Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
Page 57
satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate
satatam – always; kīrtayantaḥ – chanting; mām – about Me; yatantaḥ – fully endeavoring; ca – also; dṛḍha-vratāḥ – with determination; namasyantaḥ – offering obeisances; ca – and; mām – Me; bhaktyā – in devotion; nitya-yuktāḥ – perpetually engaged; upāsate – worship.
TRANSLATION
Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.
PURPORT
The mahātmā cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahātmā is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things; therefore a mahātmā is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord, the brahma-jyotir, is not described as mahātmā in the Bhagavad-gītā. He is described in a different way in the next verse. The mahātmā is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu, not a demigod or human being. That is devotion: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ and smaraṇam, remembering Him. Such a mahātmā has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rasas. To achieve that success, he engages all activities – mental, bodily and vocal, everything – in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is called full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
In devotional service there are certain activities which are called determined, such as fasting on certain days, like the eleventh day of the moon, Ekādaśī, and on the appearance day of the Lord. All these rules and regulations are offered by the great ācāryas for those who are actually interested in getting admission into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world. The mahātmās, great souls, strictly observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they are sure to achieve the desired result.
As described in the second verse of this chapter, not only is this devotional service easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyāsī or a brahmacārī; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahātmā, a great soul.
TEXT 15
ज्ञानयज्ञेन चाप्यन्ये यजन्तो मामुपासते ।
एकत्वेन पृथक्त्वेन बहुधा विश्वतोमुखम् ।। 15 ।।
jñāna-yajñena cāpy anye
yajanto mām upāsate
ekatvena pṛthaktvena
bahudhā viśvato-mukham
jñāna-yajñena – by cultivation of knowledge; ca – also; api – certainly; anye – others; yajantaḥ – sacrificing; mām – Me; upāsate – worship; ekatvena – in oneness; pṛthaktvena – in duality; bahudhā – in diversity; viśvataḥ-mukham – and in the universal form.
TRANSLATION
Others, who engage in sacrifice by the cultivation of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, as diverse in many, and in the universal form.
PURPORT
This verse is the summary of the previous verses. The Lord tells Arjuna that those who are purely in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and do not know anything other than Kṛṣṇa are called mahātmā; yet there are other persons who are not exactly in the position of mahātmā but who worship Kṛṣṇa also, in different ways. Some of them have already been described as the distressed, the financially destitute, the inquisitive, and those who are engaged in the cultivation of knowledge. But there are others who are still lower, and these are divided into three: (1) he who worships himself as one with the Supreme Lord, (2) he who concocts some form of the Supreme Lord and worships that, and (3) he who accepts the universal form, the viśva-rūpa of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and worships that. Out of the above three, the lowest, those who worship themselves as the Supreme Lord, thinking themselves to be monists, are most predominant. Such people think themselves to be the Supreme Lord, and in this mentality they worship themselves. This is also a type of God worship, for they can understand that they are not the material body but are actually spiritual soul; at least, such a sense is prominent. Generally the impersonalists worship the Supreme Lord in this way. The second class includes the worshipers of the demigods, those who by imagination consider any form to be the form of the Supreme Lord. And the third class includes those who cannot conceive of anything beyond the manifestation of this material universe. They consider the universe to be the supreme organism or entity and worship that. The universe is also a form of the Lord.
TEXT 16
अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञः स्वधाहमहमौषधम् ।
मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम् ।। 16 ।।
ahaṁ kratur ahaṁ yajñaḥ
svadhāham aham auṣadham
mantro ’ham aham evājyam
aham agnir ahaṁ hutam
aham – I; kratuḥ – Vedic ritual; aham – I; yajñaḥ – smṛti sacrifice; svadhā – oblation; aham – I; aham – I; auṣadham – healing herb; mantraḥ – transcendental chant; aham – I; aham – I; eva – certainly; ājyam – melted butter; aham – I; agniḥ – fire; aham – I; hutam – offering.
TRANSLATION
But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering.
PURPORT
The Vedic sacrifice known as Jyotiṣṭoma is also Kṛṣṇa, and He is also the Mahā-yajña mentioned in the smṛti. The oblations offered to the Pitṛloka or the sacrifice performed to please the Pitṛloka, considered as a kind of drug in the form of clarified butter, is also Kṛṣṇa. The mantras chanted in this connection are also Kṛṣṇa. And many other commodities made with milk products for offering in the sacrifices are also Kṛṣṇa. The fire is also Kṛṣṇa because fire is one of the five material elements and is therefore claimed as the separated energy of Kṛṣṇa. In other words, the Vedic sacrifices recommended in the karma-kāṇḍa division of the Vedas are in total also Kṛṣṇa. Or, in other words, those who are engaged in rendering devotional service unto Kṛṣṇa are to be understood to have performed all the sacrifices recommended in the Vedas.
TEXT 17
पिताहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामहः ।
वेद्यं पवित्रमोङ्कार ऋक्साम यजुरेव च ।। 17 ।।
pitāham asya jagato
mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ
vedyaṁ pavitram oṁ-kāra
ṛk sāma yajur eva ca
pitā – father; aham – I; asya – of this; jagataḥ – universe; mātā – mother; dhātā – supporter; pitāmahaḥ – grandfather; vedyam – what is to be known; pavitram – that which purifies; oṁ-kāra – the syllable oṁ; ṛk – the Ṛg Veda; sāma – the Sāma Veda; yajuḥ – the Yajur Veda; eva – certainly; ca – and.
TRANSLATION
I am the fat
her of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oṁ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.
PURPORT
The entire cosmic manifestations, moving and nonmoving, are manifested by different activities of Kṛṣṇa’s energy. In the material existence we create different relationships with different living entities who are nothing but Kṛṣṇa’s marginal energy; under the creation of prakṛti some of them appear as our father, mother, grandfather, creator, etc., but actually they are parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa. As such, these living entities who appear to be our father, mother, etc., are nothing but Kṛṣṇa. In this verse the word dhātā means “creator.” Not only are our father and mother parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa, but the creator, grandmother and grandfather, etc., are also Kṛṣṇa. Actually any living entity, being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, is Kṛṣṇa. All the Vedas, therefore, aim only toward Kṛṣṇa. Whatever we want to know through the Vedas is but a progressive step toward understanding Kṛṣṇa. That subject matter which helps us purify our constitutional position is especially Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, the living entity who is inquisitive to understand all Vedic principles is also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa and as such is also Kṛṣṇa. In all the Vedic mantras the word oṁ, called praṇava, is a transcendental sound vibration and is also Kṛṣṇa. And because in all the hymns of the four Vedas – Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva – the praṇava, or oṁ-kāra, is very prominent, it is understood to be Kṛṣṇa.
TEXT 18
गतिर्भर्ता प्रभुः साक्षी निवासः शरणं सुहृत् ।
प्रभवः प्रलयः स्थानं निधानं बीज मव्ययम् ।। 18 ।।
gatir bhartā prabhuḥ sākṣī
nivāsaḥ śaraṇaṁ suhṛt
prabhavaḥ pralayaḥ sthānaṁ
nidhānaṁ bījam avyayam
gatiḥ – goal; bhartā – sustainer; prabhuḥ – Lord; sākṣī – witness; nivāsaḥ – abode; śaraṇam – refuge; su-hṛt – most intimate friend; prabhavaḥ – creation; pralayaḥ – dissolution; sthānam – ground; nidhānam – resting place; bījam – seed; avyayam – imperishable.
TRANSLATION
I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed.
PURPORT
Gati means the destination where we want to go. But the ultimate goal is Kṛṣṇa, although people do not know it. One who does not know Kṛṣṇa is misled, and his so-called progressive march is either partial or hallucinatory. There are many who make as their destination different demigods, and by rigid performance of the strict respective methods they reach different planets known as Candraloka, Sūryaloka, Indraloka, Maharloka, etc. But all such lokas, or planets, being creations of Kṛṣṇa, are simultaneously Kṛṣṇa and not Kṛṣṇa. Such planets, being manifestations of Kṛṣṇa’s energy, are also Kṛṣṇa, but actually they serve only as a step forward for realization of Kṛṣṇa. To approach the different energies of Kṛṣṇa is to approach Kṛṣṇa indirectly. One should directly approach Kṛṣṇa, for that will save time and energy. For example, if there is a possibility of going to the top of a building by the help of an elevator, why should one go by the staircase, step by step? Everything is resting on Kṛṣṇa’s energy; therefore without Kṛṣṇa’s shelter nothing can exist. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme ruler because everything belongs to Him and everything exists on His energy. Kṛṣṇa, being situated in everyone’s heart, is the supreme witness. The residences, countries or planets on which we live are also Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of shelter, and therefore one should take shelter of Kṛṣṇa either for protection or for annihilation of his distress. And whenever we have to take protection, we should know that our protection must be a living force. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme living entity. And since Kṛṣṇa is the source of our generation, or the supreme father, no one can be a better friend than Kṛṣṇa, nor can anyone be a better well-wisher. Kṛṣṇa is the original source of creation and the ultimate rest after annihilation. Kṛṣṇa is therefore the eternal cause of all causes.
TEXT 19
तपाम्यहमहं वर्षं निगृह्णाम्युत्सुजामि च ।
अमृतं चैव मृत्युश्च सदसच्चाहमर्जुन ।। 19 ।।
tapāmy aham ahaṁ varṣaṁ
nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca
amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuś ca
sad asac cāham arjuna
tapāmi – give heat; aham – I; aham – I; varṣam – rain; nigṛhṇāmi – withhold; utsṛjāmi – send forth; ca – and; amṛtam – immortality; ca – and; eva – certainly; mṛtyuḥ – death; ca – and; sat – spirit; asat – matter; ca – and; aham – I; arjuna – O Arjuna.
TRANSLATION
O Arjuna, I give heat, and I withhold and send forth the rain. I am immortality, and I am also death personified. Both spirit and matter are in Me.
PURPORT
Kṛṣṇa, by His different energies, diffuses heat and light through the agency of electricity and the sun. During the summer season it is Kṛṣṇa who checks rain from falling from the sky, and then during the rainy season He gives unceasing torrents of rain. The energy which sustains us by prolonging the duration of our life is Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa meets us at the end as death. By analyzing all these different energies of Kṛṣṇa, one can ascertain that for Kṛṣṇa there is no distinction between matter and spirit, or, in other words, He is both matter and spirit. In the advanced stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one therefore makes no such distinctions. He sees only Kṛṣṇa in everything.
Since Kṛṣṇa is both matter and spirit, the gigantic universal form comprising all material manifestations is also Kṛṣṇa, and His pastimes in Vṛndāvana as two-handed Śyāmasundara, playing on a flute, are those of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 20
त्रैविघा मां सोमपाः पूतपापा यज्ञैरिष्टवा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते ।
ते पुण्यमासाघ सुरेन्द्रलोकमश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगानू ।। 20 ।।
trai-vidyā māṁ soma-pāḥ pūta-pāpā
yajñair iṣṭvā svar-gatiṁ prārthayante
te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam
aśnanti divyān divi deva-bhogān
trai-vidyāḥ – the knowers of the three Vedas; mām – Me; soma-pāḥ – drinkers of soma juice; pūta – purified; pāpāḥ – of sins; yajñaiḥ – with sacrifices; iṣṭvā – worshiping; svaḥ-gatim – passage to heaven; prārthayante – pray for; te – they; puṇyam – pious; āsādya – attaining; sura-indra – of Indra; lokam – the world; aśnanti – enjoy; divyān – celestial; divi – in heaven; deva-bhogān – the pleasures of the gods.
TRANSLATION
Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. Purified of sinful reactions, they take birth on the pious, heavenly planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.
PURPORT
The word trai-vidyāḥ refers to the three Vedas – Sāma, Yajur and Ṛg. A brāhmaṇa who has studied these three Vedas is called a tri-vedī. Anyone who is very much attached to knowledge derived from these three Vedas is respected in society. Unfortunately, there are many great scholars of the Vedas who do not know the ultimate purport of studying them. Therefore Kṛṣṇa herein declares Himself to be the ultimate goal for the tri-vedīs. Actual tri-vedīs take shelter under the lotus feet of K
ṛṣṇa and engage in pure devotional service to satisfy the Lord. Devotional service begins with the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and side by side trying to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth. Unfortunately those who are simply official students of the Vedas become more interested in offering sacrifices to the different demigods like Indra and Candra. By such endeavor, the worshipers of different demigods are certainly purified of the contamination of the lower qualities of nature and are thereby elevated to the higher planetary systems or heavenly planets known as Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, etc. Once situated on those higher planetary systems, one can satisfy his senses hundreds of thousands of times better than on this planet.
TEXT 21
ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति ।
एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ।। 21 ।।
te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ
kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti
evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā
gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante
te – they; tam – that; bhuktvā – having enjoyed; svarga-lokam – heaven; viśālam – vast; kṣīṇe – being exhausted; puṇye – the results of their pious activities; martya-lokam – to the mortal earth; viśanti – fall down; evam – thus; trayī – of the three Vedas; dharmam – doctrines; anuprapannāḥ – following; gata-āgatam – death and birth; kāma-kāmāḥ – desiring sense enjoyments; labhante – attain.
TRANSLATION
When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.
PURPORT
One who is promoted to the higher planetary systems enjoys a longer duration of life and better facilities for sense enjoyment, yet one is not allowed to stay there forever. One is again sent back to this earth upon finishing the resultant fruits of pious activities. He who has not attained perfection of knowledge, as indicated in the Vedānta-sūtra (janmādy asya yataḥ), or, in other words, he who fails to understand Kṛṣṇa, the cause of all causes, becomes baffled about achieving the ultimate goal of life and is thus subjected to the routine of being promoted to the higher planets and then again coming down, as if situated on a ferris wheel which sometimes goes up and sometimes comes down. The purport is that instead of being elevated to the spiritual world, from which there is no longer any possibility of coming down, one simply revolves in the cycle of birth and death on higher and lower planetary systems. One should better take to the spiritual world to enjoy an eternal life full of bliss and knowledge and never return to this miserable material existence.