In2-MeC

Auckland, New Zealand
29 November 2003

Rather busy today. Went with Padmasambhava and two of his sons to Helensville; visited hot pool, then Rohita and wife, then to pick up a trunkful of second-hand greenhouse glass for Padmaji's garden. In the evening I did a nama-hatta program. Kalasamvara Prabhu, the temple president of ISKCON Auckland, was present. Tomorrow I am to give the Sunday feast program in the temple. I understand HH Devamrta Maharaja is in Auckland, but I haven't met him yet.

Bhagavad-Gita in Essence
(continued from yesterday)

The Third and Fourth Essences:

The Gita-rahasya and the Caran-sloki
(Bg 18.65 & 18.66)

The Essence of Devotion and the Essence of Surrender

Focus on the Purport of Bg 18.66

Now, in summarizing Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says that Arjuna should give up all the processes that have been explained to him; he should simply surrender to Krsna.

Notes:

1. There are two paths to Krsna consciousness given in the Bhagavad-gita: the path of gradual elevation by knowledge, and the path of immediate, unconditional surrender. In 18.66 Sri Krsna declares that the path of unconditional surrender is the best, for in this way one attains all perfection without separate effort.

Quotation from Srila Prabupada:

First of all, one becomes jnanavan; then he surrenders to Vasudeva. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. This is one process. Another process is you become a devotee of Vasudeva, then jnana, vairagya, will automatically come.

SB 6.1.19:

Although not having fully realized Krsna, persons who have even once surrendered completely unto His lotus feet and who have become attracted to His name, form, qualities and pastimes are completely freed of all sinful reactions, for they have thus accepted the true method of atonement. Even in dreams, such surrendered shouls do not see Yamaraja or his order carriers, who are equipped with ropes to bind the sinful.

2. To surrender to Krsna even before having realized Him is itself the superior path of knowledge, because Krsna is the goal of all cultivation of knowledge. One who simply surrenders to Krsna begins his spiritual life at the point of full knowledge.

Quotation from Srila Prabhupada:

Therefore the whole world is confused. They do not know where to repose the love. That do not know. Therefore Krsna is canvassing: sarva dharman parityaja mam ekam. "Come here! Love Me! Increase your attachment for Me. Everything will be all right." Otherwise it is simply vague. Srama eva hi kevalam. Simply waste of time. Dharma svanusthitha pumsam visvaksena kathasu ya, notpada yed ratim yadi srama eva hi kevalam. It is simply waste of time.

3. The other processes of dharma explained in the Bhagavad-gita are based upon bhoga (enjoying separately from Krsna) or tyaga (renouncing separately from Krsna).

Quotation from Srila Prabhupada:

Krsna says: sarva dharman pari... You have to give up this bhoga dharma and tyaga dharma. Sarva dharman parityaja. You are now engaged in two kinds of dharma. Somebody, karmis, they are bhoga, bhoga dharmi. They want to enjoy. And tyagi, they want to renounce this bhoga. So both of these will not help you. Bhoga-tyaga. Then what? Seva. You have to take the dharma of seva. That is bhakti. Krsna-seva. For Krsna, you can accept anything. That is... it may appear bhoga. Just like Prahlada Maharaja, Prthu Maharaja, they were kings, very opulent kings. Dhruva Maharaja. So still they were great devotees. Not only ordinary devotees, mahajanas. So this bhoga-tyaga has no meaning. It has no benefit. One has to become devotee. Either in the bhoga field or in the tyaga field. It doesn't matter. Bhoga-tyaga is not required. Required service.

4. Unconditional surrender is the priti-purvaka, the method of love, which is vidhi-purvaka (the right method) as opposed to avidhi-purvaka (see Bg 9.23). For an example of the difference between the two, one may refer to the story of the wives of the brahmanas in Krsna Book.

Quotation from Srila Prabhupada:

They neglect this word, avidhi-purvakam. They simply say that to worship other demigods is also the same. No. It is not the... It is avidhi-purvaka. And if you... Suppose you are in trouble. You have to satisfy the police commissioner. But you are trying to satisfy the police commissioner by bribing the constable. That is avidhi-purvaka. If it is known, then you'll be punished. So don't try to satisfy Krsna--avidhi-purvakam. Vidhi-purvakam. That vidhi-purvakam is direct. Sarva-dharman parityaja mam ekam saranam vraja. That is wanted. That is vidhi-purvakam. Otherwise avidhi-purvakam. And how? The avidhi... The vidhi-purvaka, how? Just as the Ganges water is flowing automatically toward the sea, similarly, your devotional service like that, automatically, without any check... Then your life is perfect.

In the Seventh Chapter it was said that only one who has become free from all sinful reactions can take to the worship of Lord Krsna. Thus one may think that unless he is free from all sinful reactions he cannot take to the surrendering process. To such doubts it is here said that even if one is not free from all sinful reactions, simply by the process of surrendering to Sri Krsna he is automatically freed. There is no need of strenuous effort to free oneself from sinful reactions.

Notes:

1. Surrendering to Krsna destroys sin at its very roots.

Quotation from Srila Prabhupada:

This, these four kinds of stages of sinful activities, in stock, almost fructified, manifest, all the stages of sinful activities can be immediately nullified. Because it is assured by Krsna: aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami. It is not imagination. If we believe in the words of Krsna, then there is no question of denying this fact. Krsna personally says, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksa... Sarva-papebhyo. The kutastha, phalonmukha, prarabdha, everything. It become immediately nullified. Simply by this process, by surrendering.

2. Other methods of religion cannot deliver one from the root of sin because they are essential man-centered, not God-centered. The root of sin is our very lack of surrender to Krsna; this unsurrendered attitude manifests in man-centered religions as the portrayal of God as mankind's order-supplier.

Quotations from Srila Prabhupada:

Therefore Krsna says, "First of all surrender. Then try to understand." Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, aham tvam sarva papebhyo moksayisyami. When you surrender, and by that surrendering process, when you are free from the resultant action of sinful activities, then you can appreciate God, not that God is my order-supplier.

Sarva-dharman parityaja mam ekam saranam vraja: "You have manufactured so many rascaldom in the name of religion. Give up all this nonsense. Simply surrender unto Me." This is wanted. But Krsna knows that "If I say to the rascals, 'Surrender unto Me,' he'll take otherwise." A big scholar says, "Oh, this is too much, sophistry." Krsna is demanding: "Simply surrender unto me." And the commentor, commentator is remarking, "Oh, this is too much."

3. As one requires no preliminary knowledge to surrender to Krsna, similarly one requires no preliminary purity or piety.

Quotation from Srila Prabhupada:

So without being pavitra, without being pious, without being free from contamination of material activities, nobody can approach Krsna. That's a fact. But Krsna is so kind that He orders that "Even if you have got some kamana, some desire, material desire, still, you can take shelter upon Me." Sarva-dharman parityajya. "You do not take shelter of anything else. Simply depend on Me." Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. "You haven't got to depend on anything else. I will give you protection." So we have to take faith in the words of Krsna and pitch our complete faith and devotion at the lotus feet of Krsna.

Bg 9.32:

O son of Prtha, those who take shelter of Me, though they be of lower birth--women, vaisyas [merchants] and sudras [workers]--can attain the supreme destination.

SB 11.14.18:

My dear Uddhava, if My devotee has not fully conquered his senses, he may be harrassed by material desires, but because of his unflinching devotion for Me, he will not be defeated by sense gratification.

The process of surrender to Krsna is described in the Hari-bhakti vilasa (11.676):

anukulyasya sankalpah
pratikulyasya varjanam
raksisyatiti visvaso
goptrtve varanam tatha
atma-niksepa-karpanye
sad-vidha saranagatih

Notes:

1. Just as the four items of Bg 18.65 take into account the nine processes of devotional service given in the sastra, so the method of surrender advised in 18.66 takes into account the sad vidha saranagati (sixfold method of surrender) given in the sastra.

Quotation from CC Madhya-lila 22.100:

One who is fully surrendered is qualified with the six following characteristics. (1) The devotee has to accept everything that is favorable for the rendering of transcendental loving service to the Lord. (2) He must reject everything unfavorable to the Lord's service. This is also called renunciation. (3) A devotee must be firmly convinced that Krsna will give him protection. No one else can actually give one protection, and being firmly convinced of this is called faith. This kind of faith is different from the faith of an impersonalist who wants to merge into the Brahman effulgence in order to benefit by cessation of repeated birth and death. A devotee wants to remain always in the Lord's service. In this way, Krsna is merciful to His devotee and gives him all protection from the dangers found on the path of devotional service. (4) The devotee should accept Krsna as his supreme maintainer and master. He should not think that he is being protected by a demigod. He should depend only on Krsna, considering Him the only protector. The devotee must be firmly convinced that within the three worlds he has no protector or maintainer other than Krsna. (5) Self-surrender means remembering that one's activities and desires are not independent. The devotee is completely dependent on Krsna, and he acts and thinks as Krsna desires. (6) The devotee is meek and humble.

One should be attracted by the beautiful vision of Krsna. His name is Krsna because He is all-attractive. One who becomes attracted by the beautiful, all-powerful, omnipotent vision of Krsna is fortunate. There are different kinds of transcendentalists--some of them are attached to the impersonal Brahman vision, some of them are attracted by the Supersoul feature, etc., but one who is attracted to the personal feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and, above all, one who is attracted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Krsna Himself, is the most perfect transcendentalist. In other words, devotional service to Krsna, in full consciousness, is the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is the essence of the whole Bhagavad- gita.

Notes:

1. Unreserved surrender to Krsna is the method of devotion of the gopis, who are the most perfect transcendentalists.

SB 11.12.13-15:

All those hundreds of thousands of gopis, understanding Me to be their most charming lover and ardently desiring Me in that way, were unaware of My actual position. Yet by intimately associating with Me, the gopis attained Me, the Supreme Absolute Truth. Therefore, My dear Uddhava, abandon the Vedic mantras as well as the procedures of supplementary Vedic literatures and their positive and negative injunctions. Disregard that which has been heard and that which is to be heard. Simply take shelter of Me alone, for I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, situated within the heart of all contioned souls. Take shelter of Me wholeheartedly, and by My grace be free from fear in all circumstances.

2. Krsna's invitation to the living entities to surrender to Him under His full protection is the expression of His own unreserved love for His eternal parts and parcels. Quotation from Srila Prabhupada:

Krsna loves us more than we love Him. We do not love Him. But Krsna loves. Krsna loves every living being. He says, sarva-yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayo yah: "Every living being, whatever form he is, that doesn't matter, I am the bija-pradah pitah, I am the seed-giving father." So the father is always affectionate to the sons. The sons may forget the father, but the father cannot forget. So Krsna comes here out of His love for us to deliver us, to give us the right path. Sarva-dharman parityajya: "My dear sons, why you are rotting in this miserable world? You come to Me. I'll give you all protection. You are the son of the Supreme. So you can enjoy life very supremely, very magnificently, without any death. Why you are rotting?" That is Krsna's mercy.

3. In Bg 18.66 Sri Krsna is inviting the living entities to enter into an intimate loving relationship with Him.

Quotation from Srila Prabhupada:

Everyone has prema, love. This propensity to love others. That is... There is, everywhere. But that prema, that love, is originally for Krsna. Nitya-siddha krsna-bhakti. That is the original prema. But because we are illusioned, that prema is being applied or used for so many maya. Prema I have got. I have got my love. That is a fact. But I do not know where to repose that love. That is my misfortune. Therefore Krsna says that sarva dharman parityaja mam ekam saranam vraja. "You have got prema. You apply it to Me. Then you'll be benefited." Prema is already there. You are simply misusing it. Therefore you are not happy. This is the process. Prema, you have got. But you are misusing it. But if you take Krsna's word, that "Give your prema unto Me..."

Gita-rahasya and Caran-sloki summary:

SB 11.11.33:

My devotees may or may not know exactly what I am, who I am and how I exist, but if they worship Me with unalloyed love, then I consider them to be the best of devotees.

Srila Prabhupada answers a doubt about BG 18.66

The doubt may be expressed thusly. Why, if Bg 18.66 is an essential verse of the Bhagavad-gita, did Lord Caitanya say "This is only external" when this verse was quoted by Sri Ramananda Raya during Ramananda's explanation of the ultimate goal of life?

So as I told you, Ramananda Raya, the discussion between Ramananda Raya and Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Ramananda Raya proposed different steps of spiritual advancement, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Yes, this is good, but this is external. It is not very effective." Even sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, that also Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "It is also not effect." It is not effective for these go-kharas. Otherwise it is effective. But in the beginning, they cannot. Otherwise in the Bhagavad-gita it is plainly said, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam. Who is taking it? Nobody is taking it. Therefore it is not effective for the go-kharas. It is effective for one who is actually human being, but they are not human being. They are all rascals, go-kharas. Therefore it is not effective. If you instruct a dog, "My dear dog, please surrender to Krsna," will he do that? So similarly, human being who does not surrender, he is no better than the dog. What is the difference between dog and this human being, go-kharas? The cats, the dogs, they cannot do it. And if you human beings, they cannot do also, then what is the difference? Ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam ca samanyam etad pasubhir naranam. Simply eating, sleeping, sex life and defending. These are common things of the cats and dogs and the human beings. The human being is specially benefited when he surrenders to Krsna. Otherwise he is cat and dog. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu knew that these cats and dogs, they are so degraded, they cannot understand what is the meaning of surrendering to Krsna. They cannot understand. Therefore He said, eho bahya, age kaha ara: "This is external. Please speak more, something effective."

(To be continued tomorrow, focusing on the Purport of Bg 11.55)

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