1 Bg 9-1972: The Most Confidential Knowledge
2
3 9. The Most Confidential Knowledge
4
5 Bg 9.1
6
7 TEXT 1
8
9 TRANSLATION
10
11 The Supreme Lord said: My dear Arjuna,
> because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you
> this most secret wisdom, knowing
> which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material
> existence.
12
13 PURPORT
14
15 As a devotee hears more and more about the Supreme Lord, he
> becomes enlightened. This hearing process is recommended in
> the Srimad-Bhagavatam: "The messages of the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead are full of potencies, and these
> potencies can be realized if topics regarding the Supreme
> Godhead are discussed amongst devotees. This cannot be
> achieved by the association of mental speculators or
> academic scholars, for it is realized knowledge."
16
17 The devotees are constantly engaged in the Supreme Lord's
> service. The Lord understands the mentality and sincerity
> of a particular living entity who is engaged in Krsna
> consciousness and gives him the intelligence to understand
> the science of Krsna in the association of the devotees.
> Discussion of Krsna is very potent, and if a fortunate
> person has such association and tries to assimilate the
> knowledge, then he will surely make advancement toward
> spiritual realization. Lord Krsna, in order to encourage
> Arjuna to higher and higher elevation in His potent service,
> describes in this Ninth Chapter matters more confidential
> than any He has already disclosed.
18
19 The very beginning of Bhagavad-gita, the First Chapter, is
> more or less an introduction to the rest of the book; and
> in the Second and Third Chapters, the spiritual knowledge
> described is called confidential. Topics discussed in the
> Seventh and Eighth Chapters are specifically related to
> devotional service, and because they bring enlightenment in
> Krsna consciousness, they are called more confidential. But
> the matters which are described in the Ninth Chapter deal
> with unalloyed, pure devotion. Therefore this is called the
> most confidential. One who is situated in the most
> confidential knowledge of Krsna is naturally transcendental;
> he therefore has no material pangs, although he is in the
> material world. In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu it is said
> that although one who has a sincere desire to render loving
> service to the Supreme Lord is situated in the conditional
> state of material existence, he is to be considered
> liberated. Similarly, we shall find in the Bhagavad-gita,
> Tenth Chapter, that anyone who is engaged in that way is a
> liberated person.
20
21 Now this first verse has specific significance. Knowledge
> (idam jnanam) refers to pure
> devotional service, which consists of nine different
> activities: hearing, chanting, remembering, serving,
> worshiping, praying, obeying, maintaining friendship and
> surrendering everything. By the practice of these nine
> elements of devotional service one is elevated to spiritual
> consciousness, Krsna consciousness. At the time when one'
> s heart is cleared of the material contamination, one
> can understand this science of Krsna. Simply to understand
> that a living entity is not material is not sufficient.
> That may be the beginning of spiritual realization, but one
> should recognize the difference between activities of the
> body and spiritual activities by which one
> understands that he is not the body.
22
23 In the Seventh Chapter we have already discussed the
> opulent potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His
> different energies, the inferior and superior natures, and
> all this material manifestation. Now in Chapters Nine and
> Ten the glories of the Lord will be delineated.
24
25 The Sanskrit word anasuyave in this verse is also very
> significant. Generally the commentators, even if they are
> highly scholarly, are all envious of Krsna, the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead. Even the most erudite scholars
> write on Bhagavad-gita very inaccurately. Because they are
> envious of Krsna, their commentaries are useless. The
> commentaries given by devotees of the Lord are bona fide.
> No one can explain Bhagavad-gita, or give perfect knowledge
> of Krsna if he is envious. One who criticizes the character
> of Krsna without knowing Him is a fool. So such
> commentaries should be very carefully avoided. For one who
> understands that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of
> Godhead, the pure and transcendental Personality, these
> chapters will be very beneficial.
26
27 Bg 9.2
28
29 TEXT 2
30
31 TRANSLATION
32
33 This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of
> all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it
> gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is
> the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is
> joyfully performed.
34
35 PURPORT
36
37 This chapter of Bhagavad-gita is called the king of
> education because it is the essence of all doctrines and
> philosophies explained before. There are seven principal
> philosophers in India: Gautama, Kanada, Kapila,
> Yajnavalkya, Sandilya, Vaisvanara, and, finally,
> Vyasadeva, the author of the Vedanta-sutra. So there is no
> dearth of knowledge in the field of philosophy or
> transcendental knowledge. Now the Lord says that this Ninth
> Chapter is the king of all such knowledge, the essence of
> all knowledge that can be derived from the study of the
> Vedas and different kinds of philosophy. It is the most
> confidential because confidential or transcendental
> knowledge involves understanding the difference between the
> soul and the body. And the king of all confidential
> knowledge culminates in devotional service.
38
39 Generally, people are not educated in this confidential
> knowledge; they are educated in external knowledge. As far
> as ordinary education is concerned, people are involved
> with so many departments: politics, sociology, physics,
> chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, etc. There
> are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and
> many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no
> university or educational institution where the science of
> the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the soul is the most
> important part of this body; without the presence of the
> soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great
> stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for
> the vital soul.
40
41 The Bhagavad-gita, especially from the Second Chapter on,
> stresses the importance of the soul. In the very beginning,
> the Lord says that this body is perishable and that the
> . That is a confidential part of knowledge:
> simply knowing that spirit soul is different from this
> body and that its nature is immutable, indestructible and
> eternal. But that gives no positive information about the
> soul. Sometimes people are under the impression that the
> soul is different from the body and that when the body is
> finished, or one is liberated from the body, the soul
> remains in a void and becomes impersonal. But actually that
> is not the fact. How can the soul, which is so active
> within this body, be inactive after being liberated from
> the body? It is always active. If it is eternal, then it is
> eternally active, and its activities in the spiritual
> kingdom are the most confidential part of spiritual
> knowledge. These activities of the spirit soul are
> therefore indicated here as constituting the king of all
> knowledge, the most confidential part of all knowledge.
42
43 This knowledge is the purest form of all activities, as is
> explained in Vedic literature. In the Padma Purana, man's
> sinful activities have been analyzed and are shown to be
> the results of sin after sin. Those who are engaged in
> fruitive activities are entangled in different stages and
> forms of sinful reactions. For instance, when the seed of a
> particular tree is sown, the tree does not appear
> immediately to grow; it takes some time.
44
45 It is first a small, sprouting plant, then it assumes the
> form of a tree, then it flowers, bears fruit, and, when
> it is complete, the flowers and fruits are enjoyed by
> persons who have sown the seed of the tree. Similarly, a
> man performs a sinful act, and like a seed it takes time to
> fructify. There are different stages. The sinful action may
> have already stopped within the individual, but the results
> or the fruit of that sinful action are still enjoyed.
> There are sins which are still in the form of a seed, and
> there are others which are already fructified and are
> giving us fruit, which we are enjoying as distress and pain,
> as explained in the twentieth verse of the Seventh Chapter.
46
> person who has completely ended the reactions of
> all sinful activities and who is fully engaged in pious
> activities, being freed from the duality of this material
> world, becomes engaged in devotional service to the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead, Krsna. In other words, those who
> are actually engaged in the devotional service of the
> Supreme Lord are already freed from all reactions.
48
49 [filler for verse in other
> book]
50
51 For those who are engaged in the devotional service of the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead, all sinful reactions,
> whether fructified, in the stock, or in the form of a seed,
> gradually vanish. Therefore the purifying potency of
> devotional service is very strong, and it is called
> pavitram uttamam, the purest. Uttamam means transcendental.
> Tamas means this material world or darkness, and uttamam
> means that which is transcendental to material activities.
> Devotional activities are never to be considered material,
> although sometimes it appears that devotees are engaged
> just like ordinary men. One who can see and is familiar
> with devotional service, however, will know that they are
> not material activities. They are all spiritual and
> devotional, uncontaminated by the material modes of nature.
52
53 [filler for diff program]
54
55 It is said that the execution of devotional service is so
> perfect that one can perceive the results directly. This
> direct result is actually perceived, and we have practical
> experience that any person who is chanting the holy names
> of Krsna (Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/
> Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) in course of
> time feels some transcendental
> pleasure and very quickly becomes purified of all material
> contamination. This is actually seen. Furthermore, if one
> engages not only in hearing but in trying to broadcast the
> message of devotional activities as well, or if he engages
> himself in helping the missionary activities of Krsna
> consciousness, he gradually feels spiritual progress. This
> advancement in spiritual life does not depend on any kind
> of previous education or qualification. The method itself
> is so pure that by simply engaging in it one becomes pure.
56
57 In the Vedanta-sutra this is also described in the
> following words: prakasas ca karmany abhyasat. "Devotional
> service is so potent that simply by engaging in the
> activities of devotional service, one becomes enlightened
> without a doubt." Narada, who happened to be the son
> of a maidservant, had no education, nor
> was he born into a high family. But when his mother was
> engaged in serving great devotees, Narada also became
> engaged, and sometimes, in the absence of his mother, he
> would serve the great devotees himself.
> Narada personally says,
58
59 "Once only, by their permission, I took the remnants of
> their food, and by so doing all my sins were at once
> eradicated. Thus being engaged, I became purified in heart,
> and at that time the very nature of the transcendentalist
> became attractive to me." (Bhag. 1.5.25)
> Narada tells his disciple Vyasadeva that in a
> previous life he was engaged as a boy servant
> of purified devotees during four months of their
> stay and that he was intimately associating with them.
> Sometimes those sages left remnants of food on their dishes,
> and the boy, who would wash their dishes, wanted to taste
> the remnants. So he asked the great devotees whether he
> could eat them, and they gave their permission.
> Narada then ate those remnants and consequently became
> freed from all sinful reactions. As he went on eating, he
> gradually became as purehearted as the sages, and
> he gradually developed the same taste. The great devotees
> relished the taste of unceasing devotional service of the
> Lord, hearing, chanting, etc., and by
> developing the same taste, Narada wanted also
> to hear and chant
> the glories of the Lord. Thus
> by associating with the
> sages,
> he developed a great desire for
> devotional service. Therefore he quotes from the
> Vedanta-sutra (prakasas ca karmany abhyasat): If one is
> engaged simply in the acts of devotional service,
> everything is revealed to him automatically, and he can
> understand. This is called prakasah, directly perceived.
60
> actually a son of a maidservant. He had no opportunity to
> go to school. He was simply assisting his mother, and
> fortunately his mother rendered some service to the
> devotees. The child Narada also got the opportunity and
> simply by association achieved the highest goal of all
> service. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said
> that religious people
> generally do not know that the highest perfection of
> religion is the attainment of the stage of devotional
> service. Generally Vedic knowledge is required for
> the understanding of the path of
> self-realization. But here, although he
> was
> not educated in the Vedic principle, Narada acquired the
> highest results of Vedic study. This process is so potent
> that even without performing the religious process
> regularly, one can be raised to the highest perfection. How
> is this possible? This is also confirmed in Vedic
> literature: acaryavan puruso veda. One who is in
> association with great acaryas, even if he is not educated
> or has not studied the Vedas, can become familiar with
> all the knowledge necessary for realization.
62
63 The process of devotional service is a very happy one
> . Why? Devotional service consists of sravanam
> kirtanam visnoh, so one can simply hear the chanting of the
> glories of the Lord or can attend philosophical lectures on
> transcendental knowledge given by authorized acaryas.
> Simply by sitting, one can learn; then one can eat the
> remnants of the food offered to God, nice palatable dishes.
> In every state devotional service is joyful. One can
> execute devotional service even in the most poverty-
> stricken condition. The Lord says, patram puspam phalam
> : He is ready to accept from the devotee any kind of
> offering, never mind what. Even a leaf, a flower, a bit of
> fruit, or a little water, which are all available in every
> part of the world, can be offered by any person, regardless
> of social position, and will be accepted if offered with
> love. There are many instances in history. Simply by
> tasting the tulasi leaves offered to the lotus feet of the
> Lord, great sages like Sanatkumara became great
> devotees. Therefore the devotional process is very nice,
> and it can be executed in a happy mood. God accepts only
> the love with which things are offered to Him.
64
65 It is said here that this devotional service is eternally
> existing. It is not as the Mayavadi philosophers claim.
> They sometimes take to so-called devotional
> service, and as long as they are not
> liberated they continue their devotional service, but
> at the end, when they become liberated, they "become
> one with God." Such temporary time-serving devotional
> service is not accepted as pure devotional service. Actual
> devotional service continues even after liberation. When
> the devotee goes to the spiritual planet in the kingdom of
> God, he is also engaged there in serving the Supreme Lord.
> He does not try to become one with the Supreme Lord.
66
67 As it will be seen, actual devotional
> service begins after liberation. So in Bhagavad-gita it
> is said, brahma-bhuta. After being liberated, or
> being situated in the Brahman position, one'
> s devotional service begins. By executing devotional
> service, one can understand the Supreme Lord. No
> one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead by
> executing karma-yoga, jnana, or astanga-yoga or any
> other yoga independantly. Without
>
> coming to the stage of devotional service, one cannot
> understand what is the Personality of Godhead. In the
> Srimad-Bhagavatam it is also confirmed that when one
> becomes purified by executing the process of devotional
> service, especially by hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam or
> Bhagavad-gita from realized souls, then he can understand
> the science of Krsna or the science of God. Evam prasanna-
> manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogatah. When one's heart is cleared
> of all nonsense, then one can understand what God is. Thus
> the process of devotional service, of Krsna consciousness,
> is the king of all education and the king of all
> confidential knowledge. It is the purest form of religion,
> and it can be executed joyfully without difficulty.
> Therefore one should adopt it.
68
69 Bg 9.3
70
71 TEXT 3
72
73 TRANSLATION
74
75 Those who are not faithful on the path of devotional
> service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of foes,
> but return to birth and death in this material
> world.
76
77 PURPORT
78
79 The faithless cannot accomplish this process of devotional
> service; that is the purport of this verse. Faith is
> created by association with devotees. Unfortunate people,
> even after hearing all the evidence of Vedic literature
> from great personalities, still have no faith in God. They
> are hesitant and cannot stay fixed in the devotional
> service of the Lord. Thus faith is a most important factor
> for progress in Krsna consciousness. In the Caitanya-
> caritamrta it is said that one should have complete
> conviction that simply by serving the Supreme Lord Sri
> Krsna he can achieve all perfection. That is called real
> faith. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.4.12) it is
> stated that by giving water to the root of a tree, its
> branches, twigs and leaves become satisfied, and by
> supplying food to the stomach all the senses of the body
> become satisfied, and, similarly, by engaging in the
> transcendental service of the Supreme Lord, all the
> demigods and all the living entities automatically become
> satisfied.
80
81 After reading Bhagavad-gita one should promptly
> come to the conclusion of Bhagavad-gita: one
> should give up all other engagements and adopt the service
> of the Supreme Lord, Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. If
> one is convinced of this philosophy of life, that is faith.
> Now the development of that faith is the
> process of Krsna consciousness.
82
83 There are three divisions of Krsna conscious men. In
> the third class are those who have no faith. If they are
> engaged in devotional service officially, for some ulterior
> purpose, they cannot achieve the highest perfectional stage.
> Most probably they will slip, after some time. They
> may become engaged, but because they haven't
> complete conviction and faith, it is very difficult for
> them to continue in Krsna consciousness. We have practical
> experience in discharging our missionary activity that some
> people come and apply themselves to the Krsna consciousness
> with some hidden motive, and as soon as they are
> economically a little well-situated, they give up this
> process and take to their old ways again. It is only by
> faith that one can advance in Krsna consciousness. As
> far as the development of faith is concerned, one who
> is well versed in the literatures of devotional service
> and has attained the stage of firm faith is called a first-
> class person in Krsna consciousness. And in the
> second class are those who are not very advanced in
> understanding the devotional scriptures but who
> automatically have firm faith that Krsna bhakti or service
> to Krsna is the best course and so in good faith have taken
> it up. Thus they are superior to the third class who have
> neither perfect knowledge of the scriptures nor good faith
> but by association and simplicity are trying to follow. The
> third-class person in Krsna consciousness may fall down,
> but when one is in the second class or first
> class, he does not fall down. One in the first
> class will surely make progress and achieve the result
> at the end. As far as the third-class
> person in Krsna consciousness is concerned, although he has
> faith in the conviction that devotional
> service to Krsna is very good, he has no knowledge of Krsna
> through the scriptures like Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-
> gita. Sometimes these third-class persons in Krsna
> consciousness have some tendency toward karma-yoga and
> jnana-yoga, and sometimes they are disturbed, but as
> soon as the infection of karma-yoga or jnana-yoga is
> vanquished, they become second-class or first-class persons
> in Krsna consciousness. Faith in Krsna is also divided into
> three stages and described in Srimad-Bhagavatam. First-
> class attachment, second-class attachment, and third-class
> attachment are also explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam in the
> Eleventh Canto. Those who have no faith even after
> hearing about Krsna and the excellence of devotional
> service, who think that it is simply eulogy, find the
> path very difficult, even if they are supposedly
> engaged in devotional service. For them there is very
> little hope in gaining perfection. Thus faith is very
> important in the discharge of devotional service.
84
85 Bg 9.4
86
87 TEXT 4
88
89 TRANSLATION
90
91 By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is
> pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.
92
93 PURPORT
94
95 The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not perceivable
> through the gross material senses. It is said that Lord Sri
> Krsna's name, fame, pastimes, etc., cannot be understood
> by material senses. Only to one who is engaged in
> pure devotional service under proper guidance
> is He revealed. In the Brahma-
> samhita it is stated, premanjanacchurita....
96
97 One can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda,
> always within himself and outside himself if he has
> developed the transcendental loving attitude towards Him.
> Thus for people in general He is not visible. Here it is
> said that although He is all-pervading, everywhere present,
> He is yet not conceivable by the material senses.
> But actually,
> although we cannot see Him, everything is resting in Him.
> As we have discussed in the Seventh Chapter, the entire
> material cosmic manifestation is only a combination of His
> two different energies, the superior spiritual energy and
> the inferior material energy. Just as the sunshine is
> spread all over the universe, the energy of the Lord is
> spread all over the creation, and everything is resting in
> that energy.
98
99 Yet one should not conclude that because He is spread all
> over He has lost His personal existence. To refute such
> argument the Lord says, "I am everywhere, and everything is
> in Me, but still I am aloof." For example, a king heads a
> government which is but the manifestation of the king's
> energy; the different governmental departments are nothing
> but the energies of the king, and each department is
> resting on the king's power. But still one cannot expect
> the king to be present in every department personally. That
> is a crude example. Similarly, all the manifestations that
> we see, and everything that exists both in this material
> world and in the spiritual world, are resting on the energy
> of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The creation takes
> place by the diffusion of His different energies, and, as
> is stated in the Bhagavad-gita,
> He is everywhere present by His personal representation,
> the diffusion of His different energies.
100
101 Bg 9.5
102
103 TEXT 5
104
105 TRANSLATION
106
107 And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me.
> Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of
> all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still
> My Self is the
> very source of creation.
108
109 PURPORT
110
111 The Lord says that everything is resting on Him
> . This should not be misunderstood. The Lord
> is not directly concerned with the maintenance and
> sustenance of this material manifestation. Sometimes we see
> a picture of Atlas holding the globe on his shoulders; he
> seems to be very tired, holding this great earthly planet.
> Such an image should not be entertained in connection with
> Krsna's upholding this created universe. He says that
> although everything is resting on Him, still He is aloof.
> The planetary systems are floating in space, and this space
> is the energy of the Supreme Lord. But He is different from
> space. He is differently situated. Therefore the Lord says,
> "Although they are situated on My inconceivable energy,
> still, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I am aloof
> from them." This is the inconceivable opulence of the Lord.
112
113 In the Vedic dictionary it is said,
> "The Supreme Lord is performing
> inconceivably wonderful pastimes, displaying His energy.
> His person is full of different potent energies, and His
> determination is itself actual fact. In this way the
> Personality of Godhead is to be understood." We may think
> to do something, but there are so many impediments, and
> sometimes it is not possible to do as we like. But when
> Krsna wants to do something, simply by His willing,
> everything is performed so perfectly that one cannot
> imagine how it is being done. The Lord explains this fact:
> although He is the maintainer and sustainer of all
> material manifestation, He does not touch this material
> manifestation. Simply by His supreme will everything is
> created, everything is sustained, everything is maintained,
> and everything is annihilated. There is no difference
> between His mind and Himself (as there is a difference
> between ourselves and our present material mind) because He
> is absolute spirit. Simultaneously the Lord is present in
> everything; yet the common man cannot understand how He is
> also present personally. He is different from this material
> manifestation, yet everything is resting on Him. This is
> explained here as yogam aisvaram, the mystic power of the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead.
114
115 Bg 9.6
116
117 TEXT 6
118
119 TRANSLATION
120
121 As the mighty wind, blowing everywhere,
> always rests in ethereal space know that in the same
> manner all beings rest in Me.
122
123 PURPORT
124
125 For the ordinary person it is almost inconceivable how the
> huge material creation is resting in Him. But the Lord is
> giving an example which may help us to understand. Space
> is the biggest manifestation we can conceive. The
> cosmic manifestation rests
> in space. Space permits the
> movement of even
> the atoms and on up to
> the greatest planets,
> the sun and the
> moon
> . Although
> the sky (or wind or
> air) is great, still
> it is situated within
> space
> . Space is not beyond the
> sky.
126
127 Similarly, all the wonderful cosmic manifestations are
> existing by the supreme will of God, and all of them
> are subordinate to that supreme will. As we generally
> say, not a blade of grass moves without the will of
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus everything is
> moving under His will: by His will everything is being
> created, everything is being maintained, and everything is
> being annihilated. Still He is aloof
> from everything, as space is always aloof from the
> activities of the atmosphere.
128
129 In the Upanisads, it is stated, "
> It is out of the fear of the Supreme
> Lord that the wind is blowing."
> In the Garga Upanisad also it is
> stated, "By the supreme order, under the superintendence
> of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the moon, the sun
> and the great planets are moving." In the Brahma-
> samhita this is also stated.
>
130
131 There is also a description of the movement of the sun, and
> it is said that the sun is considered to be one of the eyes
> of the Supreme Lord and that it has immense potency to
> diffuse heat and light. Still it is moving in its
> prescribed orbit by the order and the supreme will of
> Govinda. So, from the Vedic literature we can find evidence
> that this material manifestation, which appears to us to be
> very wonderful and great, is under the complete control of
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This will be further
> explained in the later verses of this chapter.
132
133 Bg 9.7
134
135 TEXT 7
136
137 TRANSLATION
138
139 O son of Kunti, at the end of the millennium every material
> manifestation enters into My nature, and at the beginning
> of another millennium, by My potency I again create
> .
140
141 PURPORT
142
143 The creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material
> cosmic manifestation is completely dependant on the
> supreme will of the Personality of Godhead. "At the end of
> the millennium" means at the death of Brahma. Brahma lives
> for one hundred years, and his one day is calculated at 4,
> 300,000,000 of our earthly years. His night is of the same
> duration. His month consists of thirty such days and nights,
> and his year of twelve months. After one hundred such
> years, when Brahma dies, the devastation or annihilation
> takes place; this means that the energy manifested by the
> Supreme Lord is again wound up in Himself. Then again, when
> there is need to manifest the cosmic world, it is done by
> His will: "Although I am one, I shall become
> many." This is the Vedic aphorism
> . He expands Himself in this material energy, and the
> whole cosmic manifestation again takes place.
144
145 Bg 9.8
146
147 TEXT 8
148
149 TRANSLATION
150
151 The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is
> manifested again and again, and by My will
> it is annihilated at the end.
152
153 PURPORT
154
155 This matter is the manifestation of the inferior
> energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This has
> already been explained several times. At the creation, the
> material energy is let loose as mahat-tattva, into
> which the Lord as His first Purusa incarnation, Maha-Visnu,
> enters. He lies within the Causal Ocean and breathes out
> innumerable universes, and into each universe the Lord
> again enters as Garbhodakasayi Visnu. Each universe is in
> that way created. He still further manifests Himself as
> Ksirodakasayi Visnu, and that Visnu enters into everything-
> even into the minute atom. This fact is explained here. He
> enters into everything.
156
157 Now, as far as the living entities are concerned, they are
> impregnated into this material nature, and as a result of
> their past deeds they take different positions. Thus the
> activities of this material world begin. The activities of
> the different species of living beings are begun from the
> very moment of the creation. It is not that all is evolved.
> The different species of life are created immediately along
> with the universe. Men, animals, beasts, birds-everything
> is simultaneously created, because whatever desires the
> living entities had at the last annihilation are again
> manifested. It is clearly stated here
> that the living entities have nothing to do with this
> process. The state of being in their past life in the past
> creation is simply manifested again, and all this is done
> simply by His will. This is the inconceivable potency of
> the Supreme Personality of God. And after creating
> different species of life, He has no connection with them.
> The creation takes place to accommodate the inclinations of
> the various living entities, and so the Lord does not
> become involved with it.
158
159 Bg 9.9
160
161 TEXT 9
162
163 TRANSLATION
164
165 O Dhananjaya, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever
> though neutral.
166
167 PURPORT
168
169 One should not think, in this connection, that the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead has no engagement. In His spiritual
> world He is always engaged. In the Brahma-samhita it
> is stated: "He
> is always involved in His eternal, blissful, spiritual
> activities, but He has nothing to do with these material
> activities." Material activities are being carried on by
> His different potencies. The Lord is always neutral in the
> material activities of the created world. This neutrality
> is explained here. Although He
> has control over every minute detail of matter,
> He is sitting as if neutral. The example can be given of a
> high court judge sitting on his bench. By his order so many
> things are happening: someone is being hanged, someone is
> being put into jail, someone is awarded a huge amount of
> wealth-but still he is neutral. He has nothing to do with
> all that gain and loss. Similarly, the Lord is always
> neutral, although He has His hand in every sphere of
> activity. In the Vedanta-sutra it is stated
> that He is not situated in the dualities
> of this material world. He is transcendental to these
> dualities. Nor is He attached to the creation and
> annihilation of this material world. The living entities
> take their different forms in the various species of life
> according to their past deeds, and the Lord doesn't
> interfere with them.
170
171 Bg 9.10
172
173 TEXT 10
174
175 TRANSLATION
176
177 This material nature is
> working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is
> producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule
> this manifestation is created and annihilated again and
> again.
178
179 PURPORT
180
181 It is clearly stated here that the Supreme Lord, although
> aloof from all the activities of the material world,
> remains the supreme director. The Supreme Lord is the
> supreme will and the background of this material
> manifestation, but the management is being conducted by
> material nature. Krsna also states in Bhagavad-gita that of
> all the living entities in different forms and species, "
> I am the Father." The father gives seeds to the womb of the
> mother for the child, and similarly the Supreme Lord by His
> mere glance injects all the living entities into the womb
> of material nature, and they come out in their different
> forms and species, according to their last desires and
> activities. All these living entities, although born under
> the glance of the Supreme Lord, still take their different
> bodies according to their past deeds and desires. So the
> Lord is not directly attached to this material creation. He
> simply glances over material nature; material nature is
> thus activated, and everything is created immediately.
> Because He glances over material nature, there is
> undoubtedly activity on the part of the Supreme Lord, but
> He has nothing to do with the manifestation of the material
> world directly. This example is given in the smrti: when
> there is a fragrant flower before someone, the fragrance is
> touched by the smelling power of the person, yet the
> smelling and the flower are detached from one another.
> There is a similar connection between the material world
> and the Supreme Personality of Godhead; actually He has
> nothing to do with this material world, but He creates by
> His glance and ordains. In summary, material nature,
> without the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of
> Godhead, cannot do anything. Yet the Supreme Personality is
> detached from all material activities.
182
183 Bg 9.11
184
185 TEXT 11
186
187 TRANSLATION
188
189 Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do
> not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion
> over all that be.
190
191 PURPORT
192
193 From the other explanations of the previous verses in this
> chapter, it is clear that the Supreme Personality of
> Godhead, although appearing like a human being, is not a
> common man. The Personality of Godhead, who conducts the
> creation, maintenance and annihilation of the complete
> cosmic manifestation, cannot be a human being. Yet there
> are many foolish men who consider Krsna to be merely a
> powerful man and nothing more. Actually, He is the original
> Supreme Personality, as is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita (
> isvarah paramah krsnah); He is the Supreme Lord.
194
195 There are many isvaras, controllers, and one appears
> greater than another. In the ordinary management of affairs
> in the material world, we find some official or director,
> and above him there is a secretary, and above him a
> minister, and above him a president. Each of them is a
> controller, but one is controlled by another. In the Brahma-
> samhita it is said that Krsna is the supreme controller;
> there are many controllers undoubtedly both in the
> material and spiritual world, but Krsna is the supreme
> controller (isvarah paramah krsnah), and His body is sac-
> cid-ananda, non-material.
196
197 Material bodies cannot perform the wonderful acts described
> in previous verses. His body is eternal, blissful and full
> of knowledge. Although He is not a common man, the foolish
> deride Him and consider Him to be a man. His body is called
> here manusim because He is acting just like a man, a friend
> of Arjuna's, a politician involved in the Battle of
> Kuruksetra. In so many ways He is acting just like an
> ordinary man, but actually His body is sac-cid-ananda-
> vigraha-eternal bliss and knowledge absolute. This is
> confirmed in the Vedic language also (sac-cid-ananda-
> rupaya krsnaya): "I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead, Krsna, who is the eternal blissful
> form of knowledge." There are
> other descriptions in the Vedic language also. Tam ekam
> govindam: "You are Govinda, the pleasure of the senses and
> the cows." Sac-cid-ananda-vigraham: "And Your form is
> transcendental, full of knowledge, bliss and eternality."
198
199 Despite the transcendental qualities of Lord Krsna's body,
> its full bliss and knowledge, there are many so-called
> scholars and commentators of Bhagavad-gita who deride Krsna
> as an ordinary man. The scholar may be born an
> extraordinary man due to his previous good work, but this
> conception of Sri Krsna is due to a poor fund of knowledge.
> Therefore he is called mudha, for only foolish persons
> consider Krsna to be
> an ordinary human being because they do not
> know the confidential activities of the Supreme Lord and
> His different energies. They do not know that Krsna's body
> is a symbol of complete knowledge and bliss, that He is the
> proprietor of everything that be and that He can award
> liberation to anyone. Because they do not know that Krsna
> has so many transcendental qualifications, they deride Him.
200
201 Nor do they know that the appearance of the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead in this material world is a
> manifestation of His internal energy. He is the master of
> the material energy. As has been explained in several
> places (mama maya duratyaya), He claims that the material
> energy, although very powerful, is under His control, and
> whoever surrenders unto Him can get out of the control of
> this material energy. If a soul surrendered to Krsna can
> get out of the influence of material energy, then how can
> the Supreme Lord, who conducts the creation, maintenance
> and annihilation of the whole cosmic nature, have a
> material body like us? So this conception of Krsna is
> complete foolishness. Foolish persons, however, cannot
> conceive that the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, appearing
> just like an ordinary man, can be the controller of all the
> atoms and of the gigantic manifestation of the universal
> form. The biggest and the minutest are beyond their
> conception, so they cannot imagine that a form like that of
> a human being can simultaneously control the infinite and
> the minute. Actually although He is controlling the
> infinite and the finite, He is apart from all this
> manifestation. It is clearly stated concerning His yogam
> aisvaram, His inconceivable transcendental energy, that He
> can control the infinite and the finite simultaneously and
> that He can remain aloof from them. Although the foolish
> cannot imagine how Krsna, who appears just like a human
> being, can control the infinite and the finite, those who
> are pure devotees accept this, for they know that Krsna is
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore they
> completely surrender unto Him and engage in Krsna
> consciousness, devotional service of the Lord.
202
203 There are many controversies amongst the impersonalists and
> the personalists about the Lord's appearance as a human
> being. But if we consult Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-
> Bhagavatam, the authoritative texts for understanding the
> science of Krsna, then we can understand that Krsna is the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is not an ordinary man,
> although He appeared on this earth as an ordinary human. In
> the Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto, First Chapter, when the
> sages inquire about the activities of
> Krsna,
204
205 [filler for extra stuff in other book]
206
207 it is stated that His
> appearance as a man bewilders the foolish. No
> human being could perform the wonderful acts that Krsna
> performed while He was present on this earth. When Krsna
> appeared before His father and mother, Vasudeva and Devaki,
> He appeared with four hands, but after the prayers of the
> parents, He transformed Himself into an ordinary child. His
>
> appearance as an ordinary human being is one of the
> features of His transcendental body. In the Eleventh
> Chapter of the Gita also it is stated, tenaiva rupena
> etc. Arjuna prayed to see again that form of four hands,
> and when Krsna was thus
> petitioned by Arjuna, He again assumed
> His original form. All these
> different features of the Supreme Lord are certainly not
> those of an ordinary human being.
208
209 Some of those who deride Krsna, who are infected with
> the Mayavadi philosophy, quote the following verse from the
> Srimad-Bhagavatam to prove that Krsna is just an
> ordinary man: aham sarvesu bhutesu bhutatmavasthitah sada: "
> The Supreme is present in every living entity." (Bhag. 3.29.
> 21)
210
211 We should better take note of this particular verse from
> the Vaisnava acaryas like Jiva Gosvami
> instead of following the interpretation
> of unauthorized persons who deride Krsna. Jiva Gosvami,
> commenting on this verse, says that Krsna, in His plenary
> expansion as Paramatma, is situated in the moving and the
> nonmoving entities as the Supersoul, so any neophyte
> devotee who simply gives his attention to the arca-murti,
> the form of the Supreme Lord in the temple, and does not
> respect other living entities is uselessly worshiping the
> form of the Lord in the temple. There are three kinds of
> devotees of the Lord, and the neophyte is in the lowest
> stage. The neophyte devotee gives more attention to the
> Deity in the temple than to other devotees, so Jiva
> Gosvami warns that this sort of mentality should
> be corrected. A devotee should see that Krsna is
> present in everyone's heart as Paramatma; therefore every
> body is the embodiment or the temple of the Supreme Lord,
> and as such, as one offers respect to the temple of the
> Lord, he should similarly properly respect each and every
> body in whom the Paramatma dwells. Everyone should
> therefore be given proper respect and should not be
> neglected.
212
213 There are also many impersonalists who deride temple
> worship. They say that since God is everywhere, why should
> one restrict himself to temple worship? But if God is
> everywhere, is He not in the temple or in the Deity?
> Although the personalist and the impersonalist will fight
> with one another perpetually, a perfect devotee in Krsna
> consciousness knows that although Krsna is the Supreme
> Personality, He is all-pervading, as is confirmed in the
> Brahma-samhita. Although His personal abode is Goloka
> Vrndavana and He is always staying there, still, by His
> different manifestations of energy and by His plenary
> expansion, He is present everywhere in all parts of the
> material and spiritual creation.
214
215 Bg 9.12
216
217 TEXT 12
218
219 TRANSLATION
220
221 Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and
> atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for
> liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of
> knowledge are all defeated.
222
223 PURPORT
224
225 There are many devotees who assume themselves to be in
> Krsna consciousness and devotional service but at heart do
> not accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, as
> the Absolute Truth. For them, the fruit of devotional
> service-going back to Godhead-will never be tasted.
> Similarly, those who are engaged in fruitive, pious
> activities and who are ultimately hoping to be liberated
> from this material entanglement will never be successful
> either because they deride the Supreme Personality of
> Godhead, Krsna. In other words, persons who mock Krsna are
> to be understood to be demonic or atheistic. As described
> in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, such demonic
> miscreants never surrender to Krsna. Therefore their mental
> speculations to arrive at the Absolute Truth bring them to
> the false conclusion that the ordinary living entity and
> Krsna are one and the same. With such a false conviction,
> they think that the body of any human being is now simply
> covered by material nature and that as soon as one is
> liberated from this material body there is no difference
> between God and himself. This attempt to become one with
> Krsna will be baffled because of delusion. Such atheistic
> and demoniac cultivation of spiritual knowledge is always
> futile. That is the indication of this verse. For such
> persons, cultivation of the knowledge in the Vedic
> literature, like the Vedanta-sutra and the Upanisads, is
> always baffled.
226
227 It is a great offense, therefore, to consider Krsna, the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead, to be an ordinary man.
> Those who do so are certainly deluded because they cannot
> understand the eternal form of Krsna. In the Brhad-
> vaisnava mantra it is clearly stated that one who considers
> the body of Krsna to be material should be driven out from
> all rituals and activities of the sruti. And if one by
> chance sees his face, he should at once take bath in the
> Ganges to rid himself of infection. People jeer at Krsna
> because they are envious of the Supreme Personality of
> Godhead. Their destiny is certainly to take birth after
> birth in the species of atheistic and demoniac life.
> Perpetually, their real knowledge will remain under
> delusion, and gradually they will regress to the darkest
> region of creation.
228
229 Bg 9.13
230
231 TEXT 13
232
233 TRANSLATION
234
235 O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls,
> are under the protection of the divine nature. They are
> fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and
> inexhaustible.
236
237 PURPORT
238
239 In this verse the description of mahatma is clearly
> given. The first sign of the mahatma is that he is already
> situated in the divine nature. He is not under the control
> of material nature. And how is this effected? That is
> explained in the Seventh Chapter: one who surrenders unto
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, at once
> becomes freed from the control of material nature. That is
> the qualification. One can become free from the control of
> material nature as soon as he surrenders his soul to the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the preliminary
> formula. Being marginal potency, as soon as the living
> entity is freed from the control of material nature, he is
> put under the guidance of the spiritual nature. The
> guidance of the spiritual nature is called daivim prakrtim,
> divine nature. So, when one is promoted in that way-by
> surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead-one
> attains to the stage of great soul, mahatma.
240
241 The mahatma does not divert his attention to anything
> outside Krsna because he knows perfectly well that Krsna
> is the original Supreme Person, the cause of all causes.
> There is no doubt about it. Such a mahatma, or great soul,
> develops through association with other mahatmas, pure
> devotees. Pure devotees are not even attracted by Krsna's
> other features, such as the four-armed Maha-Visnu. They are
> simply attracted by the two-armed form of Krsna. Since they
> are not attracted to other features of Krsna (what to speak
> of the demigods), they are not concerned with any form of
> a demigod or of a human being. They only meditate upon
> Krsna in Krsna consciousness. They are always engaged in
> the unswerving service of the Lord in Krsna consciousness.
242
243 Bg 9.14
244
245 TEXT 14
246
247 TRANSLATION
248
249 Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great
> determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls
> perpetually worship Me with devotion.
250
251 PURPORT
252
253 The mahatma cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an
> ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahatma is
> always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord
> Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business.
> He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In
> other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question
> of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme
> Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His
> transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has
> to glorify all these things; therefore a mahatma is
> attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
254
255 One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the
> Supreme Lord, the brahmajyoti, is not described as mahatma
> in the Bhagavad-gita. He is described in a different way in
> the next verse. The mahatma is always engaged in different
> activities of devotional service, as described in the
> Srimad-Bhagavatam, hearing and chanting about Visnu, not a
> demigod or human being. That is devotion: sravanam kirtanam
> visnoh, smaranam, and remembering Him. Such a mahatma
> has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the
> association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five
> transcendental rasas. To achieve that success, he engages
> all activities-mental, bodily and vocal, everything-in the
> service of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna. That is called full
> Krsna consciousness.
256
257 In devotional service there are certain activities which
> are called determined, such as fasting on certain days,
> like the eleventh day of the moon, Ekadasi, and on the
> appearance day of the Lord, etc. All these rules and
> regulations are offered by the great acaryas for those who
> are actually interested in getting admission into the
> association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the
> transcendental world. The mahatmas, great souls, strictly
> observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they
> are sure to achieve the desired result.
258
259 As described in the second verse of this chapter, this
> devotional service is not only easy, but it
> can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to
> undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this
> life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual
> master, and in any position, either as a householder or a
> sannyasi, or a brahmacari; in any position and anywhere in
> the world, he can perform this devotional service to the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually
> mahatma, a great soul.
260
261 Bg 9.15
262
263 TEXT 15
264
265 TRANSLATION
266
267 Others, who are engaged in the cultivation
> of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a
> second, diverse in many, and in the universal form.
268
269 PURPORT
270
271 This verse is the summary of the previous verses. The Lord
> tells Arjuna that those who are purely in Krsna
> consciousness and do not know anything other than Krsna are
> called mahatma; yet there are other persons who are not
> exactly in the position of mahatma but who worship Krsna
> also, in different ways. Some of them are already
> described as the distressed, the financially destitute, the
> inquisitive, and those who are engaged in the cultivation
> of knowledge. But there are others who are still lower, and
> these are divided into three: 1) He who worships himself
> as one with the Supreme Lord, 2) He who concocts some form
> of the Supreme Lord and worships that, and 3) He who
> accepts the universal form, the visvarupa of the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead, and worships that. Out of the above
> three, the lowest, those who worship themselves as the
> Supreme Lord, thinking themselves to be monists, are most
> predominant. Such people think themselves to be the Supreme
> Lord, and in this mentality they worship themselves. This
> is also a type of God worship, for they can understand that
> they are not the material body but are actually spiritual
> soul; at least, such a sense is prominent. Generally the
> impersonalists worship the Supreme Lord in this way. The
> second class includes the worshipers of the demigods, those
> who by imagination consider any form to be the form of the
> Supreme Lord. And the third class includes those who cannot
> conceive of anything beyond the manifestation of this
> material universe. They consider the universe to be the
> supreme organism or entity and worship that. The universe
> is also a form of the Lord.
272
273 Bg 9.16
274
275 TEXT 16
276
277 TRANSLATION
278
279 But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the
> offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the
> transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the
> offering.
280
281 PURPORT
282
283 The sacrifice known as jyotistoma is also Krsna, and
> He is also the maha-yajna The
> oblations offered to the Pitrloka or the sacrifice
> performed to please the Pitrloka, considered as a kind of
> drug in the form of clarified butter, is also Krsna. The
> mantras chanted in this connection are also Krsna. And many
> other commodities made with milk products for offering in
> the sacrifices are also Krsna. The fire is also Krsna
> because fire is one of the five material elements and is
> therefore claimed as the separated energy of Krsna. In
> other words, the Vedic sacrifices recommended in the karma-
> kanda division of the Vedas are in total also Krsna. Or, in
> other words, those who are engaged in rendering devotional
> service unto Krsna are to be understood to have performed
> all the sacrifices recommended in the Vedas.
284
285 Bg 9.17
286
287 TEXT 17
288
289 TRANSLATION
290
291 I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support,
> and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the
> purifier and the syllable om. I am also the Rk, the Sama,
> and the Yajur [Vedas].
292
293 PURPORT
294
295 The entire cosmic manifestations, moving and nonmoving, are
> manifested by different activities of Krsna's energy. In
> the material existence we create different relationships
> with different living entities who are nothing but Krsna's
> marginal energy, but under the creation of prakrti some of
> them appear as our father, mother, grandfather, creator,
> etc., but actually they are parts and parcels of Krsna. As
> such, these living entities who appear to be our father,
> mother, etc., are nothing but Krsna. In this verse the word
> dhata means creator. Not only are our father and mother
> parts and parcels of Krsna, but their creator, grandmother,
> and grandfather, etc., are also Krsna. Actually any living
> entity, being part and parcel of Krsna, is Krsna. All the
> Vedas, therefore, aim only toward Krsna. Whatever we want
> to know through the Vedas is but a progressive step to
> understand Krsna. That subject matter which helps us
> purify our constitutional position is especially Krsna.
> Similarly, the living entity who is inquisitive to
> understand all Vedic principles is also part and parcel of
> Krsna and as such is also Krsna. In all the Vedic mantras
> the word om, called pranava, is a transcendental sound
> vibration and is also Krsna. And because in all the hymns
> of the four Vedas, Sama, Yajur, Rg and Atharva, the
> pranava or omkara is very prominent, it is understood to
> be Krsna.
296
297 Bg 9.18
298
299 TEXT 18
300
301 TRANSLATION
302
303 I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the
> abode, the refuge and the most dear friend. I am the
> creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the
> resting place and the eternal seed.
304
305 PURPORT
306
307 Gati means the destination where we want to go. But the
> ultimate goal is Krsna, although people do not know it. One
> who does not know Krsna is misled, and his so-called
> progressive march is either partial or hallucinatory. There
> are many who make as their destination different demigods,
> and by rigid performance of the strict respective methods
> they reach different planets known as Candraloka, Suryaloka,
> Indraloka, Maharloka, etc. But all such lokas or planets,
> being creations of Krsna, are simultaneously Krsna and not
> Krsna. Actually such planets, being the manifestations of
> Krsna's energy, are also Krsna, but actually they only
> serve as a step forward for realization of Krsna. To
> approach the different energies of Krsna is to approach
> Krsna indirectly. One should directly approach Krsna, for
> that will save time and energy. For example, if there is a
> possibility of going to the top of a building by the help
> of an elevator, why should one go by the staircase, step by
> step? Everything is resting on Krsna's energy; therefore
> without Krsna's shelter nothing can exist. Krsna is the
> supreme ruler because everything belongs to Him and
> everything exists on His energy. Krsna, being situated in
> everyone's heart, is the supreme witness. The residences,
> countries or planets on which we live are also Krsna. Krsna
> is the ultimate goal of shelter, and as such one
> should take shelter of Krsna either for protection or for
> annihilation of his distressed condition. And whenever we
> have to take protection, we should know that our protection
> must be a living force. Thus Krsna is the supreme living
> entity. Since Krsna is the source of our generation,
> or the supreme father, no one can be a better friend than
> Krsna, nor can anyone be a better well-wisher. Krsna is the
> original source of creation and the ultimate rest after
> annihilation. Krsna is therefore the eternal cause of all
> causes.
308
309 Bg 9.19
310
311 TEXT 19
312
313 TRANSLATION
314
315 O Arjuna, I control heat, the rain and
> the drought. I am immortality, and I am also death
> personified. Both being and nonbeing are in Me.
316
317 PURPORT
318
319 Krsna, by His different energies, diffuses heat and light
> through the agency of electricity and the sun. During
> summer season it is Krsna who checks rain from falling from
> the sky, and then, during the rainy season, He gives
> unceasing torrents of rain. The energy which sustains us by
> prolonging the duration of our life is Krsna, and Krsna
> meets us at the end as death. By analyzing all these
> different energies of Krsna, one can acertain that for
> Krsna there is no distinction between matter and spirit, or,
> in other words, He is both matter and spirit. In the
> advanced stage of Krsna consciousness, one does not
> therefore make such distinctions. He sees Krsna only
> in everything.
320
321 Since Krsna is both matter and spirit, the gigantic
> universal form comprising all material manifestations is
> also Krsna, and His pastimes in Vrndavana as two-handed
> Syamasundara, playing on a flute, are those of the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead.
322
323 Bg 9.20
324
325 TEXT 20
326
327 TRANSLATION
328
329 Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking
> the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. They
> take birth on the
> planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.
330
331 PURPORT
332
333 The word trai-vidyah refers to the three Vedas, Sama, Yajur
> and Rg. A brahmana who has studied these three Vedas is
> called a tri-vedi. Anyone who is very much attached to
> knowledge derived from these three Vedas is respected in
> society. Unfortunately, there are many great scholars of
> the Vedas who do not know the ultimate purport of studying
> them. Therefore Krsna herein declares Himself to be the
> ultimate goal for the tri-vedis. Actual tri-vedis take
> shelter under the lotus feet of Krsna and engage in pure
> devotional service to satisfy the Lord. Devotional service
> begins with the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra and side
> by side trying to understand Krsna in truth. Unfortunately
> those who are simply official students of the Vedas become
> more interested in offering sacrifices to the different
> demigods like Indra, Candra, etc. By such endeavor, the
> worshipers of different demigods are certainly purified of
> the contamination of the lower qualities of nature and are
> thereby elevated to the higher planetary system or
> heavenly planets known as Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka,
> etc. Once situated on those higher planetary systems, one
> can satisfy his senses hundreds of thousands of times
> better than on this planet.
334
335 Bg 9.21
336
337 TEXT 21
338
339 TRANSLATION
340
341 When they have thus enjoyed heavenly sense pleasure
> ,
> they return to this mortal planet again. Thus, through the
> Vedic principles, they
> achieve only flickering happiness.
342
343 PURPORT
344
345 One who is promoted to those higher planetary systems
> enjoys a longer duration of life and better facilities for
> sense enjoyment, yet one is not allowed to stay there
> forever. One is again sent back to this earthly planet upon
> finishing the resultant fruits of pious activities. He who
> has not attained perfection of knowledge, as indicated in
> the Vedanta-sutra (janmady asya yatah), or, in other words,
> he who fails to understand Krsna, the cause of all causes,
> becomes baffled in achieving the ultimate goal of life
> and is thus subjected to the routine of being promoted to
> the higher planets and then again coming down, as if
> situated on a ferris wheel which sometimes goes up and
> sometimes comes down. The purport is that instead of being
> elevated to the spiritual world where there is no
> longer any possibility of coming down, one simply revolves
> in the cycle of birth and death on higher and lower
> planetary systems. One should better take to the spiritual
> world to enjoy eternal life full of bliss and knowledge
> and never return to this miserable material existence.
346
347 Bg 9.22
348
349 TEXT 22
350
351 TRANSLATION
352
353 But those who worship Me with devotion,
> meditating on My transcendental form-to them I carry what
> they lack and preserve what they have.
354
355 PURPORT
356
357 One who is unable to live for a moment without Krsna
> consciousness cannot but think of Krsna twenty-four hours
> , being engaged in devotional service by hearing,
> chanting, remembering, offering prayers, worshiping,
> serving the lotus feet of the Lord, rendering other
> services, cultivating friendship and surrendering fully to
> the Lord. Such activities are all auspicious and full of
> spiritual potencies; indeed, they make the devotee perfect
> in self-realization. Then his only desire is to
> achieve the association of the Supreme Personality of
> . This is called yoga. By the mercy of
> the Lord, such a devotee never comes back to this material
> condition of life. Ksema refers to the merciful protection
> of the Lord. The Lord helps the devotee to achieve Krsna
> consciousness by yoga, and when he becomes fully Krsna
> conscious the Lord protects him from falling down to a
> miserable conditioned life.
358
359 Bg 9.23
360
361 TEXT 23
362
363 TRANSLATION
364
365 Whatever a man may sacrifice to other gods, O son
> of Kunti, is really meant for Me
> alone, but it is offered without true
> understanding.
366
367 PURPORT
368
369 "Persons who are engaged in the worship of demigods are not
> very intelligent, although such worship is done to Me
> indirectly," Krsna says. For example, when a man pours
> water on the leaves and branches of a tree without pouring
> water on the root, he does so without sufficient knowledge
> or without observing regulative principles. Similarly, the
> process of rendering service to different parts of the body
> is to supply food to the stomach. The demigods are, so to
> speak, different officers and directors in the government
> of the Supreme Lord. One has to follow the laws made by the
> government, not by the officers or directors. Similarly,
> everyone is to offer his worship to the Supreme Lord only.
> That will automatically satisfy the different officers and
> directors of the Lord. The officers and directors are
> engaged as representatives of the government, and to offer
> some bribe to the officers and directors is illegal. This
> is stated here as avidhi-purvakam. In other words, Krsna
> does not approve the unnecessary worship of the demigods.
370
371 Bg 9.24
372
373 TEXT 24
374
375 TRANSLATION
376
377 I am the only enjoyer and the only object of sacrifice
> . Those who do not recognize My true
> transcendental nature fall down.
378
379 PURPORT
380
381 Here it is clearly stated that there are many types of
> yajna performances recommended in the Vedic literatures,
> but actually all of them are meant for satisfying the
> Supreme Lord. Yajna means Visnu. In the Second Chapter of
> Bhagavad-gita it is clearly stated that one should only
> work for satisfying Yajna or Visnu. The perfectional form
> of human civilization, known as varnasrama-dharma, is
> specifically meant for satisfying Visnu. Therefore, Krsna
> says in this verse, "I am the enjoyer of all sacrifices
> because I am the supreme master." However, less intelligent
> persons, without knowing this fact, worship
> demigods for temporary benefit. Therefore they fall down to
> material existence and do not achieve the desired goal of
> life. If, however, anyone has any material desire to be
> fulfilled, he had better pray for it to the Supreme Lord (
> although that is not pure devotion), and he will thus
> achieve the desired result.
382
383 Bg 9.25
384
385 TEXT 25
386
387 TRANSLATION
388
389 Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the
> demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will
> take birth among such beings; those who worship
> ancestors go to the ancestors
> ; and those who worship Me will live with Me.
390
391 PURPORT
392
393 If anyone has any desire to go to the moon, the sun, or any
> other planet, one can attain the desired destination by
> following specific Vedic principles recommended for that
> . These are vividly described in the
> fruitive activities portion of the Vedas, technically known
> as darsa-paurnamasi, which recommends a specific worship of
> demigods situated on different heavenly planets. Similarly,
> one can attain the pita planets by performing a specific
> yajna. Similarly, one can go to many ghostly planets and
> become a yaksa, raksa or pisaca. Pisaca worship is called "
> black arts" or "black magic." There are many men who
> practice this black art, and they think that it is
> spiritualism, but such activities are completely
> materialistic. Similarly, a pure devotee, who worships the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead only, achieves the planets
> of Vaikuntha and Krsnaloka without a doubt. It is very easy
> to understand through this important verse that if by
> simply worshiping the demigods one can achieve the heavenly
> planets, or by worshiping the pita achieve the pita
> planets, or by practicing the black arts achieve the
> ghostly planets, why can the pure devotee not achieve the
> planet of Krsna or Visnu? Unfortunately many people have no
> information of these sublime planets where Krsna and Visnu
> live, and because they do not know of them they fall down.
> Even the impersonalists fall down from the brahmajyoti.
> This Krsna consciousness movement is therefore distributing
> sublime information to the entire human society to the
> effect that by simply chanting the Hare Krsna mantra one
> can become perfect in this life and go back home, back to
> Godhead.
394
395 Bg 9.26
396
397 TEXT 26
398
399 TRANSLATION
400
401 If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower,
> fruit a water, I will accept it.
402
403 PURPORT
404
> for extra
> stuff
> in
> other book]
406
407 Here Lord Krsna, having established that He is the only
> enjoyer, the primeval Lord, and the real object of all
> sacrificial offerings, reveals what types of sacrifices He
> desires to be offered. If one wishes to engage in
> devotional service to the Supre