1 Bg 4-1972: Transcendental Knowledge
2
3 4. Transcendental Knowledge
4
5 Bg 4.1
6
7 TEXT 1
8
9 TRANSLATION
10
11 The Blessed Lord said: I
> instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god,
> Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father
> of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku.
12
13 PURPORT
14
15 Herein we find the history of the Bhagavad-gita traced from
> a remote time when it was delivered to the royal order,
> the kings of
> all planets. This science is especially meant for the
> protection of the inhabitants and therefore the royal
> order should understand it in
> order to be able to rule the citizens and protect them from
> the material bondage to lust. Human life is meant for
> cultivation of spiritual knowledge, in eternal relationship
> with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the executive
> heads of all states and all planets are obliged to impart
> this lesson to the citizens by education, culture and
> devotion. In other words, the executive heads of all states
> are intended to spread the science of Krsna consciousness
> so that the people may take advantage of this great science
> and pursue a successful path, utilizing the opportunity of
> the human form of life.
16
17 In this millennium, the sun-god is known as Vivasvan, the
> king of the sun, which is the origin of all planets within
> the solar system. In the Brahma-samhita it is stated:
18
19 yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam raja samasta-sura-
> murttir asesa-tejah yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-
> kalacakro govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
20
21 "Let me worship," Lord Brahma said, "the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is the
> original person and under whose order the sun, which is the
> king of all planets, is assuming immense power and heat.
> The sun represents the eye of the Lord and traverses its
> orbit in obedience to His order."
22
23 The sun is the king of the planets, and the sun-god (at
> present of the name Vivasvan) rules the sun planet, which
> is controlling all other planets by supplying heat and
> light. He is rotating under the order of Krsna, and Lord
> Krsna originally made Vivasvan His first disciple to
> understand the science of Bhagavad-gita. The Gita is not,
> therefore, a speculative treatise for the insignificant
> mundane scholar but is a standard book of knowledge coming
> down from time immemorial.
24
25 In the Mahabharata (Santi-parva 348.51-52) we can trace out
> the history of the Gita as follows:
26
27 treta-yugadau ca tato vivasvan manave dadau manus ca loka-
> bhrty-artham sutayeksvakave dadau iksvakuna ca kathito
> vyapya lokan avasthitah
28
29 "In the beginning of the Treta-yuga [
> millennium] 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. Therefore,
> Bhagavad-gita existed in the human society from the time of
> Maharaja Iksvaku."
30
31 At the present moment we have just passed through five
> thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years.
> Before this there was Dvapara-yuga (800,000 years), and
> before that there was Treta-yuga (1,200,000 years). Thus,
> some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu spoke the Bhagavad-gita to
> his disciple and son Maharaja lksvaku, the King of this
> planet earth. The age of the current Manu is calculated to
> last some 305,300,000 years, of which 120,400,000 have
> passed. Accepting that before the birth of Manu, the Gita
> was spoken by the Lord to His disciple, the sun-god
> Vivasvan, a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at
> least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human society it has
> been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the
> Lord again to Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is
> the rough estimate of the history of the Gita, according to
> the Gita itself and according to the version of the speaker,
> Lord Sri Krsna. It was spoken to the sun-god Vivasvan
> because he is also a ksatriya and is the father of all
> ksatriyas who are descendants of the sun-god, or the surya-
> vamsa ksatriyas. Because Bhagavad-gita is as good as the
> Vedas, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
> this knowledge is apauruseya, superhuman. Since the Vedic
> instructions are accepted as they are, without human
> interpretation, the Gita must therefore be accepted without
> mundane interpretation. The mundane wranglers may speculate
> on the Gita in their own ways, but that is not Bhagavad-
> gita as it is. Therefore, Bhagavad-gita has to be accepted
> as it is, from the disciplic succession, and it is
> described herein that the Lord spoke to the sun-god, the
> sun-god spoke to his son Manu, and Manu spoke to his son
> Iksvaku.
32
33 Bg 4.2
34
35 TEXT 2
36
37 TRANSLATION
38
39 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.
40
41 PURPORT
42
43 It is clearly stated that the Gita was especially meant for
> the saintly kings because they were to execute its purpose
> in ruling over the citizens. Certainly Bhagavad-gita was
> never meant for the demonic persons, who would dissipate
> its value for no one's benefit and would devise all types
> of interpretations according to personal whims. As soon as
> the original purpose was scattered by the motives of the
> unscrupulous commentators, there arose the need to
> reestablish the disciplic succession. Five thousand years
> ago it was detected by the Lord Himself that the disciplic
> succession was broken, and therefore He declared that the
> purpose of the Gita appeared to be lost. In the same way,
> at the present moment also there are so many editions of
> the Gita (especially in English), but almost all of them
> are not according to authorized disciplic succession. There
> are innumerable interpretations rendered by different
> mundane scholars, but almost all of them do not accept the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, although they make a
> good business on the words of Sri Krsna. This spirit is
> demonic, because demons do not believe in God but simply
> enjoy the property of the Supreme. Since there is a great
> need of an edition of the Gita in English, as it is
> received by the parampara (disciplic succession) system, an
> attempt is made herewith to fulfill this great want.
> Bhagavad-gita-accepted as it is-is a great boon to humanity;
> but if it is accepted as a treatise of philosophical
> speculations, it is simply a waste of time.
44
45 Bg 4.3
46
47 TEXT 3
48
49 TRANSLATION
50
51 That very ancient science of the relationship with the
> Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My
> devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can
> understand the transcendental mystery of this science.
52
53 PURPORT
54
55 There are two classes of men, namely the devotee and the
> demon. The Lord selected Arjuna as the recipient of this
> great science owing to his becoming the devotee of the Lord,
> but for the demon it is not possible to understand this
> great mysterious science. There are a number of editions of
> this great book of knowledge, and some of them have
> commentaries by the devotees, and some of them have
> commentaries by the demons. Commentation by the devotees is
> real, whereas that of the demons is useless. Arjuna accepts
> Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and any
> commentary on the Gita following in the footsteps of Arjuna
> is real devotional service to the cause of this great
> science. The demonic, however,
> concoct something about Krsna and
> mislead the public and general readers from the path of
> Krsna's instructions.
> One should try to follow the disciplic
> succession from Arjuna, and thus be benefitted
> .
56
57 Bg 4.4
58
59 TEXT 4
60
61 TRANSLATION
62
63 Arjuna said: The sun-god Vivasvan is senior by birth to You.
> How am I to understand that in the beginning You
> instructed this science to him?
64
65 PURPORT
66
67 Arjuna is an accepted devotee of the Lord, so how could he
> not believe Krsna's words? The fact is that Arjuna is not
> inquiring for himself but for those who do not believe in
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead or for the demons who do
> not like the idea that Krsna should be accepted as the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead; for them only Arjuna
> inquires on this point, as if he were himself not aware of
> the Personality of Godhead, or Krsna. As it will be evident
> from the Tenth Chapter, Arjuna knew perfectly well that
> Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
> fountainhead of everything and the last word in
> Transcendence. Of course, Krsna also appeared as the son of
> Devaki on this earth. How Krsna remained the same Supreme
> Personality of Godhead, the eternal, original person, is
> very difficult for an ordinary man to understand. Therefore,
> to clarify this point, Arjuna put this question before
> Krsna so that He Himself could speak authoritatively. That
> Krsna is the supreme authority is accepted by the whole
> world, not only at present, but from time immemorial, and
> the demons alone reject Him. Anyway, since Krsna is the
> authority accepted by all, Arjuna put this question before
> Him in order that Krsna would describe Himself without
> being depicted by the demons who always try to distort Him
> in a way understandable to the demons and their followers.
> It is necessary that everyone, for his own interest, know
> the science of Krsna. Therefore, when Krsna Himself speaks
> about Himself, it is auspicious for all the worlds. To the
> demons, such explanations by Krsna Himself may appear to be
> strange because the demons always study Krsna from their
> own standpoint, but those who are devotees heartily welcome
> the statements of Krsna when they are spoken by Krsna
> Himself. The devotees will always worship such
> authoritative statements of Krsna because they are always
> eager to know more and more about Him. The atheists, who
> consider Krsna an ordinary man, may in this way come to
> know that Krsna is superhuman, that He is sac-cid-ananda-
> vigraha-the eternal form of bliss and knowledge-that He is
> transcendental, and that He is above the domination of the
> modes of material nature and above the influence of time
> and space. A devotee of Krsna's, like Arjuna, is
> undoubtedly above any misunderstanding of the
> transcendental position of Krsna. Arjuna's putting this
> question before the Lord is simply an attempt by the
> devotee to defy the atheistic attitude of persons who
> consider Krsna to be an ordinary human being subject to
> the modes of material nature.
68
69 Bg 4.5
70
71 TEXT 5
72
73 TRANSLATION
74
75 The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both
> you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you
> cannot, O subduer of the enemy!
76
77 PURPORT
78
79 In the Brahma-samhita we have information of many,
> many incarnations of the Lord. It is stated there:
80
81 advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam adyam purana-purusam
> nava-yauvanam ca vedesu durllabham adurllabham atma-bhaktau
> govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
82
83 "I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [
> Krsna], who is the original person-absolute, infallible,
> without beginning, although expanded into unlimited forms,
> still the same original, the oldest, and the person
> always appearing as a fresh youth. Such eternal, blissful,
> all-knowing forms of the Lord are usually understood by the
> best Vedic scholars, but they are always manifest to pure,
> unalloyed devotees."
84
85 It is also stated in Brahma-samhita:
86
87 ramadi murttisu kala-niyamena tisthan nanavataram akarod
> bhuvanesu kintu krsnah svayam samabhavat paramah puman yo
> govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami (Bs. 5.39)
88
89 "I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [
> Krsna], who is always situated in various incarnations such
> as Rama, Nrsimha and many sub-incarnations as
> well, but who is the original Personality of Godhead known
> as Krsna, and who incarnates personally also."
90
91 In the Vedas also it is said that the Lord, although one
> without a second, nevertheless manifests Himself in
> innumerable forms. He is like the vaidurya stone, which
> changes color yet still remains one. All those multi-
> forms are understood by the pure, unalloyed devotees, but
> not by a simple study of the Vedas: vedesu durllabham
> adurllabham atma-bhaktau. Devotees like Arjuna are
> constant companions of the Lord, and whenever the Lord
> incarnates, the associate devotees also incarnate in order
> to serve the Lord in different capacities. Arjuna is one of
> these devotees, and in this verse it is understood that
> some millions of years ago when Lord Krsna spoke the
> Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god Vivasvan, Arjuna, in a
> different capacity, was also present. But the difference
> between the Lord and Arjuna is that the Lord remembered the
> incidence, whereas Arjuna could not remember. That is the
> difference between the part and parcel living entity and
> the Supreme Lord. Although Arjuna is addressed herein as
> the mighty hero who could subdue the enemies, he is unable
> to recall what had happened in his various past births.
> Therefore, a living entity, however great he may be in the
> material estimation, can never equal the Supreme Lord.
> Anyone who is a constant companion of the Lord is certainly
> a liberated person, but he cannot be equal to the Lord. The
> Lord is described in the Brahma-samhita as infallible (
> acyuta), which means that He never forgets Himself, even
> though He is in material contact. Therefore, the Lord and
> the living entity can never be equal in all respects, even
> if the living entity is as liberated as Arjuna. Although
> Arjuna is a devotee of the Lord, he sometimes forgets the
> nature of the Lord, but by the divine grace a devotee can
> at once understand the infallible condition of the Lord,
> whereas a nondevotee or a demon cannot understand this
> transcendental nature. Consequently these descriptions in
> the Gita cannot be understood by demonic brains. Krsna
> remembered acts which were performed by Him millions of
> years before, but Arjuna could not, despite the fact that
> both Krsna and Arjuna are eternal in nature. We may also
> note herein that a living entity forgets everything due to
> his change of body, but the Lord remembers because He does
> not change His sac-cid-ananda body. He is advaita, which
> means there is no distinction between His body and Himself.
> Everything in relation to Him is spirit-whereas the
> conditioned soul is different from his material body. And,
> because the Lord's body and self are identical, His
> position is always different from the ordinary
> living entity, even when He descends to the material
> platform. The demons cannot adjust themselves to this
> transcendental nature of the Lord, as the Lord
> explains in the following verse.
92
93 Bg 4.6
94
95 TEXT 6
96
97 TRANSLATION
98
99 Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never
> deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient
> beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original
> transcendental form.
100
101 PURPORT
102
103 The Lord has spoken about the peculiarity of His birth:
> although He may appear like an ordinary person, He
> remembers everything of His many, many past "births,"
> whereas a common man cannot remember what he has done even
> a few hours before. If someone is asked what he did exactly
> at the same time one day earlier, it would be very
> difficult for a common man to answer immediately. He would
> surely have to dredge his memory to recall what he was
> doing exactly at the same time one day before. And yet, men
> often dare claim to be God, or Krsna. One should not be
> misled by such meaningless claims. Then again, the Lord
> explains His prakrti or His form. Prakrti means nature
> as well as svarupa, or one's own form. The Lord says that
> He appears in His own body. He does not change His body, as
> the common living entity changes from one body to another.
> The conditioned soul may have one kind of body in the
> present birth, but he has a different body in the next
> birth. In the material world, the living entity has no
> fixed body but transmigrates from one body to another. The
> Lord, however, does not do so. Whenever He appears, He does
> so in the same original body, by His internal potency. In
> other words, Krsna appears in this material world in His
> original eternal form, with two hands, holding a flute. He
> appears exactly in His eternal body, uncontaminated by this
> material world. Although He appears in the same
> transcendental body and is Lord of the universe, it still
> appears that He takes His birth like an ordinary living
> fact Lord Krsna grows
> from childhood to boyhood and from boyhood to youth,
> astonishingly enough He never ages beyond youth. At the
> time of the Battle of Kuruksetra, He had many grandchildren
> at home; or, in other words, He had sufficiently aged by
> material calculations. Still He looked just like a young
> man twenty or twenty-five years old. We never see a picture
> of Krsna in old age because He never grows old like us,
> although He is the oldest person in the whole creation-past,
> present, and future. Neither His body nor His intelligence
> ever deteriorates or changes. Therefore, it is clear that
> in spite of His being in the material world, He is the same
> unborn, eternal form of bliss and knowledge, changeless in
> His transcendental body and intelligence. Factually, His
> appearance and disappearance are like the sun's rising,
> moving before us, and then disappearing from our eyesight.
> When the sun is out of sight, we think that the sun is set,
> and when the sun is before our eyes, we think that the sun
> is on the horizon. Actually, the sun is always in its fixed
> position, but owing to our defective, insufficient senses,
> we calculate the appearance and disappearance of the sun in
> the sky. And, because His appearance and
> disappearance are completely different from that of any
> ordinary, common living entity, it is evident that He is
> eternal, blissful knowledge by His internal potency-and He
> is never contaminated by material nature. The Vedas also
> confirm that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is unborn,
> yet He still appears to take His birth in
> multi-manifestations. The Vedic supplementary
> literatures also confirm that even though the Lord appears
> to be taking His birth, He is still without change of body.
> In the Bhagavatam, He appears before His mother as Narayana,
> with four hands and the decorations of the six kinds of
> full opulences. His appearance in His original eternal form
> is His causeless mercy,
> according to the Visvakosa dictionary. The Lord
> is conscious of all of His previous appearances and
> disappearances, but a common living entity forgets
> everything about his past body as soon as he gets another
> body. He is the Lord of all living entities because He
> performs wonderful and superhuman activities while He is on
> this earth. Therefore, the Lord is always the same Absolute
> Truth and is without differentiation between His form and
> self, or between His quality and body. A question may now
> be raised as to why the Lord appears and disappears in this
> world. This is explained in the next verse.
104
105 Bg 4.7
106
107 TEXT 7
108
109 TRANSLATION
110
111 Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious
> practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise
> of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself.
112
113 PURPORT
114
115 The word srjami is significant herein. Srjami cannot be
> used in the sense of creation. because, according to the
> previous verse, there is no creation of the Lord's form or
> body, since all of the forms are eternally existent.
> Therefore srjami means that the Lord manifests Himself as
> He is. Although the Lord appears on schedule, namely at the
> end of Dvapara-yuga of the twenty-eighth millennium of
> the eighth Manu, in one day of Brahma, still He has no
> obligation to adhere to such rules and regulations because
> He is completely free to act in many ways at His will. He
> therefore appears by His own will whenever there is a
> predominance of irreligiosity and a disappearance of true
> religion. Principles of religion are laid down in the Vedas,
> and any discrepancy in the matter of properly executing
> the rules of the Vedas makes one irreligious. In the
> Bhagavatam it is stated that such principles are the laws
> of the Lord. Only the Lord can manufacture a system of
> religion. The Vedas are also accepted as originally spoken
> by the Lord Himself to Brahma, from within his heart.
> Therefore, the principles of dharma, or religion, are the
> direct orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (
> dharmam tu saksat-bhagavat-pranitam). These principles are
> clearly indicated throughout the Bhagavad-gita. The purpose
> of the Vedas is to establish such principles under the
> order of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord directly orders, at
> the end of the Gita, that the highest principle of religion
> is to surrender unto Him only, and nothing more. The Vedic
> principles push one towards complete surrender unto Him;
> and, whenever such principles are disturbed by the demonic,
> the Lord appears. From the Bhagavatam we understand that
> Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Krsna who appeared when
> materialism was rampant and materialists were using the
> pretext of the authority of the Vedas. Although there are
> certain restrictive rules and regulations regarding animal
> sacrifice for particular purposes in the Vedas, people of
> demonic tendency still took to animal sacrifice without
> reference to the Vedic principles. Lord Buddha appeared to
> stop this nonsense and to establish the Vedic principles of
> nonviolence. Therefore each and every avatara, or
> incarnation of the Lord, has a particular mission, and they
> are all described in the revealed scriptures. No one should
> be accepted as an avatara unless he is referred to by
> scriptures. It is not a fact that the Lord appears only on
> Indian soil. He can advent Himself anywhere and
> everywhere, and whenever He desires to appear. In each and
> every incarnation, He speaks as much about religion as can
> be understood by the particular people under their
> particular circumstances. But the mission is the same-to
> lead people to God consciousness and obedience to the
> principles of religion. Sometimes He descends personally,
> and sometimes He sends His bona fide representative in the
> form of His son, or servant, or Himself in some disguised
> form.
116
117 The principles of the Bhagavad-gita were spoken to Arjuna,
> and, for that matter, to other highly elevated persons,
> because he was highly advanced compared to ordinary persons
> in other parts of the world. Two plus two equals four is a
> mathematical principle that is true both in the beginner's
> arithmetic class and in the advanced class as well. Still,
> there are higher and lower mathematics. In all incarnations
> of the Lord, therefore, the same principles are taught, but
> they appear to be higher and lower in varied circumstances.
> The higher principles of religion begin with the acceptance
> of the four orders and the four statuses of social life, as
> will be explained later. The whole purpose of the mission
> of incarnations is to arouse Krsna consciousness everywhere.
> Such consciousness is manifest and nonmanifest only under
> different circumstances.
118
119 Bg 4.8
120
121 TEXT 8
122
123 TRANSLATION
124
125 In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the
> miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of
> religion, I advent Myself millennium after
> millennium.
126
127 PURPORT
128
129 According to Bhagavad-gita, a sadhu (holyman) is a man
> in Krsna consciousness. A person may appear to be
> irreligious, but if he has the qualifications of Krsna
> consciousness wholly and fully, he is to be understood to
> be a sadhu. And duskrtam applies to one who doesn't
> care for Krsna consciousness. Such miscreants, or duskrtam,
> are described as foolish and the lowest of mankind, even
> though they may be decorated with mundane education;
> whereas another person, who is one hundred percent engaged
> in Krsna consciousness, is accepted as sadhu, even though
> such a person may neither be learned nor well
> cultured. As far as the atheistic are concerned, it is not
> necessary for the Supreme Lord to appear as He is to
> destroy them, as He did with the demons Ravana and Kamsa.
> The Lord has many agents who are quite competent to
> vanquish demons. But the Lord especially descends to
> appease His unalloyed devotees, who are always harassed by
> the demonic. The demon harasses the devotee, even though
> the latter may happen to be his kin. Although Prahlada
> Maharaja was the son of Hiranyakasipu, he was nonetheless
> persecuted by his father; although Devaki, the mother of
> Krsna, was the sister of Kamsa, she and her husband
> Vasudeva were persecuted only because Krsna was to be born
> of them. So Lord Krsna appeared primarily to deliver Devaki,
> rather than kill Kamsa, but both were performed
> simultaneously. Therefore it is said here that to deliver
> the devotee and vanquish the demon miscreants, the Lord
> appears in different incarnations.
130
131 In the Caitanya-caritamrta of Krsnadasa Kaviraja, the
> following verses summarize these
> principles of incarnation:
132
133 srsti-hetu yei murti prapance avatare sei isvara-murti '
> avatara' nama dhare
134
135 mayatita paravyome savara avasthana visve 'avatari' dhare '
> avatara' nama.
136
137 "The avatara, or incarnation of Godhead, descends from the
> kingdom of God for material manifestation. And the
> particular form of the Personality of Godhead who so
> descends is called an incarnation, or avatara. Such
> incarnations are situated in the spiritual world, the
> kingdom of God. When they descend to the material creation,
> they assume the name avatara."
138
139 There are various kinds of avataras, such as purusavataras,
> gunavataras, lilavataras, saktyavesa avataras,
> manvantara-avataras and yugavataras-all appearing on
> schedule all over the universe. But Lord Krsna is the
> primeval Lord, the fountainhead of all avataras. Lord Sri
> Krsna descends for the specific purposes of mitigating the
> anxieties of the pure devotees, who are very anxious to see
> Him in His original Vrndavana pastimes. Therefore, the
> prime purpose of the Krsna avatara is to satisfy His
> unalloyed devotees.
140
141 The Lord says that He incarnates Himself in every
> millennium. This indicates that He incarnates also in the
> age of Kali. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the
> incarnation in the age of Kali is Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
> who spread the worship of Krsna by the sankirtana movement (
> congregational chanting of the holy names), and spread
> Krsna consciousness throughout India. He predicted that
> this culture of sankirtana would be broadcast all over the
> world, from town to town and village to village. Lord
> Caitanya as the incarnation of Krsna, the Personality of
> Godhead, is described secretly but not directly in the
> confidential parts of the revealed scriptures, such as the
> Upanisads, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam, etc. The
> devotees of Lord Krsna are much attracted by the
> sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya. This avatara of the
> Lord does not kill the miscreants, but delivers them by the
> causeless mercy of the Lord.
142
143 Bg 4.9
144
145 TEXT 9
146
147 TRANSLATION
148
149 One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance
> and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his
> birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal
> abode, O Arjuna.
150
151 PURPORT
152
153 The Lord's descent from His transcendental abode is already
> explained in the 6th verse. One who can understand the
> truth of the appearance of the Personality of Godhead is
> already liberated from material bondage, and therefore he
> returns to the kingdom of God immediately after quitting
> this present material body. Such liberation of the living
> entity from material bondage is not at all easy. The
> impersonalists and the yogis attain liberation only after
> much trouble and many, many births. Even then, the
> liberation they achieve-merging into the impersonal
> brahmajyoti of the Lord-is only partial, and there is the
> risk of returning again to this material world. But the
> devotee, simply by understanding the transcendental nature
> of the body and activities of the Lord, attains the abode
> of the Lord after ending this body and does not run the
> risk of returning again to this material world. In the
> Brahma-samhita it is stated that the Lord has many,
> many forms and incarnations: advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-
> rupam. Although there are many transcendental forms of the
> Lord, they are still one and the same Supreme Personality
> of Godhead. One has to understand this fact with conviction,
> although it is incomprehensible to mundane scholars and
> empiric philosophers. As stated in the Vedas
> :
154
155 eko devo nitya-lilanurakto bhakta-vyapi hrdy antaratma.
156
157 "The one Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternally
> engaged in many, many transcendental forms in relationships
> with His unalloyed devotees." This Vedic version is
> confirmed in this verse of the Gita personally by the Lord.
> He who accepts this truth on the strength of the authority
> of the Vedas and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and
> who does not waste time in philosophical speculations
> attains the highest perfectional stage of liberation.
> Simply by accepting this truth on faith, one can, without a
> doubt, attain liberation. The Vedic version, "tattvamasi,
> " is actually applied in this case. Anyone who
> understands Lord Krsna to be the Supreme, or who says unto
> the Lord, "You are the same Supreme Brahman, the
> Personality of Godhead" is certainly liberated instantly,
> and consequently his entrance into the transcendental
> association of the Lord is guaranteed. In other words, such
> a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this
> is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion:
158
159 tam eva viditvatimrtyumeti nanyah pantha vidyate
> ayanaya.
160
161 One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth
> and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme
> . There
> is no alternative because anyone who does not
> understand Lord Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead
> is surely in the mode of ignorance. Consequently
> he will not attain salvation, simply, so to
> speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey,
> or by interpreting the Bhagavad-gita according to mundane
> scholarship. Such empiric philosophers may assume very
> important roles in the material world, but they are not
> necessarily eligible for liberation. Such puffed up mundane
> scholars have to wait for the causeless mercy of the
> devotee of the Lord. One should therefore cultivate Krsna
> consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way
> attain perfection.
162
163 Bg 4.10
164
165 TEXT 10
166
167 TRANSLATION
168
169 Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully
> absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons
> in the past became purified by knowledge of Me-and thus
> they all attained transcendental love for Me.
170
171 PURPORT
172
173 As described above, it is very difficult for a person who
> is too materially affected to understand the personal
> nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Generally, people who
> are attached to the bodily conception of life are so
> absorbed in materialism that it is almost impossible for
> that there is a
> transcendental body which is imperishable, full of
> knowledge and eternally blissful. In the materialistic
> concept, the body is perishable, full of ignorance and
> completely miserable. Therefore, people in general keep
> this same bodily idea in mind when they are informed of the
> personal form of the Lord. For such materialistic men, the
> form of the gigantic material manifestation is supreme.
> Consequently they consider the Supreme to be impersonal.
> And because they are too materially absorbed, the
> conception of retaining the personality after liberation
> from matter frightens them. When they are informed that
> spiritual life is also individual and personal, they become
> afraid of becoming persons again, and so they naturally
> prefer a kind of merging into the impersonal void.
> Generally, they compare the living entities to the bubbles
> of the ocean, which merge into the ocean. That is the
> highest perfection of spiritual existence attainable
> without individual personality. This is a kind of fearful
> stage of life, devoid of perfect knowledge of spiritual
> existence. Furthermore there are many persons who cannot
> understand spiritual existence at all. Being embarassed by
> so many theories and by contradictions of various types of
> philosophical speculation, they become disgusted or angry
> and foolishly conclude that there is no supreme cause and
> that everything is ultimately void. Such people are in a
> diseased condition of life. Some people are too materially
> attached and therefore do not give attention to spiritual
> life, some of them want to merge into the supreme spiritual
> cause, and some of them disbelieve in everything, being
> angry at all sorts of spiritual speculation out of
> hopelessness. This last class of men take to the shelter of
> some kind of intoxication, and their affective
> hallucinations are sometimes accepted as spiritual vision.
> One has to get rid of all three stages of attachment to the
> material world: negligence of spiritual life, fear of a
> spiritual personal identity, and the conception of void
> that underlies the frustration of life. To get free from
> these three stages of the material concept of life, one has
> to take complete shelter of the Lord, guided by the bona
> fide spiritual master, and follow the disciplines and
> regulative principles of devotional life. The last stage of
> the devotional life is called bhava, or transcendental love
> of Godhead.
174
175 According to Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, the
> science of devotional service:
176
177 adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya tato '
> nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah
178
179 athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati sadhakanam
> ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah.
180
181 "In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for
> self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of
> trying to associate with persons who are spiritually
> elevated. In next stage one becomes initiated by an
> elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the
> neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service.
> By execution of devotional service under the guidance of
> the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material
> attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and
> acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality
> of Godhead, Sri Krsna. This taste leads one further forward
> to attachment for Krsna consciousness, which is matured in
> bhava, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of
> God. Real love for God is called prema, the highest
> perfectional stage of life." In the prema stage there is
> constant engagement in the transcendental loving service of
> the Lord. So, by the slow process of devotional service,
> under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, one
> can attain the highest stage, being freed from all material
> attachment, from the fearfulness of one's individual
> spiritual personality, and from the frustrations resulting
> from void philosophy. Then one can ultimately attain
> to the abode of the Supreme Lord.
182
183 Bg 4.11
184
185 TEXT 11
186
187 TRANSLATION
188
189 All of them-as they surrender unto Me-I reward
> accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O
> son of Prtha.
190
191 PURPORT
192
193 Everyone is searching for Krsna in the different aspects of
> His manifestations. Krsna, the Supreme Personality of
> Godhead, is partially realized in His impersonal
> brahmajyoti effulgence and as the all-pervading Supersoul
> dwelling within everything, including the particles of
> atoms. But Krsna is only fully realized by His pure
> devotees. Consequently, Krsna is the object of everyone's
> realization, and thus anyone and everyone is satisfied
> according to one's desire to have Him. In the
> transcendental world also, Krsna reciprocates with His pure
> devotees in the transcendental attitude, just as the
> devotee wants Him. One devotee may want Krsna as supreme
> master, another as his personal friend, another as his son,
> and still another as his lover. Krsna rewards all the
> devotees equally, according to their different intensities
> of love for Him. In the material world, the same
> reciprocations of feelings are there, and they are equally
> exchanged by the Lord with the different types of
> worshipers. The pure devotees both here and in the
> transcendental abode associate with Him in person and are
> able to render personal service to the Lord and thus derive
> transcendental bliss in His loving service. As for those
> who are impersonalists and who want to commit spiritual
> suicide by annihilating the individual existence of the
> living entity, Krsna helps also by absorbing them into His
> effulgence. Such impersonalists do not agree to accept the
> eternal, blissful Personality of Godhead; consequently they
> cannot relish the bliss of transcendental personal service
> to the Lord, having extinguished their individuality. Some
> of them, who are not situated even in the impersonal
> existence, return to this material field to exhibit their
> dormant desires for activities. They are not admitted in
> the spiritual planets, but they are again given a chance to
> act on the material planets. For those who are fruitive
> workers, the Lord awards the desired results of their
> prescribed duties, as the yajnesvara; and those who are
> yogis seeking mystic powers are awarded such powers. In
> other words, everyone is dependant for success upon His
> mercy alone, and all kinds of spiritual processes are but
> different degrees of success on the same path. Unless,
> therefore, one comes to the highest perfection of Krsna
> consciousness, all attempts remain imperfect, as is stated
> in the Srimad Bhagavatam:
194
195 akamah sarva-kamo va moksa-kama udaradhih tivrena
> bhakti-yogena yajeta purusam param
196
197 "Whether one is without desire [the condition of the
> devotees], or is desirous of all fruitive results, or is
> after liberation, one should with all efforts try to
> worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead for complete
> perfection, culminating in Krsna consciousness." (Bhag. 2.3.
> 10)
198
199 Bg 4.12
200
201 TEXT 12
202
203 TRANSLATION
204
205 Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities,
> and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course,
> men get results from fruitive work in this world.
206
207 PURPORT
208
209 There is a great misconception about the gods or demigods
> of this material world, and men of less intelligence,
> although passing as great scholars, take these demigods to
> be various forms of the Supreme Lord. Actually, the
> demigods are not different forms of God, but they are God's
> different parts and parcels. God is one, and the parts and
> parcels are many. The Vedas say, nityo nityanam: God is one.
> Isvarah paramah krsnah. The Supreme God is one-Krsna-and
> the demigods are delegated with powers to manage this
> material world. These demigods are all living entities (
> nityanam) with different grades of material power. They
> cannot be equal to the Supreme God-Narayana, Visnu, or
> Krsna. Anyone who thinks that God and the demigods are on
> the same level is called an atheist, or pasandi. Even the
> great demigods like Brahma and Siva cannot be compared to
> the Supreme Lord. In fact, the Lord is worshiped by
> demigods such as Brahma and Siva (siva-virinci-nutam). Yet
> curiously enough there are many human leaders who are
> worshiped by foolish men under the misunderstanding of
> anthropomorphism or zoomorphism. Iha devatah denotes a
> powerful man or demigod of this material world. But
> Narayana, Visnu or Krsna, the Supreme Personality of
> Godhead, does not belong to this world. He is above, or
> transcendental to, material creation. Even Sripada
> Sankaracarya, the leader of the impersonalists, maintains
> that Narayana, or Krsna, is beyond this material creation.
> However, foolish people (hrt-anjana) worship the demigods
> because they want immediate results. They get the results,
> but do not know that results so obtained are temporary and
> are meant for less intelligent persons. The intelligent
> person is in Krsna consciousness, and he has no need to
> worship the paltry demigods for some immediate, temporary
> benefit. The demigods of this material world, as well as
> their worshipers, will vanish with the annihilation of this
> material world. The boons of the demigods are material and
> temporary. Both the material worlds and their inhabitants,
> including the demigods, and their worshipers, are bubbles
> in the cosmic ocean. In this world, however, human society
> is mad after temporary things such as the material opulence
> of possessing land, family and enjoyable paraphernalia. To
> achieve such temporary things, they worship the demigods
> or powerful men in human society. If a man gets some
> ministership in the government by worshiping a political
> leader, he considers that he has achieved a great boon. All
> of them are therefore kowtowing to the so-called leaders or
> "big guns" in order to achieve temporary boons, and they
> indeed achieve such things. Such foolish men are not
> interested in Krsna consciousness for the permanent
> solution to the hardships of material existence. They are
> all after sense enjoyment, and to get a little facility for
> sense enjoyment they are attracted to worship empowered
> living entities known as demigods. This verse indicates
> that people are rarely interested in Krsna consciousness.
> They are mostly interested in material enjoyment, and
> therefore they worship some powerful living entity.
210
211 Bg 4.13
212
213 TEXT 13
214
215 TRANSLATION
216
217 According to the three modes of material nature and the
> work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human
> society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator
> of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-
> doer, being unchangeable.
218
219 PURPORT
220
221 The Lord is the creator of everything. Everything is born
> of Him, everything is sustained by Him, and everything,
> after annihilation, rests in Him. He is therefore the
> creator of the four divisions of the social order,
> beginning with the intelligent class of men, technically
> called brahmanas due to their being situated in the mode of
> goodness. Next is the administrative class, technically
> called the ksatriyas due to their being situated in the
> mode of passion. The mercantile men, called the vaisyas,
> are situated in the mixed modes of passion and ignorance,
> and the sudras, or laborer class, are situated in the
> ignorant mode of material nature. In spite of His creating
> the four divisions of human society, Lord Krsna does not
> belong to any of these divisions, because He is not one of
> the conditioned souls, a section of whom form human society.
> Human society is similar to any other animal society, but
> to elevate men from the animal status, the abovementioned
> divisions are created by the Lord for the systematic
> development of Krsna consciousness. The tendency of a
> particular man toward work is determined by the modes of
> material nature which he has acquired. Such symptoms of
> life, according to different modes of material nature,
> are described in the Eighteenth Chapter of this book. A
> person in Krsna consciousness, however, is above even the
> brahmanas, because a brahmana by quality is
> supposed to know about Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth.
> Most of them approach the impersonal Brahman
> manifestation of Lord Krsna, but only a man who transcends
> the limited knowledge of a brahmana and reaches the
> knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri
> Krsna, becomes a person in Krsna consciousness-or, in other
> words, a Vaisnava. Krsna consciousness includes knowledge
> of all different plenary expansions of Krsna, namely Rama,
> Nrsimha, Varaha, etc. However, as Krsna is transcendental
> to this system of the four divisions of human society, a
> person in Krsna consciousness is also transcendental to all
> divisions of human society, whether we consider the
> divisions of community, nation or species.
222
223 Bg 4.14
224
225 TEXT 14
226
227 TRANSLATION
228
229 There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the
> fruits of action. One who understands this truth about Me
> also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of
> work.
230
231 PURPORT
232
233 As there are constitutional laws in the material world
> stating that the king can do no wrong, or that the king is
> not subject to the state laws, similarly the Lord, although
> He is the creator of this material world, is not affected
> by the activities of the material world. He creates and
> remains aloof from the creation, whereas the living
> entities are entangled in the fruitive results of material
> activities because of their propensity for lording it over
> material resources. The proprietor of an establishment is
> not responsible for the right and wrong activities of the
> workers, but the workers are themselves responsible. The
> living entities are engaged in their respective activities
> of sense gratification, and these activities are not
> ordained by the Lord. For advancement of sense
> gratification, the living entities are engaged in the work
> of this world, and they aspire to heavenly happiness after
> death. The Lord, being full in Himself, has no attraction
> for so-called heavenly happiness. The heavenly demigods are
> only His engaged servants. The proprietor never desires the
> low-grade happiness such as the workers may desire. He is
> aloof from the material actions and reactions. For example,
> the rains are not responsible for different types of
> vegetation that appear on the earth, although without such
> rains there is no possibility of vegetative growth. Vedic
> smrti confirms this fact as follows:
234
235 nimitta-matram evasau srjyanam sarga-karmani pradhana-
> karani-bhuta yato vai srjya-saktayah.
236
237 In the material creations, the Lord is only the supreme
> cause. The immediate cause is material nature by which the
> cosmic manifestation is visible. The created beings
> are of many varieties, such as the demigods, human beings
> and lower animals, and all of them are subject to the
> reactions of their past good or bad activities. The Lord
> only gives them the proper facilities for such activities
> and the regulations of the modes of nature, but He is never
> responsible for their past and present activities. In the
> Vedanta-sutras it is confirmed
> that the Lord is never
> partial to any living entity.
238
239 The living entity is responsible for his own acts. The Lord
> only gives him facilities, through the agency of material
> nature, the external energy. Anyone who is fully conversant
> with all the intricacies of this law of karma, or fruitive
> activities, does not become affected by the results of his
> activities. In other words, the person who understands this
> transcendental nature of the Lord is an experienced man in
> Krsna consciousness, and thus he is never subjected to the
> laws of karma. One who does not know the transcendental
> nature of the Lord and who thinks that the activities of
> the Lord are aimed at fruitive results, as are the
> activities of the ordinary living entities, certainly
> becomes entangled himself in fruitive reaction. But one
> who knows the Supreme Truth is a liberated soul fixed in
> Krsna consciousness.
240
241 Bg 4.15
242
243 TEXT 15
244
245 TRANSLATION
246
247 All the liberated souls in ancient times acted with this
> understanding and so attained liberation. Therefore,
> as the ancients, you should perform your duty in
> this divine consciousness.
248
249 PURPORT
250
251 There are two classes of men. Some of them are full of
> polluted material things within their hearts, and some of
> them are materially free. Krsna consciousness is equally
> beneficial for both of these persons. Those who are full of
> dirty things can take to the line of Krsna consciousness
> for a gradual cleansing process, following the regulative
> principles of devotional service. Those who are already
> cleansed of the impurities may continue to act in the same
> Krsna consciousness so that others may follow their
> exemplary activities and thereby be benefitted. Foolish
> persons or neophytes in Krsna consciousness often want to
> retire from activities without having knowledge of Krsna
> consciousness. Arjuna's desire to retire from activities on
> the battlefield was not approved by the Lord. One need only
> know how to act. To retire from the activities of Krsna
> consciousness and to sit aloof making a show of Krsna
> consciousness; is less important than actually engaging in
> the field of activities for the sake of Krsna. Arjuna is
> here advised to act in Krsna consciousness, following in
> the footsteps of the Lord's previous disciples, such as the
> sun-god Vivasvan, as mentioned hereinbefore. The Supreme
> Lord knows all His past activities, as well as those of
> persons who acted in Krsna consciousness in the past.
> Therefore He recommends the acts of the sun-god, who
> learned this art from the Lord some millions of years
> before. All such students of Lord Krsna are mentioned here
> as past liberated persons, engaged in the discharge of
> duties allotted by Krsna.
252
253 Bg 4.16
254
255 TEXT 16
256
257 TRANSLATION
258
259 Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is
> action and what is inaction. Now I shall explain to you
> what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from
260
261 PURPORT
262
263 Action in Krsna consciousness has to be executed in accord
> with the examples of previous bona fide devotees. This is
> recommended in the 15th verse. Why such action should not
> be independant will be explained in the text to follow.
264
265 To act in Krsna consciousness, one has to follow the
> leadership of authorized persons who are in a line of
> disciplic succession as explained in the beginning of this
> chapter. The system of Krsna consciousness was first
> narrated to the sun-god, the sun-god explained it to his
> son Manu, Manu explained it to his son Iksvaku, and the
> system is current on this earth from that very remote time.
> Therefore, one has to follow in the footsteps of previous
> authorities in the line of disciplic succession. Otherwise
> even the most intelligent men will be bewildered regarding
> the standard actions of Krsna consciousness. For this
> reason, the Lord decided to instruct Arjuna in Krsna
> consciousness directly. Because of the direct instruction
> of the Lord to Arjuna, anyone who follows in the footsteps
> of Arjuna is certainly not bewildered.
266
267 It is said that one cannot ascertain the ways of religion
> simply by imperfect experimental knowledge. Actually, the
> principles of religion can only be laid down by the Lord
> Himself. Dharmam hi saksat-bhagavat-pranitam
> . No one can manufacture a religious principle by
> imperfect speculation. One must follow in the footsteps of
> great authorities like Brahma, Siva, Narada, Manu, Kumara
> , Kapila, Prahlada, Bhisma, Sukadeva Gosvami,
> Yamaraja, Janaka, etc. By mental speculation
> one cannot ascertain what is religion or self-realization.
> Therefore, out of causeless mercy to His devotees, the Lord
> explains directly to Arjuna what action is and what
> inaction is. Only action performed in Krsna consciousness
> can deliver a person from the entanglement of material
> existence.
268
269 Bg 4.17
270
271 TEXT 17
272
273 TRANSLATION
274
275 The intricacies of action are very hard to understand.
> Therefore one should know properly what action is, what
> forbidden action is, and what inaction is.
276
277 PURPORT
278
279 If one is serious about liberation from material bondage,
> one has to understand the distinctions between action,
> inaction and unauthorized actions. One has to apply oneself
> to such an analysis of action, reaction and perverted
> actions because it is a very difficult subject matter. To
> understand Krsna consciousness and action according to the
> modes, one has to learn one's relationship with the Supreme;
> i.e., one who has learned perfectly knows that every
> living entity is the eternal servitor of the Lord and that
> consequently one has to act in Krsna consciousness. The
> entire Bhagavad-gita is directed toward this conclusion.
> Any other conclusions, against this consciousness and its
> attendant reactions, are vikarmas, or prohibitive actions.
> To understand all this one has to associate with
> authorities in Krsna consciousness and learn the secret
> from them; this is as good as learning from the Lord
> directly. Otherwise, even the most intelligent person will
> be bewildered.
280
281 Bg 4.18
282
283 TEXT 18
284
285 TRANSLATION
286
287 One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is
> intelligent among men, and he is in the tranecendental
> position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.
288
289 PURPORT
290
291 A person acting in Krsna consciousness is naturally free
> from the bonds of karma. His activities are all performed
> for Krsna; therefore he does not enjoy or suffer any of the
> effects of work. Consequently he is intelligent in human
> society, even though he is engaged in all sorts of
> activities for Krsna. Akarma means without reaction to work.
> The impersonalist ceases fruitive activities out of fear,
> so that the resultant action may not be a stumbling block
> on the path of self-realization, but the personalist knows
> rightly his position as the eternal servitor of the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead. Therefore he engages himself in the
> activities of Krsna consciousness. Because everything is
> done for Krsna, he enjoys only transcendental happiness in
> the discharge of this service. Those who are engaged in
> this process are known to be without desire for personal
> sense gratification. The sense of eternal servitorship to
> Krsna makes one immune to all sorts of reactionary elements
> of work.
292
293 Bg 4.19
294
295 TEXT 19
296
297 TRANSLATION
298
299 One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every
> act is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is
> said by sages to be a worker whose fruitive action
> is burned up by the fire of
> perfect knowledge.
300
301 PURPORT
302
303 Only a person in full knowledge can understand the
> activities of a person in Krsna consciousness. Because the
> person in Krsna consciousness is devoid of all kinds of
> sense-gratificatory propensities, it is to be understood
> that he has burned up the reactions of his work by perfect
> knowledge of his constitutional position as the eternal
> servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is
> actually learned who has attained to such perfection of
> knowledge. Development of this knowledge of the eternal
> servitorship of the Lord is compared to fire. Such a fire,
> once kindled, can burn up all kinds of reactions to work.
304
305 Bg 4.20
306
307 TEXT 20
308
309 TRANSLATION
310
311 Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities,
> ever satisfied and independant, he performs no fruitive
> action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.
312
313 PURPORT
314
315 This freedom from the bondage of actions is possible only
> in Krsna consciousness when one is doing everything for
> Krsna. A Krsna conscious person acts out of pure love for
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he has no
> attraction for the results of the action. He is not even
> attached to his personal maintenance, for everything is
> left to Krsna. Nor is he anxious to secure things, nor to
> protect things already in his possession. He does his duty
> to his best ability and leaves everything to Krsna.
> Such an unattached person is always free from the resultant
> reactions of good and bad; it is as though he were not
> doing anything. This is the sign of akarma, or actions
> without fruitive reactions. Any other action, therefore,
> devoid of Krsna consciousness, is binding upon the worker,
> and that is the real aspect of vikarma, as explained
> hereinbefore.
316
317 Bg 4.21
318
319 TEXT 21
320
321 TRANSLATION
322
323 Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence
> perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship
> over his possessions and acts only for the bare
> necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by
> sinful reactions.
324
325 PURPORT
326
327 A Krsna conscious person does not expect good or bad
> results in his activities. His mind and intelligence are
> fully controlled. He knows that he is part and
> parcel of the Supreme, and therefore the part played by him,
> as a part and parcel of the whole, is not his by choice
> but is chosen for him by the Supreme and is
> done only through His agency. When the hand moves, it does
> not move out of its own accord, but by the endeavor of the
> whole body. A Krsna conscious person is always dovetailed
> with the supreme desire, for he has no desire for personal
> sense gratification. He moves exactly like a part of a
> machine. As a machine part requires oiling and cleaning for
> maintenance, similarly, a Krsna conscious man maintains
> himself by his work just to remain fit for action in the
> transcendental loving service of the Lord. He is therefore
> immune to all the reactions of his endeavors. Like an
> animal, he has no proprietorship even over his own body. A
> cruel proprietor of an animal sometimes kills the animal in
> his possession, yet the animal does not protest. Nor does
> it have any real independence. A Krsna conscious person,
> fully engaged in self-realization, has very little time to
> falsely possess any material object. For maintaining body
> and soul, he does not require unfair means of accumulating
> money. He does not, therefore, become contaminated by such
> material sins. He is free from all reactions to his actions.
328
329 Bg 4.22
330
331 TEXT 22
332
333 TRANSLATION
334
335 He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord,
> who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady
> both in success and failure, is never entangled,
> although performing actions.
336
337 PURPORT
338
339 A Krsna conscious person does not make much endeavor even
> to maintain his body. He is satisfied with gains which are
> obtained of their own accord. He neither begs nor borrows,
> but he labors honestly as far as is in his power, and is
> satisfied with whatever is obtained by his own honest labor.
> He is therefore independant in his livelihood. He does not
> allow anyone's service to hamper his own service in Krsna
> consciousness. However, for the service of the Lord he can
> participate in any kind of action without being disturbed
> by the duality of the material world. The duality of the
> material world is felt in terms of heat and cold, or misery
> and happiness. A Krsna conscious person is above duality
> because he does not hesitate to act in any way for the
> satisfaction of Krsna. Therefore he is steady both in
> success and in failure. These signs are visible when one is
> fully in transcendental knowledge.
340
341 Bg 4.23
342
343 TEXT 23
344
345 TRANSLATION
346
347 The work of a man who is unattached to the modes of
> material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental
> knowledge merges entirely into transcendence.
348
349 PURPORT
350
351 Becoming fully Krsna conscious, one is freed from all
> dualities and thus is free from the contaminations of the
> material modes. He can become liberated because he knows
> his constitutional position in relationship with Krsna; and
> thus his mind cannot be drawn from Krsna consciousness.
> Consequently, whatever he does, he does for Krsna, who is
> the primeval Visnu. Therefore, all his works are
> technically sacrifices because sacrifice involves
> satisfying the Supreme Person, Krsna. The resultant
> reactions to all such work certainly merge into
> transcendence, and one does not suffer material effects.
352
353 Bg 4.24
354
355 TEXT 24
356
357 TRANSLATION
358
359 A person who is fully absorbed in Krsna consciousness is
> sure to attain the spiritual kingdom because of his full
> contribution to spiritual activities, in which the
> consummation is absolute and that which is offered is of
> the same spiritual nature.
360
361 PURPORT
362
363 How activities in Krsna consciousness can lead one
> ultimately to the spiritual goal is described here. There
> are various activities in Krsna consciousness, and all of
> them will be described in the following verses. But, for
> the present, just the principle of Krsna consciousness is
> described. A conditioned soul, entangled in material
> contamination, is sure to act in the material atmosphere,
> and yet he has to get out of such an environment. The
> process by which the conditioned soul can get out of the
> material atmosphere is Krsna consciousness. For example, a
> patient who is suffering from a disorder of the bowels due
> to overindulgence in milk products is cured by another milk
> product, namely curds. The materially absorbed conditioned
> soul can be cured by Krsna consciousness as set forth here
> in the Gita. This process is generally known as yajna, or
> activities (sacrifices) simply meant for the satisfaction
> of Visnu or Krsna. The more the activities of the material
> world are performed in Krsna consciousness, or for Visnu
> only, the more the atmosphere becomes spiritualized by
> complete absorption. Brahman means
> spiritual. The Lord is spiritual, and the rays of His
> transcendental body are called brahmajyoti, His spiritual
> effulgence. Everything that exists is situated in that
> brahmajyoti, but when the jyoti is covered by illusion (
> maya) or sense gratification, it is called material. This
> material veil can be removed at once by Krsna consciousness;
> thus the offering for the sake of Krsna consciousness, the
> consuming agent of such an offering or contribution; the
> process of consumption, the contributor, and the result are-
> all combined together-Brahman, or the Absolute Truth. The
> Absolute Truth covered by maya is called matter. Matter
> dovetailed for the cause of the Absolute Truth regains its
> spiritual quality. Krsna consciousness is the process of
> converting the illusory consciousness into Brahman, or the
> Supreme. When the mind is fully absorbed in Krsna
> consciousness, it is said to be in samadhi, or trance.
> Anything done in such transcendental consciousness is
> called yajna, or sacrifice for the Absolute. In that
> condition of spiritual consciousness, the contributor, the
> contribution, the consumption, the performer or leader of
> the performance, and the result or ultimate gain-everything-
> becomes one in the Absolute, the Supreme Brahman. That is
> the method of Krsna consciousness.
364
365 Bg 4.25
366
367 TEXT 25
368
369 TRANSLATION
370
371 Some yogis perfectly worship the demigods by offering
> different sacrifices to them, and some of them offer
> sacrifices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman.
372
373 PURPORT
374
375 As described above, a person engaged in discharging duties
> in Krsna consciousness is also called a perfect yogi or a
> first-class mystic. But there are others also, who perform
> similar sacrifices in the worship of demigods, and still
> others who sacrifice to the Supreme Brahman, or the
> impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord. So there are
> different kinds of sacrifices in terms of different
> categories. Such different categories of sacrifice by
> different types of performers only superficially demark
> varieties of sacrifice. Factual sacrifice means to
> satisfy the Supreme Lord, Visnu, who is also known as Yajna.
> All the different varieties of sacrifice can be placed
> within two primary divisions: namely, sacrifice of worldly
> possessions and sacrifice in pursuit of transcendental
> knowledge. Those who are in Krsna consciousness sacrifice
> all material possessions for the satisfaction of the
> Supreme Lord, while others, who want some temporary
> material happiness, sacrifice their material possessions to
> satisfy demigods such as Indra, the sun-god, etc. And
> others, who are impersonalists, sacrifice their identity by
> merging into the existence of impersonal Brahman. The
> demigods are powerful living entities appointed by the
> Supreme Lord for the maintenance and supervision of all
> material functions like the heating, watering and lighting
> of the universe. Those who are interested in material
> benefits worship the demigods by various sacrifices
> according to the Vedic rituals. They are called bahv-isvara-
> vadi, or believers in many gods. But others, who worship
> the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth and regard the
> forms of the demigods as temporary, sacrifice their
> individual selves in the supreme fire and thus end their
> individual existences by merging into the existence of the
> Supreme. Such impersonalists spend their time in
> philosophical speculation to understand the transcendental
> nature of the Supreme. In other words, the fruitive workers
> sacrifice their material possessions for material enjoyment,
> whereas the impersonalist sacrifices his material
> designations with a view to merging into the existence of
> the Supreme. For the impersonalist, the fire altar of
> sacrifice is the Supreme Brahman, and the offering is the
> self being consumed by the fire of Brahman. The Krsna
> conscious person, like Arjuna, however, sacrifices
> everything for the satisfaction of Krsna, and thus all his
> material possessions as well as his own self-everything-is
> sacrificed for Krsna. Thus, he is the first-class yogi; but
> he does not lose his individual existence.
376
377 Bg 4.26
378
379 TEXT 26
380
381 TRANSLATION
382
383 Some of them sacrifice the hearing
> process and the senses in the fire of the controlled
> mind, and others sacrifice
> the objects of the senses, such as sound, in the fire of
> sacrifice.
384
385 PURPORT
386
387 The four divisions of human life, namely the
> brahmacari, the grhastha, the vanaprastha, and the sannyasi,
> are all meant to help men become perfect yogis or
> transcendentalists. Since human life is not meant for our
> enjoying sense gratification like the animals, the four
> orders of human life are so arranged that one may become
> perfect in spiritual life. The brahmacaris, or students
> under the care of a bona fide spiritual master, control the
> mind by abstaining from sense gratification. They are
> referred to in this verse as sacrificing the hearing
> process and the senses in the fire of the controlled mind.
> A brahmacari hears only words concerning Krsna
> consciousness; hearing is the basic principle for
> understanding, and therefore the pure brahmacari engages
> fully in harer namanukirtanam-chanting and hearing the
> glories of the Lord. He restrains himself from the
> vibrations of material sounds, and his hearing is engaged
> in the transcendental sound vibration of Hare Krsna, Hare
> Krsna. Similarly, the householders, who have some license
> for sense gratification, perform such acts with great
> restraint. Sex life, intoxication and meat eating are
> general tendencies of human society, but a regulated
> householder does not indulge in unrestricted sex life and
> other sense gratifications. Marriage on principles of
> religious life is therefore current in all civilized human
> society because that is the way for restricted sex life.
> This restricted, unattached sex life is also a kind of
> yajna because the restricted householder sacrifices his
> general tendency toward sense gratification for higher
> transcendental life.
388
389 Bg 4.27
390
391 TEXT 27
392
393 TRANSLATION
394
395 Those who are interested in self-realization,
> in terms of mind and sense control, offer the
> functions of all the senses, as well as the vital force [
> breath], as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind.
396
397 PURPORT
398
399 The yoga system conceived by Patanjali is referred to
> herein. In the Yoga-sutra of Patanjali, the soul is called
> pratyag-atma and parag-atma. As long as the soul is
> attached to sense enjoyment, it is called parag-atma
> . The soul is subjected
> to the functions of ten kinds of air at work within the
> body, and this is perceived through the breathing system.
> The Patanjala system of yoga instructs one on how to
> control the functions of the body's air in a technical
> manner so that ultimately all the functions of the air
> within become favorable for purifying the soul of material
> attachment. According to this yoga system, pratyag atma is
> the ultimate goal. This pratyag atma is a
> withdrawal from activities in matter. The senses interact
> with the sense objects, like the ear for hearing, eyes for
> seeing, nose for smelling, tongue for tasting, hand for
> touching, and all of them are thus engaged in activities
> outside the self. They are called the functions of the
> prana-vayu. The apana-vayu goes downwards, vyana-vayu acts
> to shrink and expand, samana-vayu adjusts equilibrium,
> udana-vayu goes upwards-and when one is enlightened, one
> engages all these in searching for self-realization.
400
401 Bg 4.28
402
403 TEXT 28
404
405 TRANSLATION
406
407 There are others who, enlightened by
> sacrificing their material possessions in severe
> austerities, take strict vows and practice
> the yoga of eightfold mysticism, and others study the
> Vedas for the advancement of transcendental knowledge.
408
409 PURPORT
410
411 These sacrifices may be fitted into various divisions.
> There are persons who are sacrificing their possessions in
> the form of various kinds of charities. In India, the rich
> mercantile community or princely orders open various kinds
> of charitable institutions like dharmasala, anna-
> ksetra, atithi-sala, anathalaya, vidyapitha, etc.
> In other countries, too, there are many hospitals, old age
> homes and similar charitable foundations meant for
> distributing food, education and medical treatment free to
> the poor. All these charitable activities are called
> dravyamaya-yajna. There are others who, for higher
> elevation in life or for promotion to higher planets within
> the universe, voluntarily accept many kinds of austerities
> such as candrayana and caturmasya. These processes entail
> severe vows for conducting life under certain rigid rules.
> For example, under the caturmasya vow the candidate does
> not shave for four months during the year (July to October),
> he does not eat certain foods, does not eat twice in a day
> and does not leave home. Such sacrifice of the comforts of
> life is called tapomaya-yajna. There are still others who
> engage themselves in different kinds of mystic yogas like
> the Patanjali system (for merging into the existence of the
> Absolute), or hatha-yoga or astanga-yoga (for particular
> perfections). And some travel to all the sanctified places
> of pilgrimage. All these practices are called yoga-yajna,
> sacrifice for a certain type of perfection in the material
> world. There are others who engage themselves in the
> studies of different Vedic literatures, specifically the
> Upanisads and Vedanta-sutras, or the sankhya philosophy.
> All of these are called svadhyaya-yajna, or engagement in
> the sacrifice of studies. All these yogis are faithfully
> engaged in different types of sacrifice and are seeking a
> higher status of life. Krsna consciousness, is, however,
> different from these because it is the direct service of
> the Supreme Lord. Krsna consciousness cannot be attained by
> any one of the above-mentioned types of sacrifices but can
> be attained only by the mercy of the Lord and His bona fide
> devotee. Therefore, Krsna consciousness is transcendental.
412
413 Bg 4.29
414
415 TEXT 29
416
417 TRANSLATION
418
419 And there are even others who are inclined to the
> process of breath restraint to remain in trance, and they
> practice stopping the movement of the outgoing
> breath into the incoming, and incoming breath into the
> outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all
> breathing. Some of them, curtailing the eating process,
> offer the outgoing breath into itself, as a sacrifice.
420
421 PURPORT
422
423 This system of yoga for controlling the breathing process
> is called pranayama, and in the beginning it is practiced
> in the hatha-yoga system through different sitting postures.
> All of these processes are recommended for controlling the
> senses and for advancement in spiritual realization. This
> practice involves controlling the air within the body
> to enable simultaneous passage in opposite
> directions. The apana air goes downward, and the prana air
> goes up. The pranayama yogi practices breathing the
> opposite way until the currents are neutralized into puraka,
> equilibrium. Similarly, when the exhaled breathing is
> offered to inhaled breathing, it is called recaka. When
> both air currents are completely stopped, it is called
> kumbhaka-yoga.
424
425 By practice of kumbhaka-yoga
> ,
> the yogis increase the duration of life by
> many, many years. A Krsna conscious person, however, being
> always situated in the transcendental loving service of the
> Lord, automatically becomes the controller of the senses.
> His senses, being always engaged in the service of Krsna,
> have no chance of becoming otherwise engaged. So at the end
> of life, he is naturally transferred to the transcendental
> plane of Lord Krsna; consequently he makes no attempt to
> increase his longevity. He is at once raised to the
> .
426
427 A Krsna conscious person begins from the transcendental
> stage, and he is constantly in that consciousness.
> Therefore, there is no falling down, and ultimately he
> enters into the abode of the Lord without delay. The
> practice of reduced eating is automatically done when one
> eats only Krsna prasadam, or food which is offered first to
> the Lord. Reducing the eating process is very helpful in
> the matter of sense control. And without sense control
> there is no possibility of getting out of the material
> entanglement.
428
429 Bg 4.30
430
431 TEXT 30
432
433 TRANSLATION
434
435 All these performers who know the meaning of sacrifice
> become cleansed of sinful reaction, and, having tasted the
> nectar of the remnants of such sacrifice, they
> go to the supreme eternal atmosphere.
436
437 PURPORT
438
439 From the foregoing explanation of differents types of
> sacrifice (namely sacrifice of one's possessions, study of
> the Vedas or philosophical doctrines, and performance of
> the yoga system), it is found that the common aim of all is
> to control the senses. Sense gratification is the root
> cause of material existence; therefore, unless and until
> one is situated on a platform apart from sense
> gratification, there is no chance of being elevated to the
> eternal platform of full knowledge, full bliss and full
> life. This platform is in the eternal atmosphere, or
> Brahman atmosphere. All the above-mentioned sacrifices help
> one to become cleansed of the sinful reactions of material
> existence. By this advancement in life, one not only
> becomes happy and opulent in this life, but also,
> at the end, he enters into the eternal kingdom of God,
> either merging into the impersonal Brahman or associating
> with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
440
441 Bg 4.31
442
443 TEXT 31
444
445 TRANSLATION
446
447 O best of the Kuru dynasty, without sacrifice one can never
> live happily on this planet or in this life: what then of
> the next?
448
449 PURPORT
450
451 Whatever form of material existence one is in, one is
> invariably ignorant of his real situation. In other words,
> existence in the material world is due to the multiple
> reactions to our sinful lives. Ignorance is the cause of
> sinful life, and sinful life is the cause of one's dragging
> on in material existence. The human form of life is the
> only loophole by which one may get out of this entanglement.
> The Vedas, therefore, give us a chance for escape by
> pointing out the paths of religion, economic comfort,
> regulated sense gratification and, at last, the means to
> get out of the miserable condition entirely. The path of
> religion, or the different kinds of sacrifice recommended
> above, automatically solves our economic problems. By
> performance of yajna we can have enough food, enough milk,
> etc.-even if there is a so-called increase of population.
> When the body is fully supplied, naturally the next stage
> is to satisfy the senses. The Vedas prescribe, therefore,
> sacred marriage for regulated sense gratification. Thereby
> one is gradually elevated to the platform of release from
> material bondage, and the highest perfection of liberated
> life is to associate with the Supreme Lord. Perfection is
> achieved by performance of yajna (sacrifice), as described
> above. Now, if a person is not inclined to perform yajna
> according to the Vedas, how can he expect a happy life
> ? There are different grades of material comforts in
> different heavenly planets, and in all cases there is
> immense happiness for persons engaged in different kinds of
> yajna. But the highest kind of happiness that a man can
> achieve is to be promoted to the spiritual planets by
> practice of Krsna consciousness. A life of Krsna
> consciousness is therefore the solution to all the problems
> of material existence.
452
453 Bg 4.32
454
455 TEXT 32
456
457 TRANSLATION
458
459 All these different types of sacrifice are approved by the
> Vedas, and all of them are born of different types of work.
> Knowing them as such, you will become liberated.
460
461 PURPORT
462
463 Different types of sacrifice, as discussed above, are
> mentioned in the Vedas to suit the different types of
> worker. Because men are so deeply absorbed in the bodily
> concept, these sacrifices are so arranged that one can work
> either with the body, the mind, or the
> intelligence. But all of them are recommended for
> ultimately bringing about liberation from the body. This is
> confirmed by the Lord herewith from His own mouth.
464
465 Bg 4.33
466
467 TEXT 33
468
469 TRANSLATION
470
471 O chastiser of the enemy, the sacrifice of
> knowledge is greater than the sacrifice of material
> possessions. O son of Prtha, after all,
> the sacrifice of work culminates in transcendental
> knowledge.
472
473 PURPORT
474
475 The purpose of all sacrifices is to arrive at the status of
> complete knowledge, then to gain release from material
> miseries, and, ultimately, to engage in loving
> transcendental service to the Supreme Lord (Krsna
> consciousness). Nonetheless, there is a mystery about all
> these different activities of sacrifice, and one should
> know this mystery. Sacrifices sometimes take different
> forms according to the particular faith of the performer.
> When one's faith reaches the stage of transcendental
> knowledge, the performer of sacrifices should be considered
> more advanced than those who simply sacrifice material
> possessions without such knowledge, for without attainment
> of knowledge, sacrifices remain on the material platform
> and bestow no spiritual benefit. Real knowledge culminates
> in Krsna consciousness, the highest stage of transcendental
> knowledge. Without the elevation of knowledge, sacrifices
> are simply material activities. When, however, they are
> elevated to the level of transcendental knowledge, all such
> activities enter onto the spiritual platform. Depending on
> differences in consciousness, sacrificial activities are
> sometimes called karma-kanda, fruitive activities, and
> sometimes jnana-kanda, knowledge in the pursuit of truth.
> It is better when the end is knowledge.
476
477 Bg 4.34
478
479 TEXT 34
480
481 TRANSLATION
482
483 Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual
> master. Inquire from him submissively and render service
> unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto
> you because he has seen the truth.
484
485 PURPORT
486
487 The path of spiritual realization is undoubtedly difficult.
> The Lord therefore advises us to approach a bona fide
> spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from
> the Lord Himself. No one can be a bona fide spiritual
> master without following this principle of disciplic
> succession. The Lord is the original spiritual master, and
> a person in the disciplic succession can convey the message
> of the Lord as it is to his disciple. No one can be
> spiritually realized by manufacturing his own process, as
> is the fashion of the foolish pretenders. The Bhagavatam
> says: dharmam hi saksad-bhagavat-pranitam-the
> path of religion is directly enunciated by the Lord.
> Therefore, mental speculation or dry arguments cannot help
> one progress in spiritual life. One
> has to approach a bona fide spiritual master to receive the
> knowledge. Such a spiritual master should be accepted in
> full surrender, and one should serve the spiritual master
> like a menial servant, without false prestige. Satisfaction
> of the self-realized spiritual master is the secret of
> advancement in spiritual life. Inquiries and submission
> constitute the proper combination for spiritual
> understanding. Unless there is submission and service,
> inquiries from the learned spiritual master will not be
> effective. One must be able to pass the test of the
> spiritual master, and when he sees the genuine desire of
> the disciple, he automatically blesses the disciple with
> genuine spiritual understanding. In this verse, both blind
> following and absurd inquiries are condemned. One should
> not only hear submissively from the spiritual master;
> but one must also get a clear understanding from him, in
> submission and service and inquiries. A bona fide spiritual
> master is by nature very kind toward the disciple.
> Therefore when the student is submissive and is always
> ready to render service, the reciprocation of knowledge and
> inquiries becomes perfect.
488
489 Bg 4.35
490
491 TEXT 35
492
493 TRANSLATION
494
> you have thus learned the truth,
> you will know that all living beings are but
> part of Me-and that they are in Me, and
> are Mine.
496
497 PURPORT
498
499 The result of receiving knowledge from a self-realized soul,
> or one who knows things as they are, is learning that all
> living beings are parts and parcels of the Supreme
> Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna. The sense of a
> separated existence from Krsna is called maya (ma-
> not, ya-this). Some think that we have nothing to do with
> Krsna, that Krsna is only a great historical personality
> and that the Absolute is the impersonal Brahman. Factually,
> as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, this impersonal
> Brahman is the personal effulgence of Krsna. Krsna, as the
> Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the cause of everything.
> In the Brahma-samhita it is clearly stated that Krsna is
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes.
> Even the millions of incarnations are only His different
> expansions. Similarly, the living entities are also
> expansions of Krsna. The Mayavadi philosophers wrongly
> think that Krsna loses His own separate existence in His
> many expansions. This thought is material in nature. We
> have experience in the material world that a thing, when
> fragmentally distributed, loses its own original identity.
> But the Mayavadi philosophers fail to understand that
> Absolute means that one plus one is equal to one, and that
> one minus one is also equal to one. This is the case in the
> absolute world.
500
501 For want of sufficient knowledge in the absolute science,
> we are now covered with illusion, and therefore we think
> that we are separate from Krsna. Although we are separated
> parts of Krsna, we are nevertheless not different from Him.
> The bodily difference of the living entities is maya, or
> not actual fact. We are all meant to satisfy Krsna. By maya
> alone Arjuna thought that the temporary bodily relationship
> with his kinsmen was more important than his eternal
> spiritual relationship with Krsna. The whole teaching of
> the Gita is targetted toward this end: that a living being,
> as His eternal servitor, cannot be separated from Krsna,
> and his sense of being an identity apart from Krsna is
> called maya. The living entities, as separate parts and
> parcels of the Supreme, have a purpose to fulfill. Having
> forgotten that purpose, since time immemorial they are
> situated in different bodies, as men, animals, demigods,
> etc. Such bodily differences arise from forgetfulness of
> the transcendental service of the Lord. But when one is
> engaged in transcendental service through Krsna
> consciousness, one becomes at once liberated from this
> illusion. One can acquire such pure knowledge only from the
> bona fide spiritual master and thereby avoid the delusion
> that the living entity is equal to Krsna. Perfect knowledge
> is that the Supreme Soul, Krsna, is the supreme shelter for
> all living entities, and giving up such shelter, the living
> entities are deluded by the material energy, imagining
> themselves to have a separate identity. Thus, under
> different standards of material identity, they become
> forgetful of Krsna. When, however, such deluded living
> entities become situated in Krsna consciousness, it is to
> be understood that they are on the path of liberation, as
> confirmed in the Bhagavatam: muktir hitvanyatha
> rupam svarupena vyavasthitih. Liberation means to be
> situated in one's constitutional position as the eternal
> servitor of Krsna (Krsna consciousness).
502
503 Bg 4.36
504
505 TEXT 36
506
507 TRANSLATION
508
509 Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all
> sinners, when you are situated in the boat of
> transcendental knowledge, you will be able to cross over
> the ocean of miseries.
510
511 PURPORT
512
513 Proper understanding of one's constitutional position in
> relationship to Krsna is so nice that it can at once lift
> one from the struggle for existence which goes on in the
> ocean of nescience. This material world is sometimes
> regarded as an ocean of nescience and sometimes as a
> blazing forest. In the ocean, however expert a swimmer one
> may be, the struggle for existence is very severe. If
> someone comes forward and lifts the struggling swimmer from
> the ocean, he is the greatest savior. Perfect knowledge,
> received from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the
> path of liberation. The boat of Krsna consciousness is very
> simple, but at the same time the most sublime.
514
515 Bg 4.37
516
517 TEXT 37
518
519 TRANSLATION
520
521 As the blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so
> does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to
> material activities.
522
523 PURPORT
524
525 Perfect knowledge of self and Superself and of their
> relationship is compared herein to fire. This fire not only
> burns up all reactions to impious activities, but also all
> reactions to pious activities, turning them to ashes. There
> are many stages of reaction: reaction in the making,
> reaction fructifying, reaction already achieved, and
> reaction a priori. But knowledge of the constitutional
> position of the living entity burns everything to ashes.
> When one is in complete knowledge, all reactious, both a
> priori and a posteriori, are consumed. In the Vedas
> it is stated: ubhe
> uhaivaisa ete taraty amrtah sadhv-asadhuni: "One overcomes
> both the pious and impious interactions of work."
526
527 Bg 4.38
528
529 TEXT 38
530
531 TRANSLATION
532
533 In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as
> transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature
> fruit of all mysticism. And one who has achieved
> this enjoys the self
> within himself in due course of time.
534
535 PURPORT
536
537 When we speak of transcendental knowledge, we do so in
> terms of spiritual understanding. As such, there is nothing
> so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Ignorance
> is the cause of our bondage, and knowledge is the cause of
> our liberation. This knowledge is the mature fruit of
> devotional service, and when one is situated in
> transcendental knowledge, he need not search for peace
> elsewhere, for he enjoys peace within himself. In other
> words, this knowledge and peace are culminated in
> Krsna consciousness. That is the last word in the Bhagavad-
> gita.
538
539 Bg 4.39
540
541 TEXT 39
542
543 TRANSLATION
544
545 A faithful man who is absorbed in transcendental knowledge
> and who subdues his senses
> quickly attains the
> supreme spiritual peace.
546
547 PURPORT
548
549 Such knowledge in Krsna consciousness can be achieved by a
> faithful person who believes firmly in Krsna. One is called
> a faithful man who thinks that, simply by acting in Krsna
> consciousness, he can attain the highest perfection. This
> faith is attained by the discharge of devotional service,
> and by chanting "Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare
> Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare," which
> cleanses one's heart of all material dirt. Over and above
> this, one should control the senses. A person who is
> faithful to Krsna and who controls the senses can easily
> attain perfection in the knowledge of Krsna consciousness
> without delay.
550
551 Bg 4.40
552
553 TEXT 40
554
555 TRANSLATION
556
557 But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed
> scriptures do not attain God consciousness.
> For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this
> world nor in the next.
558
559 PURPORT
560
561 Out of many standard and authoritative revealed scriptures,
> the Bhagavad-gita is the best. Persons who are almost like
> animals have no faith in, or knowledge of, the standard
> revealed scriptures; and some, even though they have
> knowledge of, or can cite passages from, the revealed
> scriptures, have actually no faith in these words. And even
> though others may have faith in scriptures like Bhagavad-
> gita, they do not believe in or worship the Personality of
> Godhead, Sri Krsna. Such persons cannot have any standing
> in Krsna consciousness. They fall down. Out of all the
> abovementioned persons, those who have no faith
> and are always doubtful make no progress at all. Men
> without faith in God and His revealed word find no good in
> this world, nor in the next. For them there is no happiness
> whatsoever. One should therefore follow the principles of
> revealed scriptures with faith and thereby be raised to the
> platform of knowledge. Only this knowledge will help one
> become promoted to the transcendental platform of spiritual
> understanding. In other words, doubtful persons have no
> status whatsoever in spiritual emancipation. One should
> therefore follow in the footsteps of great acaryas who are
> in the disciplic succession and thereby attain success.
562
563 Bg 4.41
564
565 TEXT 41
566
567 TRANSLATION
568
569 Therefore, one who has renounced
> the fruits of his action, whose doubts are
> destroyed by transcendental knowledge, and who is situated
> firmly in the self, is not bound by works
> , O conqueror of riches.
570
571 PURPORT
572
573 One who follows the instruction of the Gita, as it
> is imparted by the Lord, the Personality of Godhead Himself,
> becomes free from all doubts by the grace of
> transcendental knowledge. He, as a part and parcel of the
> Lord, in full Krsna consciousness, is already established
> in self-knowledge. As such, he is undoubtedly above bondage
> to action.
574
575 Bg 4.42
576
577 TEXT 42
578
579 TRANSLATION
580
581 Therefore the doubts which have arisen in your heart out of
> ignorance should be slashed by the weapon of knowledge.
> Armed with yoga, O Bharata, stand and fight.
582
583 PURPORT
584
585 The yoga system instructed in this chapter is called
> sanatana-yoga, or eternal activities performed by the
> living entity. This yoga has two divisions of sacrificial
> actions: one is called sacrifice of one's material
> possessions, and the other is called knowledge of self,
> which is pure spiritual activity. If sacrifice of one's
> material possessions is not dovetailed for spiritual
> realization, then such sacrifice becomes material. But one
> who performs such sacrifices with a spiritual objective, or
> in devotional service, makes a perfect sacrifice. When we
> come to spiritual activities, we find that these are also
> divided into two: namely, understanding of one's own self (
> or one's constitutional position), and the truth regarding
> the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who follows the
> path of the Gita as it is can very easily understand
> these two important divisions of spiritual knowledge. For
> him there is no difficulty in obtaining perfect knowledge
> of the self as part and parcel of the Lord. And such
> understanding is beneficial for such a person who easily
> understands the transcendental activities of the Lord. In
> the beginning of this chapter, the transcendental
> activities of the Lord were discussed by the Supreme Lord
> Himself. One who does not understand the instructions of
> the Gita is faithless, and is to be considered to be
> misusing the fragmental independence awarded to him by the
> Lord. In spite of such instructions, one who does not
> understand the real nature of the Lord as the eternal,
> blissful, all-knowing Personality of Godhead, is certainly
> fool number one. Ignorance can be removed by gradual
> acceptance of the principles of Krsna consciousness. Krsna
> consciousness is awakened by different types of sacrifices
> to the demigods, sacrifice to Brahman, sacrifice in
> celibacy, in household life, in controlling the senses, in
> practicing mystic yoga, in penance, in foregoing material
> possessions, in studying the Vedas, and in partaking of the
> social institution called varnasrama-dharma. All of these
> are known as sacrifice, and all of them are based on
> regulated action. But within all these activities, the
> important factor is self-realization. One who seeks that
> objective is the real student of Bhagavad-gita, but one who
> doubts the authority of Krsna falls back. One is therefore
> advised to study Bhagavad-gita, or any other scripture,
> under a bona fide spiritual master, with service and
> surrender. A bona fide spiritual master is in the disciplic
> succession from time eternal, and he does not deviate at
> all from the instructions of the Supreme Lord as they were
> imparted millions of years ago to the sun-god, from whom
> the instructions of Bhagavad-gita have come down to the
> earthly kingdom. One should, therefore, follow the path of
> Bhagavad-gita as it is expressed in the Gita itself and
> beware of self-interested people after personal
> aggrandizement who deviate others from the actual path. The
> Lord is definitely the supreme person, and His activities
> are transcendental. One who understands this is a liberated
> person from the very beginning of his study of the
> Gita.
586
587 Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Fourth Chapter
> of the Srimad-Bhagavad-gita in the matter of Transcendental
> Knowledge.
588