"God is everywhere yet localized, all-pervading yet aloof. He walks yet doesn’t walk. He is far away yet very near as well.” Such contradictory statements are not whimsical. Rather, they indicate God’s inconceivable power.
The Absolute Truth, Krishna, can be realized in three phases: Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan. These aspects of the Absolute Truth are comparable to the sunshine (brahman), the sun’s surface (paramatma), and the sun planet (bhagavan)—three different features of the same reality.
The Brahman aspect of God is the beginning less, impersonal form of the Lord, the effulgence of Krishna’s transcendental body. Just as the root of a tree maintains the whole tree, Krishna, the root of all things, maintains everything by His energies: He is the heat in the fire, the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon—the active principle of everything. Although Krishna spreads Himself throughout His creation, He retains his own personality.
Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, “unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.” (Bg. 7.24) Although impersonalists may eventually attain the Supreme, their path is fraught with difficulties, for it is unnatural for the embodied soul to conceive of the unembodied, which is only a partial aspect of the Absolute Truth.
Realization of God as Paramatma, the Super soul in the heart of every embodied soul, is compared to knowing the sun disc in the sky. The Paramatma is the Supreme Proprietor, Witness, and the Permitter, and He accompanies the wandering soul through the soul’s 8,400,000 embodiments. Acting as the soul’s friend, He remains the soul’s constant companion during the sojourn in the material world, no matter what type of body the soul inhabits – pig, mosquito, philosopher and demigod. The Super soul helps him fulfill his desires by supplying knowledge, remembrance, and forgetfulness.
Although the Super soul appears to be divided among all beings, He is never divided. Rather, he is situated as one – like the sun reflected in the millions of buckets of water. The Super soul can be perceived through meditation, by cultivation of knowledge or by working without fruitive desires. A person in full knowledge of the Super soul understands that the Super soul is the localized aspect of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within this material world and that the next step is to worship Him as Bhagavan.
Although the Super soul appears to be divided among all beings, He is never divided. Rather, he is situated as one – like the sun reflected in the millions of buckets of water. The Super soul can be perceived through meditation, by cultivation of knowledge or by working without fruitive desires. A person in full knowledge of the Super soul understands that the Super soul is the localized aspect of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within this material world and that the next step is to worship Him as Bhagavan.
“Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, “Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita, “I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.” Krishna appears in this world “to deliver the pious, annihilate the miscreants, and reestablish the principles of religion.”
When He appears, He does not change His body like a common living entity, born one after another. Rather He appears in His original, eternal form, with two hands, holding a flute. He seems to be born like an ordinary child and grow to boyhood and youth – but He never ages beyond youth. At the time of the Battle of Kuruksetra, He was more than one hundred years old by material calculation, but he looked like a young man. He is the oldest person, but neither His body nor His intelligence ever deteriorates or changes.
To know Krishna as Bhagavan is a privilege reserved for bhakti-yogis. “I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent,” Krishna explains (Bg. 7.25). “for them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible.”
“one can understand me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when, by such devotion, one is fully conscious of Me, one can enter the kingdom of God. “(Bg. 18.55)
The Vedic scriptures declare that Bhagavan Sri Krishna is the source of both the Super soul and Brahman and the origin of all avataras. Avataras are scheduled incarnations who descend from the spiritual world to execute the Lord’s mission of protecting the devotees and annihilating the miscreants. Their descent is foretold in the scriptures so that unscrupulous people can be checked from claiming to be avataras. In this age, just over five hundred years ago, the Lord descended as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to spread the congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra for the peaceful deliverance of both devotees and miscreants.
A common misconception of uninformed students of the Bhagavad-gita is that Krishna’s universal form (described in the eleventh chapter) is the last word in God realization. The universal form is most impressive and spectacular: “if hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form. Arjuna could see in that universal form of the Lord the unlimited expansions of the universe situated in one place although divided into many, many thousands.” (bg. 11.13) Yet the universal form is only a subordinate feature of the original, humanlike form of the Personality of Godhead.
The universal form frightened Arjuna and bewildered his mind, especially when the Lord revealed Himself as kala-rupa, the form of time, devouring all the combatants on the battlefield. Arjuna therefore requested Krishna to withdraw His terrifying universal form and show His four-armed Visnu form. Krishna agreed. Then, reverting to the two - armed form Arjuna was accustomed to see, the Lord declared, “this form of Mine you are now seeing is very difficult to behold. It cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. Only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly.” (bg. 11.53-4)
The kingdom of God is called Vaikuntha, “the place without anxiety,” and it lies far beyond this world of matter. It is eternal, and every one of its atoms is fully conscious and blissful. It is full of countless spiritual planets where Krishna’s Visnu expansions reside. In the midst of Vaikuntha stands Goloka Vrindavan, a planet shaped like a lotus flower, where every word is a song and every step is a dance, where trees fulfill all desires, palaces are made of touchstone, and transcendental cows supply unlimited milk. The original Krishna enjoys life as a cowherd boy with His loving devotees. Those who reach that Supreme abode never return to the material world.
Jiva - The Living Entity
Who am I? The face I see every morning in the mirror? The eyes that scrutinize it? The heartbeats within my chest? Or the thoughts that race through my brain while I wonder about all this?
According to the ancient Vedic Scriptures, I am none of these things. I am an eternal soul – a jiva – stuck within a city of nine gates (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, rectum, and genitals).
“when the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul.” This statement from the Svetasvatara Upanishad explains why scientists have not been able to see the soul through their microscopes.
Minute in size, the soul is nonetheless so powerful that it animates the entire body with consciousness. It is situated within the heart, and when it leaves the body the red corpuscles that carry the oxygen from the lungs can no longer gather energy from the soul. As a result the activity of the blood ceases, the heart stops beating, and the entire body disintegrates.
What happens to the soul then?
“for the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time,” the Bhagavad-gita explains. “he is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (bg. 2.20) “as the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body from childhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” (bg. 2.13) “as a person puts on new garments, the soul similarly accepts material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”(bg. 2.22)
The atomic soul (jiva) is part and parcel of the Supreme Whole, and equal to God in quality. Both are eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, but they are not quantitatively equal. Whether embodied or in the pure spiritual state, the jiva remains atomic in size, just as the sunshine molecules remain atomic particles of sunshine. The sunshine is simultaneously one with and different from the sun globe: it is one in quality of heat and light, but not in quantity. Similarly, the jiva always remains a part of the Supreme Whole, qualitatively one yet quantitatively different.
Throughout the Vedas, the Supreme Whole is known as Krishna. Being the Supreme Energetic source of everything, Krishna has innumerable energies, which are categorized in three main divisions: internal, external, and marginal. The internal or superior energy manifests the spiritual variegatedness of the kingdom of God; the external or inferior energy manifests the cosmic creation; and the marginal energy comprises the countless particles of consciousness known as jivas.
Just as the limbs of the body are meant to serve the whole body, the jivas are meant to serve the Supreme Being. But their infinitesimal size makes them prone to become influenced by the Lord’s external energy. Under such influence, some jivas choose to misidentify themselves as independent enjoyers. In other words, they become God’s competitors. Although it is an impossible dream, Krishna, “who has been fulfilling everyone’s desire since time immemorial” (isopanisad - 8), fulfills their desire by creating this world of matter. This material world is a perverted reflection of the Spiritual World. Here the rebellious jivas are free to enact fantasies in one of 8,400,000 types of bodies created by the external, illusory energy.
When the jivas enter the material energy, they are subjected to past, present, and future. Under time’s influence, and overpowered by fear, they suffer greatly. The only remedy is to resume service to the Lord. The jivas, however, cannot reach this conclusion by their own efforts, because they have forgotten their real identity as sprit souls. They consider themselves products of the material energy.
As the Supreme Father of all jivas, Krishna is most kind and compassionate. Therefore He personally comes to speak Bhagavad-gita, and He sends His confidential servants to act as spiritual masters. As the Super soul within everyone’s heart, He gives us discrimination, with which we can accept the Vedas and a Spiritual Master.
Through the study of Bhagavad-gita, the jiva comes to understand his true position as Krishna’s servant. Then under the direction of the expert Spiritual Master, he engages his senses, mind, and intelligence in the service of Krishna. Such practice gradually raises him to the platform of transcendental loving service and culminates in the attainment of a blissful, intimate relationship with Krishna – the perfection of life.
Prakriti - Material Nature
In the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (7.6), Krishna says that all created beings have their origin in two natures – the material and the spiritual – and that He is the sources of both natures.
Prakriti, nature, is actually threefold. Nature consists of a superior energy (para), an inferior energy (apara), and a marginal energy. The superior energy manifests the spiritual realm. The inferior energy (known as “nature” by scientists) manifests the material world. And the marginal energy, also spiritual by constitution, comprises the infinitesimal sparks of consciousness known as jivas – that is, all living beings. When the jivas choose to associate with matter and identify with the inferior energy, they manipulate it for sense enjoyment, and thus the entire world functions.
Everything that exists here is a product of matter and spirit, but spirit is the basic field of creation. Spirit is not created at a certain stage of material development. Matter grows around spirit. For example, a baby’s body grows to childhood and youth and then maturity because the spirit soul is present within the body. Similarly, the entire cosmic manifestation develops because of the presence of the Supreme Soul.
Krishna is the Seed-giving Father of all living entities, and material nature is the womb, or mother. Krishna says, “this material nature is working under My direction, producing all moving and non-moving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” (bg. 9.10) Krishna injects living entities into the womb of material nature simply by glancing, and they manifest in different forms and species, depending upon their previous desires and activities.
Material nature consists of eight elements: earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intelligence, and false ego. These are known as Krishna’s “separated material energies” (bg. 7.4). Another classification describes the elements of the material world as twenty-four. First the five gross elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space). Then the three subtle elements (mind, intelligence, and false ego). Then the ten senses—five for working (the hands, legs, stomach, rectum, and the genitals) and five for acquiring knowledge (the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin). Then there are the five sense objects (form, taste, smell, sound, and touch), and finally consciousness. These twenty-four elements constitute the field of activities for the living entity.
The material body of the jiva is also called the field of activity. It is a miniature universe formed of the twenty-four universal elements. Though covered by gross and subtle material elements, the soul retains in a dormant state its individuality as an eternal servitor of the Lord. The pure soul in the material world desires to exploit material nature and the false ego is the identification of the self as separate from Krishna.
Material nature is endowed with three qualities or modes (gunas): goodness, passion, and ignorance. When these three qualities combine and permutate, they create many varieties of consciousness, just as the combinations of the primary colors red, yellow, and blue create many colors. Conditioned by the three modes, the living entity adheres to a particular type of faith, prefers certain kinds of food, and enjoys his own type of understanding, determination, happiness, and knowledge. Bhagavad- gita (4.13) says that one’s tendency towards a particular type of work is determined by the three modes of material nature. Generally the mode of goodness conditions one to happiness; passion to fruitive action; and ignorance to madness. All three modes bind one to the cycle of repeated birth and death. “this divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome, “krishna says. Nonetheless: “those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” (Bg. 7.14)
Kala – Eternal Time
Time controls and subdues all embodied beings. Anyone can easily see that material bodies undergo six changes: birth, growth, maintenance, reproduction, decay, and death. Whether we like it or not, every rising and setting of the sun brings us closer to inevitable death. The rise and fall of civilizations follow the same pattern, and their Taj Mahals, Parthenons, Chateau de Versailles and pyramids stand as pathetic reminders that time and tide wait for no man.
According to the Vedic version, Brahma, the four-headed cosmic engineer of this universe, lives in a body that is subtle, because it is made primarily of intelligence, and he lives for the duration of this universe, the equivalent of 311 trillion of our years, which seem to him only one hundred of his years. From our viewpoint, 311 trillion years is an eternity, but from the point of view of Visnu, the original cause of the material creation, that’s the time it takes him to exhale one breath. When Visnu exhales all the universes come out of the pores of his skin in seed like forms, then they develop, and when he inhales, all the universes merge within Him.
The purpose of the cosmic creation is to accommodate those souls wishing to assume Krishna’s position as the Supreme Enjoyer and Proprietor. Since the constitutional position of everyone is subordination to God, it is impossible to compete with Him. So Krishna makes the impossible a possibility, by creating a temporary illusion called the material world, where we may forget Him and enjoy being illusory controllers for some time.
“time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds,” the Lord declares in Bhagavad-gita (11.32). Under the influence of eternal time the cosmic manifestation is created, maintained, and annihilated at regular intervals.
Time passes differently according to one’s situation in the cosmos. Brahma lives for one hundred years, but for us his one hundred years seem like trillions. His twelve hours consist of one thousand cycles of four ages (yugas): Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. A single cycle of Kali, the shortest yuga, corresponds to 4,320,000 solar years.
Time passes differently according to one’s situation in the cosmos. Brahma lives for one hundred years, but for us his one hundred years seem like trillions. His twelve hours consist of one thousand cycles of four ages (yugas): Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. A single cycle of Kali, the shortest yuga, corresponds to 4,320,000 solar years.
The four ages are fully under the corrupting influence of time. Whereas Satya-yuga is marked by virtue, wisdom, and religion, these qualities deteriorate with the passing of time, and when Kali-yuga rolls around, we experience mostly strife, vice, ignorance, and irreligion, true virtue being practically nonexistent.
To correct the imbalance created by the degrading influence of time, the Lord advents Himself “millennium after millennium.” He first spoke Bhagavad-gita to Vivasvan, the sun-god, millions of years ago. “I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it ti Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku.” (Bg. 4.1) This is confirmed in the Mahabharata: “In the beginning of the millennium known as Treta-yuga this science of the relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvan to Manu. Manu, being the father of mankind, gave it to his son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty, in which Lord Ramacandra appeared. “ Bhagavad-gita has therefore existed in human society from the time if Maharaja Iksvaku.
Speaking to Arjuna, Lord Krishna further said, “This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” (Bg. 4.2) The Lord then explained that same science again to Arjuna five thousand years ago, and it has been brought to us through an unbroken chain of self-realized spiritual masters, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
When Krishna said He had spoken millions of years ago to Vivasvan, Arjuna raised a doubt: How could Krishna have done this? Lord Krishna replied: “Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot.”(Bg. 4.5) Krishna remembered acts He had performed millions of years before, but Arjuna could not remember anything, despite the fact that both Krishna and Arjuna are eternal. This is so because whenever the Lord appears He appears in His original transcendental form, which never deteriorates. Any ordinary person, however, transmigrates from one body to another. And from one life to the next, one forgets his former identity. But Krishna, the very principle of subduing time, is never under the control of time, and thus He remembers everything at all times. “O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows. “(Bg. 7.26)
The Srimad Bhagavatam compares time to the deadly sharp blade of a Razor. Because time imperceptibly devours the duration of life of everyone, one must carefully use one’s life properly. Since time represents Krishna, using time to search for the Absolute Truth is the best practical use of time. The Narada Pancaratra advises: “By concentrating one’s attention on the transcendental form of Krishna, who is all- pervading and beyond time and space, one becomes absorbed in thinking of Krishna and then attains the happy state of transcendental association with Him.”
Karma – Material Activities
The Bhagavad-gita discusses five topics: isvara, the Supreme Controller; jiva, the living entity; prakriti, material nature; kala, time; and karma, activities. The living entity, material nature, and time are eternal energies of the Lord, the Supreme Controller. Karma however, is not eternal. “karma” means work and its results, or action and reaction. “ action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma," says Bhagavad-gita (8.3).
From one life to the next, and from one cosmic creation to the next, the living entity makes a determination to act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the reaction to his work. After giving up one body, he enters another and usually he forgets everything about his previous life. The Super soul in everyone’s heart witnesses one’s past desires and gives one facility and directions by which to fulfill them. In this way, the soul reaps the results of his actions.
But karma is not eternal. Although we are reaping the results of our activities from time immemorial, we can change our karma. Change is possible when we become situated in the mode of goodness, in sanity, and understand what sort of activities we should adopt. If we do that, then all the actions and reactions connected to our past activities can be changed.
Action has three components - the sense, the work, and the doer - and three motivating factors: knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower. Action can be of three kinds: karma, akarma and vikarma.
The soul within the body acts to bring about the results of activity and is therefore known as the doer. Its instruments of action are the senses, and for every action there is a different endeavor. But all of one’s activities depend on the will of the Super soul, seated within the heart as a friend. Not a blade of grass moves without the Lord’s sanction. “whatever right or wrong action a man performs by body, mind or speech is caused by these five factors, the Bhagavad-gita says (18.15).
Actions performed in accordance with scriptural injunctions are considered right and are technically called karma. They lead the performer to the heavenly planets for prolonged sensual enjoyment. But, when a person’s pious credits are exhausted, he must return to earth, just as a person returns from a holiday and resumes his work.
Actions performed in defiance of the scriptures are called vikarma and lead to hellish planets or to lower species of life. Then one has to work one’s way up the evolutionary ladder to regain a human form of life. There are 8,400,000 species of life, but only 400,000 are human, so vikarma is risky.
Actions performed under the direct guidance of the Supreme Lord or His representatives are called akarma. This type of activity produces neither good nor bad reactions. A soldier may kill under the command of his superior officer and not be held responsible for murder, though if he kills on his own accord he is liable for punishment. Similarly, a Krishna Conscious person acts under the Lord’s direction and not for his own sake. “one is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of the desire for sense gratification,” says the Bhagavad-gita. “he is said by the sages to be a worker for whom the reactions of work have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge.” (bg. 4.19)
Until one is liberated from material nature, one has to perform his duty according to religious principles and in this way gradually rise to the platform of real knowledge. Krishna says (bg. 4.13). “according to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me,” The four divisions are the brahmanas, the intelligent class, situated in the mode of goodness; the ksatriyas, the military and administrative class, in the mode of passion; vaisyas, the mercantile class, in mixed passion and ignorance; and sudras, the working class, in the mode of ignorance. Every civilized human fits into one of these categories, but not according to birth; it depends on one’s personal qualities and work.
“by following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect,” Krishna says (bg. 18.45). “one who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.” (bg. 5.10) By work directed towards the highest perfection of self-realization – understanding one’s constitutional position as Krishna’s eternal servitor – one’s karma ceases to exist.
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FAQ on the Bhagavad-gita
What is Bhagavad-gita?
Bhagavad-gita ("The Song of God"), also known as Gitopanisad, is the essence of Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upanishads in Vedic literature. It was spoken five thousand years ago by Lord Sri Krishna to the prince Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra (located about 130 miles north of modern New Delhi). The sage Vyasadeva recorded the conversation, spoken in Sanskrit, and included it in his epic Mahabharata.
Are all commentaries on Bhagavad-gita of equal value?
There are many English commentaries on the Bhagavad-gita, but 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. To be bona fide, the translator must be a recognized devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, and his views must be corroborated by evidence from other Vedic scriptures and spiritual masters in the line of disciplic succession
What is the spirit of Bhagavad-gita?
The spirit of Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita itself. It is just like this: If we want to take a particular medicine, we have to follow the directions on the label. We cannot take the medicine according to our own whim or the directions 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 the Gita as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan.
What is the significance of the word bhagavan?
Sometimes the word bhagavan is applied to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, and certainly in Bhagavad-gita, 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 confirmed by all great acaryas (spiritual masters) like Sankaracarya, 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 Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.
To whom was Bhagavad-gita first spoken?
In the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (4.1–3) 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 Iksvaku, 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 Kuruksetra.
Why is Vedic knowledge received through disciplic succession?
Vedic knowledge is not a question of research, nor is it imparted by defective living entities. Our research work is imperfect because we are researching things with imperfect senses. We have to accept perfect knowledge that comes down, as 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 Krishna says without contradicting Him. One is not allowed to accept one portion of Bhagavad-gita and not another. 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. It was imparted unto the heart of Brahma, the first created living being, and Brahma in turn disseminated the knowledge to his sons and disciples.
What makes Vedic knowledge infallible and human knowledge imperfect?
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 apauruseya, meaning that they are different from words spoken by a person of the mundane world who is infected with four defects. A mundane person
Is sure to commit mistakes
Is invariably illusioned
Has the tendency to cheat others
Is limited by imperfect senses.
With these four imperfections, one cannot deliver perfect information of all-pervading knowledge.
Consequently, the followers of the Vedas 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 a purifying agent. One might consider this to be contradictory, but it is accepted because it is a 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 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.
For what purpose did Lord Krishna speak Bhagavad-gita?
The purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to deliver humankind from the ignorance of material existence. Everyone is in difficulty in so many ways, as was Arjuna in having to fight the Battle of Kurukshetra. Every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence. In the material world we are caught in the repeated cycle of birth and death. Thus our very existence remains in constant jeopardy in the atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatened by nonexistence. According to the Bhagavad-gita our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we are put into asat. Asat refers to that which does not exist.
What distinguishes human beings from animals?
In this world, human beings are not meant for quarreling like cats and dogs. Human beings 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 life. This direction is given in all Vedic literature, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-gita.
Vedic literature is meant for human beings, not for other forms of life. 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 a person is awakened to questioning his suffering, unless he realizes that he doesn't want suffering but rather wants to make a solution to all suffering, then he is not to be considered a perfect human being.
Humanity begins when this sort of inquiry is awakened in one's mind. Every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure unless he inquires about the nature of the Absolute.
Who is the proper student of the Gita?
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.
What subject does the Bhagavad-gita cover?
The subject of Bhagavad-gita entails the comprehension of five basic truths: the science of God, the constitutional position of the living entities (jivas), material nature (prakrti), time (kala), and activity (karma).
Who does the Bhagavad-gita say is God?
Bhagavad-gita establishes that the Supreme Godhead is Krishna. He is the supreme controller, the greatest of all. No one is greater than Him or equal to Him.
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