganges.

sarvopanishado gavo
dogdha gopala-nandanah
partho vatsah su-dhir bhokta
dugdham gitamritam mahat

“This Gitopanishad, Bhagavad-gita, the essence of all the Upanishads, is just like a cow, and Lord Krishna, who is famous as a cowherd boy, is milking this cow. Arjuna is just like a calf, and learned scholars and pure devotees are to drink the nectarean milk of Bhagavad-gita.” (Gita-mahatmya 6)

ekam shastram devaki-putra-gitam
eko devo devaki-putra eva
eko mantras tasya namani yani
karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva
- Gita-mahatmya 7

In this present day, people are very much eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. Therefore, ekam shastram devaki-putra-gitam: let there be one scripture only, one common scripture for the whole world—Bhagavad-gita. Eko devo devaki-putra eva: let there be one God for the whole world—Sri Krishna. Eko mantras tasya namani: and one hymn, one mantra, one prayer—the chanting of His name: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva: and let there be one work only—the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The Disciplic Succession

Evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh (Bhagavad-gita 4.2). This “Bhagavad-gita As It Is” is received through this disciplic succession:

1. Krishna
2. Brahma
3. Narada
4. Vyasa
5. Madhva
6. Padmanabha
7. Nrihari
8. Madhava
9. Akshobhya
10. Jaya Tirtha
11. Jnanasindhu
12. Dayanidhi
13. Vidyanidhi
14. Rajendra
15. Jayadharma
16. Purushottama
17. Brahmanya Tirtha
18. Vyasa Tirtha
19. Lakshmipati
20. Madhavendra Puri
21. Ishvara Puri, (Nityananda, Advaita)
22. Lord Caitanya
23. Rupa, (Svarupa, Sanatana)
24. Raghunatha, Jiva
25. Krishnadasa
26. Narottama
27. Vishvanatha
28. (Baladeva) Jagannatha
29. Bhaktivinoda
30. Gaurakishora
31. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
32. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

[Excerpt from VEDA - Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, authors and Jan Mares]

In recent years we see a great spread of terms “reincarnation” and “karma” in public awareness. It is largely due to media which present reports, documents, movies, books a other products with this topic. If we set aside an analysis of this state we can briefly say that it shows a dissatisfaction with answers to existential questions given by modern science and various Western philosophies and religions.

Indeed, these sources cannot answer satisfactorily many of questions made by people nowadays. This creates a space for other philosophical sources and traditions to fill this vacuum. Most often they are various branches of so-called natural religions or various traditions of Eastern philosophies. Among other things they have in common these terms although their explanations differ in details. Their common denominator however is a cyclic perception of time (creation of the world happens repeatedly) whereas contemporary Western science adopted from Judeo-Christian tradition the linear perception of time (creation of the world is only a one-shot event).

Exceptional position among them belongs to Vedic tradition (sometimes incorrectly called hinduism) thanks to its ancient origin and authority based on the oldest texts in the world - Vedic scriptures. Because they are at the same time the widest and most detailed information source about these and many other topics, they definitely deserve attention.

Primary goal of Hare Krishna Movement is to inform the general public with knowledge contained in these books and bring into practice alternative lifestyle and culture based on them.

2. Attitude of Western science to reincarnation

Modern Western science from its beginnings considered the concept of reincarnation to be a mere religious belief or superstition and refused to explore its theses and effects.

Main problem is that science was not and still is not able to explain the life phenomenon. Even though there were attempts to explain the basis and origin of life as a biochemical combination of matter, these theories cannot satisfactorily answer many questions like e.g. origin of unlimited species of life, inherent abilities or experiences of people who went through a clinical death.

In 1966 British molecular biologist and Nobel Prize laureate Francis Crick (* 1916) published that is is possible to scientifically prove, that life is nothing more than complex chemical reaction. He also predicted that in near future science will succeed to synthetically create artificial organisms. But until now there was no success in this field even though highly advanced technologies and billion dollar expenses were used. Many scientists are thus forced to admit that bold claims of Crick and others are just empty promises. Hungarian-american biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986) wrote about it:

“While searching for the secret of life I ended up by atoms and electrons which do not show any signs of life. Somewhere on the way the life had to slip through my fingers. Now in my old age I have to backtrack.” (Biology Today, Del Mar, California, 1972)

Life as Vedic science explains is nothing physical or chemical and therefore it is subjected to laws of another nature than those guiding the movements of anorganic matter. Bhagavad-gita, a crucial work of Vedic philosophy, describes these laws as higher, subtle natural laws. Common scientific methods and devices cannot ascertain these higher laws, what to speak of helping to explain them.

3. Eight elements and two bodies

Bhagavad-gita (7.4) describes that the whole material world is composed of eight basic elements - five gross material and three subtle material.

Gross material elements are: earth, water, fire, air and ether. In modern terminology: solid substances, liquids, radiating energy, gasses and all-pervading space. Existence of ether is on the verge of modern science’s abilities to explore it and therefore it is doubted. But it is ether which enables wireless electromagnetic data transmission through space, without which modern communication systems could not function. Its existence was confirmed by Michelson-Gale experiment. (Physicist A. A. Michelson was not satisfied after previous, better known Michelson-Morley experiment and continued to explore the ether. His work culminated in Michelson-Gale experiment which was later independently verified by Georges M.M. Sagnac - www.orgonelab.org/miller.htm)

Scientific proof

All phenomena in this world perceivable by our senses are a combination of these five basic elements.

Above these five gross are three subtle material elements: mind, intelligence and false ego. Although we cannot perceive them due to their higher nature they are still material. Together they constitute so-called subtle material body (in Sanskrit linga-sarira, desire body, also called astral body) in which our thinking, feeling and willing is manifested. This means that our thoughts, feelings and desires correspond to our mind (manas) and intelligence (buddhi). Ahankara creates our false identification with our body (therefore “false ego”).

That which we usually consider a body is therefore composed of two various bodies - gross material a subtle material body. This can be understood with the example of a dream. During a dream our consciousness leaves our gross material daily body, identifies with subtle material dream body and after awakening again identifies with the gross material visible body. In both cases the consciousness, proper self (jiva) remains separated from both bodies. This is obvious from the fact that it observes them - it is a witness (saksi) of their activity - and identifies with them.

4. Soul (jiva) - source of consciousness

Sanskrit terms jiva or atma, sometimes connected into one - jivatma, are for the lack of suitable term in other languages denoted as soul.

Bhagavad-gita (7.5) describes that above these eight material elements is soul which is superior to them:

“Besides these [eight], O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.”

Well-known psychoanalyst C.G. Jung describes the soul as “greatest of cosmic miracles”, which is able within the frame of natural laws to manipulate material energy according to its desire and thus use it for its own benefit.

Interactions of embodied soul with its gross- and subtle material body create a web of unlimited complex reactions which cannot be described by simple laws of modern physics, chemistry or molecular biology. Therefore these natural sciences are unable to define precise difference between living and dead body.

If we would say that life is nothing more than a combination of material molecules then it should be possible bring dead body back to life by mere adding of chemicals whose lack caused death. It should be also possible to create an artificial life in a lab. However, these numerous attempts were unsuccessful and scientists’ interest switched to cloning. The reason is that life comes always and only from life and never from dead matter. Bhagavad-gita (2.17-18) explains that the difference between living and dead body is the presence of the soul. As soon as the soul leaves the body we consider it dead.

Second chapter of Bhagavad-gita (2.20-25) describes characteristics of the soul:

“For the soul there is neither birth nor death. It has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain. As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same. It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.”

All these qualities of of the soul are outside the field of perceivable molecular reactions. Niels Bohr (1885-1962), Danish nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, noted:

“In physics and chemistry we cannot find anything at least marginally proving the existence of consciousness. And still we all know that there is something like consciousness, simply because we have it ourselves. Consciousness therefore must be a part of nature, or expressed more commonly, a part of reality. This means that aside of physical and chemical laws described quantum theory there are laws with completely different nature.”

5. Three modes (gunas)

According to Vedic scriptures all variety of species of life is created by a combination of three basic modes of material energy, in Sanskrit called gunas. Here is again seen a limitation of other languages because they lack suitable synonym. Closest is probably the Latin word modus. Guna is therefore a kind of modus operandi (means of functioning) of material energy. They are called:

- sattva-guna (harmony, goodness)
- rajo-guna (activity, passion)
- tamo-guna (inertia, ignorance)

Bodies of individual species can be compared to various apartments or houses of different sizes, shapes and colors temporarily inhabited by embodied soul. Bodily forms limit (under the control of three modes) its freedom of movement and activities as well as possibilities of individual enjoyment. Influence of modes on people describes Bhagavad-gita (18.26-28):

“One who performs his duty without association with the modes of material nature, without false ego, with great determination and enthusiasm, and without wavering in success or failure is said to be a worker in the modes of goodness. The worker who is attached to work and the fruits of work, desiring to enjoy those fruits, and who is greedy, always envious, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow, is said to be in the mode of passion. The worker who is always engaged in work against the injunctions of the scripture, who is materialistic, obstinate, cheating and expert in insulting others, and who is lazy, always morose and procrastinating is said to be a worker in the mode of ignorance.”

6. Internal reincarnation - change of bodies in present life

Consciousness and physical form are directly related. Body and consciousness of little baby necessarily differs from body and consciousness of a young or old person. It can be said that soul travels during the development of the body from birth to death through different bodies with different consciousness. We may not be aware how we are constantly changing bodies in this life because this change is very subtle, gradual and hard to perceive. Did we notice as children how our body grows? We did notice it only when we were reminded of it by someone who saw us after a longer period of time.

This fact is confirmed also by biologists. American anthropologist John. E. Pfeiffer (* 1914) writes his book Human Brain (1955): “Our body today does not contain even one molecule from seven years ago.”

Despite this constant change of bodies we, souls, remain still the same unchanged persons.

Let us say that we are today thirty years old but we are still the same person who was five or twenty years old. We are just in a different gross body. Our current body during the time somehow changed, e.g. we gained more abilities, strength and knowledge, but we are the same persons, we have not become anyone else. Characteristics, abilities, knowledge and perceptions - all this we own but despite all external changes our identity does not change.

This transmigration of soul through many bodies during one life we can call gradual or internal reincarnation.

7. External reincarnation - change of body at the time of death

What will happen with the soul at the time of death of present physical body? In other words: Where are we going when we die? Do we have an influence over our next situation? Can we choose our future life?

In Bhagavad-gita (2.13) we will find answers:

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.quot;

Bhagavad-gita further explains that state of consciousness in critical moment of death is crucial for the choice of new body:

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state without fail.quot;

At the moment of death the soul together subtle body leaves the gross, physical body. It is the subtle body and our desires and thoughts recorded therein and recalled by us at this moment which are decisive as to the destination of our next body. This transmigration of soul from one body to another is called external reincarnation (samsara or samsriti in Sanskrit).

Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) 5.11.5-7 mentions that mind is attracted by sense enjoyment, pious or impious. Thus it is subject to three modes of material nature and causes corresponding births in various types of bodies, higher or lower. Therefore the soul suffers material unhappiness or enjoys material material happiness because of the mind. Thus mind under the influence of illusion creates further pious and impious activities and their karma and the soul becomes conditioned by them. Sages say that the mind is the cause of bodily features bondage and liberation.

Here is refuted one widely spread idea that the soul cannot fall from the human body anymore, i.e. achieve animal or another lower body. Human form differs from lower forms in such a way that the soul in it has a free will and thus also a responsibility for its actions (karma).

The fact that the soul reincarnates together with subtle body is confirmed also by parapsychological research. With the help of various methods many people could recall from their subconsciousness memories of previous lives. This would not be be possible if the carrier of these memories would not incarnate together with the soul. According to the Vedic scriptures the memory is the function of intelligence, a part of subtle body. Although at the time of birth we forget our previous life, it is possible by certain means to restore active memories of our previous incarnations. These means however are not always cent percent reliable. In certain exceptional cases, especially in children, is proved a spontaneous ability of recall without external influence of medium or therapist.

8. Definition of term “reincarnation”

Reincarnation (from Latin “re”, again + “incarnare”, make flesh) is a continuous transmigration of the soul together with its subtle material body from one gross material body to another according to its individual karma.

Reincarnation is therefore a process and law of karma is directing it. Examples of various kinds of karma and their effects you will find at Samsara

B. Karma - The Law Behind Reincarnation
1. Law of action and reaction
2. Free will and fate
3. Karma from the action point of view
4. Karma from the reaction point of view
5. Four phases of karma
6. Three kinds of karma

1. Law of action and reaction

Term “karma” is inseparably connected with reincarnation. While trying to understand the reincarnation process one cannot avoid this term.

Sanskrit word “karma” literally means “action, activity, work”, and because other languages again lack any synonym exactly explaining its meaning, it is not recommended to translate it.

In West this term was first used by Russian theosophist Helena P. Blavatsky (1831-1891). Her definition:

“Karma is the basic cosmic law, …which in physical, mental and soul world connects cause with its effect. Because any cause, be it the greatest like the movement of cosmos, or the smallest like the movement of hand, necessarily has a corresponding effect, and because the same acts in a same way, karma is invisible and unknown law which wisely, righteously and and providentially connects every effects with corresponding cause and its originator.”

In his work “Manifestations of Karma” (1910) anthroposofist Rudolf Steiner defines karma in this way:

“…without limiting free will of man, the law of karma acts back on an entity, from which the cause came, like the law of action and reaction.”

These definitions intelligibly explain the core of Vedic term karma. Steiner’s comparing law of karma to the physical law of action and reaction (actio = reactio, third Newton’s law of classical mechanics, 1687) is very pertinent although this law represents only a little aspect of much higher and subtler law of karma. Pertinent is also the maxim that karmic law of cause and effect acts especially on an individual level and leaves a space for the free will of a doer. This is what usually forget different critics of Eastern philosophies who understand karma as a mechanical predestination forcing a man to passively await what the future will bring (nihilism).

Already before Steiner and Newton’s discovery people knew sayings showing a certain understanding of regularity of action and reaction. Also a biblical quote “A man reaps what he sows” (Galatským 6:7) became a folk saying.

2. Free will and fate

According to Vedic philosophy every living being transmigrating in material world from one body to another, is given a free will to act according to its desires, ideas and thoughts.

When Shri Krishna narrated Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, in one of the last verses (18.63) He said:

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

Vedic scriptures say that desire is a father of thought and thought is a father of action. Desire originally comes from the soul, thought from the mind (subtle body) and actions from working sense organs of gross body.

Living being has due to free will a certain, although limited field of activity. Vedic philosophy teaches that free will and predestination or fate are parallel to each other. By our present actions, performed out of our free will, we create our future karmic reactions. At the same time we reap reaction of our previous actions. Fate is not, therefore, any punishment from above striking on innocent ones (and which God does not want to or cannot stop).

Law of karma is very strict because it must assure fulfillment of desires of all living beings in the whole material world in such a way that they do not contradict but complement themselves and that even one injustice does not go unpunished. American Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) describes it in this way (Lectures and Biographical Sketches, 1868):

“If you love people and serve them, you will be rewarded. Hidden rewards continue to reinstate balance of divine justice. This law cannot be changed. All tyrants, owners and monopolists of this world try in vain to disrupt this balance. Equator still keeps its place and people as well as insects, sun and planets must obey it or be destroyed by backlash reaction.”

Universe is ruled by strict and generally operative laws - like rules of a great game of life - which coordinate desires and mutual relationships among individual living beings. Thus each of them gets exactly as much as it deserves - neither more, nor less.

According to Bhagavad-gita (2.70) the continuous stream of desires coming from the mind of each living being is like innumerable rivers which all enter one vast ocean. In this way originates endlessly complex, multidimensional web of actions and reaction which a man cannot understand. Here is apparent the influence of invisible hand of God who in His aspect of omnipresent Supersoul (paramatma) is accompanying all individual soul during their transmigration through various bodily forms. Bhagavad-gita (13.23) describes this aspect of God:

“Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.”

Function of Supersoul is therefore to record innumerable desires of each living being and arrange for their fulfillment as well as observe activities of living beings and grant them corresponding reactions. This directing hand of God is called a law of karma.

3. Karma from the action point of view

Vedic scriptures contain exact information which actions we have to perform if we wish to achieve certain results (reactions). For example it is said: if you want to be rich, you have to act in this way, if you want to be famous, do this, if you want to live a satisfactory family life, do that etc.

If someone is in this life very successful, wealthy, educated, influential or beautiful, we can conclude from it that he must have been in his previous life magnanimous, diligent, and pious and now only reaps results of his previous deeds.

But what he will do with these assets in present life is another question - it depends on his free will. Therefore we see that not every wealthy and powerful person behaves properly.

Same principle is valid for unwanted things. Vedic scriptures can advise us: if you do not want to be sick or bankrupt, you must not do this or that. If we act according to these instructions, we will surely reach desired result in this or some of our future lives. Miscellaneous reactions may come either sooner or later - some immediately and others only after several lives.

4. Karma from the reaction point of view

While looking from the other side we have to admit that whatever happens to us in this life is nothing else than reaction to to our activity in this or some of previous lives. It is not therefore, a matter of blind chance but only a result of our deeds we decided to perform out of our free will.

Therefore it sometimes happens that people who live very pious and proper life are still exposed to all kinds of sufferings. From this one can conclude that in past they had to act improperly. Usually they learn from this and decide to live properly in their present life. Also one whose life is full of success reaps the fruit of his deeds.

Materialistic life and a chain of actions and reactions are inseparable. It is like a long movie of actions and reactions and the length of one life is like its several fields. When a child is born, his present body can be understood as a beginning of another series of actions and the death of an old man as its end. From this it is clear why someone, due to different reactions, is born in rich family and someone else in poor family although they were born at the same time in the same place and under same circumstances. Who carries along with him pious reactions (good karma) will get a chance to be born in rich or pious family and who is burdened by impious reactions (bad karma) will be born in low class and poor family.

5. Four phases of karma

“Plant a thought and you will reap a deed, plant a deed and you will reap a habit, plant a habit and you will reap a character, plant a character and you will reap a fate.” (Indian proverb)

Vedic philosophy (Padma Purana) explains that karmic reaction are manifested in four different phases compared to the phases of a plants’ growth:

1. bija (seed) Our wishes and intentions already exist in subtle form and only later they will manifest in activities. Thus to avoid unpleasant karmic reactions (suffering) we must pay attention to our unspoken material desires before the seeds of actions did not begin to sprout.

2. kuta-stha (sprouting) Reactions manifesting after a decision to perform a deed. They are material desires which already began to sprout.

3. phalonmukha (fructifying) Reactions already bearing fruits (phala). As soon as we perform a material actions - good or bad - it is only a question of time before they manifest reactions (fruit) in the form of happiness or distress.

4. prarabdha (harvest) Reactions already fulfilled at our birth: family (defining our socio-economic situation, nationality, race), physical and psychic dispositions etc.

Previous three phases are also in Sanskrit given a summary term aprarabdha or reactions not yet fully manifested, potential happiness and suffering. Fourth phase, prarabdha-karma, is what is generally called “karma”.

Upanisads describe these categories of karma:

1. sancita (stored)
1.1. anarabdha (not yet manifested) = aprarabdha
1.2. prarabdha (already manifested)
2. kriyamana (newly created)

6. Three kinds of karma

Bhagavad-gita (4.17-18) says: “The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is. One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.”

These verses describe three kinds of karma. Here ‘karma’ does not denote reaction but action, activity.

1. karma Activities in harmony with higher laws of nature (dharma), which are also described in Vedic scriptures. This positive action brings positive reactions in the form of happiness and enjoyment.

2. vikarma Activities forbidden by scriptures písma because they are in conflict with dharma. These negative actions bring corresponding reactions - distress and suffering.

Bad karma - a short movie from film.bullguard.com

3. akarma Activities of higher nature which are not subjected to material laws of nature and therefore are called “inactions”. They do not bring any reactions, neither positive nor negative, and thus they bring reincarnation to an end. This end will occur when our “karmic account” at the end of life is zero. This cannot be achieved, however, by parallel performing of karma and vikarma, as someone may think, because they are counted independently of each other.

The cause of problems is vikarma which is at present performed by huge number of people all over the world in great amounts, and which is a threat for the whole humankind because it affects it in the form of collective karma (summary of individual karmas). This is manifested as wars, epidemics, natural disasters etc.

Reality proves that we are missing knowledge of law of karma because despite all our good intentions and efforts to alleviate suffering there is more and more unhappiness, individual and collective, in this world. This knowledge is ultimately the only solution of current problems. One who realizes this will understand that the change must start with himself.

C. Dharma - cosmic ethics
So how do we know what is “proper” and what is “improper”? This knowledge is crucial for our free decision-making. If there is a law there must be available its written form so everyone can get acquainted with it. After all, it is said that ignorance of law is no excuse.

These rules are listed in scriptures, especially in so-called dharma-sastras (scriptures describing dharma). They are law-books precisely defining how every human being should act according to one’s social and spiritual position. Most famous among them is Manu-smriti or Manu’s Law-book. Passages on dharma are also contained in Mahabharata (and its most important part, the Bhagavad-gita), Ramayana, Bhagavata and other Puranas, Bible, Qur’an etc.

Term “dharma” comes from Sanskrit root “dhri” (maintain, sustain, preserve in work). Usually it is translated as ethical, moral and religious principles which, however, does not fully represent its meaning. Dharma is a law or order of the material world (that which maintains its harmonic function), virtue or righteous conduct. Still deeper explanation says that dharma is an inherent or inseparable quality or nature. There is an example of salt whose inseparable quality (dharma) is salty taste. The word dharma would be therefore possible to translate as “ultimate cause”. This term from Western philosophy expresses the reason for existence of an object. Ultimate cause - dharma - of a house is to provide shelter to people. Uninhabitable house represents adharma (opposite of dharma). Dharma defines the function of the law of karma and itself is established by God. As “pillars of dharma” are called four qualities described in Bhagavata Purana (1.17.24):

- mercy (refusal of violence, meat-eating etc.)
- renunciation/sense control (refusal of intoxicants)
- truthfulness (refusal of gambling and speculations)
- purity (refusal of sex forbidden in scriptures)

It is therefore already established which human activities are good and bring positive reactions and which are bad and bring negative reactions in the form of suffering. This value system is universally valid and does not depend on opinions of individual living beings. I may think that what I do is good and also be able to justify it intellectually and thus impress others. If, however, my activity is not in accordance with universal definition of goodness, I will still reap a negative reaction.

Freedom of thinking and acting so propagated nowadays is sometimes misunderstood as a chance to do whatever we like. Yes, we have a free will, but at the same time we are responsible for our activity. Nothing can be further from reality that an idea that violation of dharma is unpunished. Contemporary state of the world should warn us not to put an economic benefit (artha) before dharma. It is this desire for sense enjoyment (symbolized by money) which is the most frequent cause of dharma violation.

D. Sanatana-dharma: the higher aspect of dharma
Dharma defines the way of life to suffer the least in this world. But the four basic kinds of suffering - birth, disease, old age and death - we cannot avoid here because they are present in the whole material world. It can be seen as a penitentiary institution with various corrective groups with better or worse standard of life. To get from the third group into the first can be considered as a certain advancement but we are still imprisoned. Although there is a small group of prisoners who like to stay in jail, vast majority of people desires freedom. Those who wish to be completely free from all suffering are informed by Vedic scriptures about even higher level called para-dharma (superior dharma) or sanatana-dharma (eternal dharma). Activity on this level is akarma, or free from any reactions. It is bhakti, devotional service to the Supreme Lord which is described in detail in Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavata Purana (Srimad Bhagavatam) and other confidential scriptures. Pleasant study!

“Man should serve to Lord Krishna with devotion without any desire for material benefit in this or next life. This will bring him liberation from the shackles of karma.” (Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.14)