The origin of bhagvad gita

11th December 2008
Iskcon Amravati

Sri Krishna Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu ki jai!
Rukmini Dwarkadish ki jai!
Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

These days, the topic for discussion can only be Bhagavad Gita or it should just be Bhagavad Gita. Why? You all know why. This most auspicious time is the time of Gita Jayanti. The birth day of the Bhagavat Gita. You know Hanuman Jayanti, Mahavir Jayanti, Buddha Jayanti. Jayanti means the birth day and so the same meaning goes for Gita Jayanti. The day of the birth of Bhagavad Gita.

Gita took birth on the day of Ekadasi and that Ekadasi is named Moksada Ekadasi. On the battlefield of Kuruksetra this Bhagavata Gita took birth and the time was morning time and it was the first day of battle. The battles of that time were called ‘Dharma Yudha’ (righteous battles). And they would start in the morning and continue till evening.

So on the first day at the beginning of the battle, both armies, the Kaurava army and the Pandava army had arrived and were ready to fight. Now In the middle partition of both armies there is a chariot.

tatah svetair hayair yukte?mahati syandane sthitau (BG 1.14).

A great chariot settled in the midst of both armies, or it started towards the middle. Arjuna spoke saying ‘take the chariot further in the middle.’

senayor ubhayor madhye
ratham sthapaya me ’cyuta (BG 1.21)

Arjuna said, ‘Oh Acyuta (infallible one), please draw my chariot between the two armies.

As the Lord did this, it was during the morning time and the Lord’s wonderful chariot was pulled by horses which were white in colour. This was the chariot that the Supreme Lord Himself, Dwarkadish was driving. The Lord had come from Dwarka, not Vrndavana or Mathura, but He had come from Dwarka. In Kuruksetra what is the Lord’s role? He is a charioteer; He is Parth Sarathi (charioteer of Partha, Arjuna). In the Lord’s right hand the Lord is holding a whip and He is controlling the horses.
For who is He riding? For His friend Arjuna.

bhakto ‘si me sakha ceti (BG 4.3)

madhavah pandavas caiva (BG 1.14)

The personalities on the chariot are Madhava and Pandava, Arjuna. Arjuna is one of the five Pandavas and he is on that chariot.

divyau sankhau pradadhmatuh (BG 1.14)

In the first chapter of Bhagavad Gita it is said that as soon as the chariot has reached the middle of the arena, the Kaurava army have blown their conch shells and so from the Pandava’s side Krishna and Arjuna both make sounds of their conch shells. Everyone blew their own conches.

pancajanyam hrsikeso (BG 1.15)

Lord Hrsikesa blew His conch shell of the name Pancajanya.

devadattam dhanan jayah

Dhananjaya Arjuna blew his conch shell and Bhima blew his conch of the name Paundra. Ananta Vijaya was the name of the Sankha blown by King Yudhisthira. Left now were the two brothers Nakula and Sahadeva who then also blew their conches Sughosa and Manipuspaka.

So the names of the conches have also been given in the Mahabharata or you can say in Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad gita is one limb of the Mahabarata. There are different sections in the Mahabarata and there is Bhishma Parva (chapter) as well. Bhishma Parva in itself has eighteen chapters which is this Bhagavad Gita. So the description is given.

dharma ksetre kuru ksetre
samaveta yuyutsavah
mamakah pandavas caiva
kim akurvata sanjaya (BG 1.1)

So this is the beginning of Bhagavad Gita. Dhrtarastra uvaca. Dhrtarastra asked Sanjay, his minister and both were sat in Hastinapura from where they could see from that far- do you know where is Hastinapura? It is on the bank of the Ganges and it is very far from Haryana where Kuruksetra is situated. Haryana is so named as the Lord Hari came there (came means ana). Haryana the city, where the Lord personally came.

So Madhava and Pandava are on their chariot in the main part of the battlefield, in between both armies and now there will be a discussion between Krishna and Arjuna. Arjuna will be listening to the discussion as he is the main limb of this conversation. Also far away in Hastinapura this discussion is being heard by Sanjaya who is turn will tell Dhrtarastra
all that he hears.

Dhrtarastra is blind and so cannot go to the battlefield so Srila Vyasadeva has been very merciful to Sanjaya. ‘I will give you .. chhhooo.’ He must have not done that, a Chu Mantra (black magic spell) but ‘Oh Sanjaya I am giving you a power that from by sitting here in Hastinapura you will be able to have Darshan from far.’

Doordarsan television. Even before five thousand years what did they have? Doordarsan. (Door means far) so darshan from far. It is a good thing that that Darshan was Darshan of Krishna or had in it Darshan of Krishna. These days Doordarsan means there are others’ Darshans and less of Krishna Darshan. So Sanjaya is seeing and hearing and so to this Sanjaya Dhrtarastra is asking ‘kim akurvata sanjaya?’

‘Oh Sanjaya tell me, tell me. Mamakah pandavas caiva (BG 1.1). When my sons and the sons of Pandu met on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, which is also Dharmaksetra, what did they do? Samavets yuyutsavah (BG 1.1). They have both assembled to fight so what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do? kim akurvata sanjaya?’

So the answer to this curiosity is included in the whole Bhagavad Gita. There are other descriptions in the coming chapters of Bhagavata Gita and also after all the eighteen chapters it goes on further. So Arjuna and Krishna have both blown their conches.

divyau sankhau pradadhmatuh

After this Arjuna says ‘Prabhu, Prabhu please take my chariot further. Denayor ubhayor madhye ratham (BG 1.21). Please take the chariot forward. Yavad etan nir?kse ’ham yoddhu kaman avasthitan (BG 1.21). O Lord, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see who is present here, who is desirous of fighting, and with whom I must contend with in this great battle.’

So the Lord did just that and drove the chariot forward so now the Kaurava army was a little closer in view and so they could recognise which individuals were in the opposite army. Krishna and Arjuna were just looking when the Lord, Hrsikesa spoke.

‘Pasyaitan samavetan kurun iti (Bg1.25). So you wanted to see with whom you would have to fight so take a look.’ So then Arjuna looked. The Lord told him to take a look so as Arjuna is looking the Lord says ‘pasyaitan samavetan kurun.’ Those who have assembled here to fight are indeed the Kauravas. You have to fight with the Kauravas and you are also a Kuru and they are also Kurus, from the same family. Hari Hari.

So the Lord also wants to call Arjuna’s attention to the fact that.. So Arjuna has seen and now understood that ‘hey! These are my own family members! They are my cousins, my Guru’s and other relatives are there.’ So Arjuna thought or in his mind there came a thought.

Na ca sreyo ’nupasyami hatva sva janam ahave (BG 1.31). Arjuna spoke ‘Oh Lord, I am not seeing anything good coming out of this battle, out of killing my own family members. No profit I can see in this.’

Na kankse vijayam krsna na ca rajyam sukhani ca (BG 1.31). Arjuna further says ‘I have no desire to become a king or to become happy. I have no such desire!’ In this way there are thoughts occurring in Arjuna’s mind. Bhramativa ca me manah. Arjuna spoke to the Lord ‘Oh Lord I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling.’

Then Arjuna further says ‘sidanti mama gatrani mukham ca parisusyati (BG 1.28). I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up. My bow Gandiva is slipping from my hand.’ If you want to fight you need to hold a bow like Gandiva tight but if the hand is quivering resulting in the bow slipping from the hand then can one do battle?

So Arjuna says to the Lord, ‘look look! Look at me. Sidanti mama gatrani mukha?lm ca parisusyati (BG 1.28). Brhramativa ca me manah (BG 1.30). My mind is reeling.’ There are so many things Arjuna has spoken of in the first chapter of Bhagavad Gita. He speaks of many duties, ‘what will become of this and what will become of that?’ Duties towards society and towards mankind.

‘If there is a war then the women will become widows and they will also become polluted. There will be unwanted population with children who are an unwanted progeny. They cannot become proper due to the unwanted circumstances of their birth and upbringing.’

So there were many thoughts on Arjuna’s part for the many groups of people and for the family, the domain and it’s protection. Thoughts of his duties and of fulfilling his duty in a proper way.

All these thoughts Arjuna conveys to the Lord. ‘Yes so for this reason we should not fight or for that reason we should not fight.’ Maybe Arjuna was thinking the Lord would have agreed.’ ‘Yes okay Arjuna you are right, let’s not fight. Let’s sit and have some snacks.’ But that is not what happened and the Lord carried on listening and Arjuna kept speaking and telling his thoughts on why battle should not happen.

Arjuna then got tired and at the end of the first chapter Arjuna sat down on the chariot. He had kept his Gandiva in his arm and was so confused and tired, so much so that in the second chapter there is a description of how from his eyes tears are flowing. Now the Lord will speak. The Lord could see the state if Arjuna, his plight and so the Lord says to Arjuna.

Sri bhagavan uvaca kutas tva kasmalam idam (BG 2.1). ‘Whatever you just said, how have these impurities come upon you? Since when have you started speaking these nasty, polluted things? They do not befit you nor your upbringing, your heritage. Such persons cannot go to the higher planets. Also you are speaking like a learned man but actually nanusocanti panditah.

Although you speak like a learned man you are not a pandita, a learned man because a pandita does not do what? A learned man does not lament. Na nusocanti panditah. But if you look in the mirror you will see your face is full of sorrow and you are lamenting with tears in your eyes. Being a Ksatriya, a warrior you are sitting with the bow in your hands on the chariot so this is not how one prepares to battle.’

When you want to play fight, a small fight with someone, what do you say to them? ‘Hey get up!’ If somebody is sat down you get them up and sometimes you may grab their collars to get them to stand up because naturally you can only fight whilst standing. Of course if you need to talk you say, ’please sit, sit.’ So to talk you sit down but to fight you must stand. So the fact that Arjuna is seated means that he has firmly confirmed- actually he had already said and will say it again plainly that ‘I don’t want to fight. I will not fight.’

Na ca sreyo ‘nupasyami hatva sva janam ahave (BG 1.31). ‘I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, oh Lord.’ So this is the beginning of the Bhagavad gita and is the grounds for Bhagavad Gita to take place, on the battlefield of Kuruksetra. Also the state of Arjuna’s mind is described in the beginning of Bhagavad Gita.

So the beginning, the first chapter of Bhagavad gita, we call it the Gita this first chapter, right? What Gita (song) is it? Bhagavad Gita. It is the Lord’s song and in the Lord’s Geet, the song of god, the first chapter is included but in this first chapter the Lord has not really spoken. His song, Geet, his words are not really in the first chapter, the Lord has only said a few words in this chapter.

Partha pasyaitan samavetan kurun iti (BG 1.31). Just these five small words the Lord has spoken in the first chapter. Otherwise it is all ‘Arjuna Gita.’ It is Arjuna’s feelings, his thoughts and his state of mind. Before that there is a description of the armies and of Kuruksetra. From the second chapter of Bhagavad Gita the Lord starts speaking. Sri bhagavan uvaca means who spoke? The Lord has spoken and what sort of Lord is this?

Sri Bhagavan whom is the possessor of the six opulences and within these six opulences is the opulence of knowledge. Bhagavan means all- knowing. Bhagavan also means all attractive and all powerful, all opulent and famous as well as the most renounced. These are the six opulences of the Lord.

aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana vairagyayos caiva sannam bhaga itingana (Visnu Purana 6.5.47).

These are the six opulences and one is knowledge. So here it is said said Sri Bhagavan uvaca which means the all- knowing uvaca, the all knowing supreme Lord Sri Krishna uvaca. He is the source of all knowledge. He is saying Aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate (BG 10.8). ‘I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.’

He is speaking this and so knowledge is also coming from him. The Lord himself is all knowing and if there is any knowledge in this world it is coming from the Lord. Separately no person can produce knowledge in their factory or in their home. And there was never a time when-well, the Lord spoke this Bhagavad Gita five thousand years ago and the Lord gave knowledge to Arjuna.

So knowledge did not come into existence then. Since when is knowledge in existence? Since the Lord is there knowledge is there because that knowledge is only in relation to him. So therefore ever since there is the Lord, from then there is knowledge. All this knowledge, information and news is here since the Lord has been here.

It’s not that the Lord came and a much longer time after that these things came. So the all knowing Lord has made Arjuna the example, the reason to speak this knowledge. The Lord has lit the lamp of knowledge. You have all told me you have not been to Kuruksetra, you haven’t, have you? Oh you went and you too, so now there’s two and now three of you. Now you are remembering that you have been there.

So in Kuruksetra upon the order of Arjuna the Lord took the chariot into the middle of the battlefield and stopped it there. Bhramativa ca me manah. He became confused and forgetful and his mind reeled, the state of his mind going crazy. Then the Lord spoke to Arjuna the message of Bhagavad Gita. You can all go to this place, where the chariot was standing. That place within Kuruksetra is called Jyotisar, or we can say the light (Jyoti) of knowledge.

The Lord shone the knowledge of the light of the Gita. Therefore that place from where the Lord did this and spoke the Gita is called Jyotisar, the place of Jyoti, light. So in this world so many speeches are forever taking place but this speech, this discussion, which happens between two people is unique, a very important speech. People are always talking and there are always questions and answers going on when you go to school, market place, court place or shopping place or on the phone.

This is going on day and night, many discussions and talks, look even now there is a conversation going on but this conversation of the Gita is amazing and for the greatest good for all. Every man should understand this with great attention. One should not try to memorise the Slokas like a parrot but he should take them into the heart with proper learning.

We should lead our lives according to the order of the Lord in the Gita. This is the greatest mercy of the Lord on all of us that the he has given us all the knowledge of the Gita. Ya svayam padmanabhasya mukha padmad vinihsrita. In the Gita Mahatmya it is written, ‘what is so special in Bhagavad Gita when there are so many other scriptures?’

Gita sugita kartavya kim anyaih sastra vistaraih (Gita Mahatmya). What use is there of any other Sastras when we have Bhagavad Gita? Ekam sastram devaki putra gitam. So this Bhagavad gita which is the song of Devaki Putra, son of Devaki, Ekam Sastram – this one scripture is enough. So what is so special about it?

Svayam padmanabhasya, mukha padmad vinihsrita. One of the The Lord’s name is Padmana. Because his navel is like a lotus flower or also it could be said because from his navel a lotus flower grew on which Lord Brahma was born. The lotus flower sprouted from the navel of Garbhodakasayi Vishnu and so he is addressed as Padmana.

The Lord’s navel is very deep and so is the impression on his throat. His intelligence is also very deep. In Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu the signs and impressions on a great personality’s body are described. In these descriptions three places are said to be deep including the navel and the Lord’s throat which is deep like the sound of thundering clouds.

When one hears or sees some documentary of Sri Krishna, other people talk in the documentary or film but when the Lord’s turn to talk comes then the voice is different, a different sound and deepness of voice. And his voice and words reach far distances. Also there is depth in the Lord’s intelligence. His intelligence is not mixed up but is deep. So this is the Lord and devaki putram gitam is this Sastra (the words of the son of Devaki).

In the Mahatmya it is said that whoever-

gita gangodakam pitva punar janma na vidyate

When one drinks Ganges water that person becomes liberated so here it is said that this water comes from his lotus feet. Tu ja charani ca ganga nimani chandrabhaga ganga bhajan. You may have heard this.

Chandrabhagaya, Gangaya Jamuna, Saraswati, Godavari, Kaveri Sindhu, Narmada and all other rivers which are there, where do they come from? From the lotus feet of the Lord and from his lotus mouth comes out the Gita. Around the Lord’s arms are the cows and so we have these great signs of religion in our culture – Ganga, Gita, the cow.

So the Ganga comes from the Lord’s lotus feet and the Gita from his lotus mouth and he is a Gopa who stays with the cows and looks after the cows. So from the lotus mouth of Lord Padmana is this promise of the Gita. When the Lord declares

Sarva dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah (BG 18.66)

So the Lord spoke by moving his lotus lips and therefore these words are from the lotus like mouth of the Lord. It is no ordinary air of this material world moving out when these words are coming out and spreading from his lotus mouth-

patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati (BG 9.26)

This is eternal and transcendental to material sound and it is indeclinable. Imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam. The Lord has said this in the fourth chapter of Bhagavad Gita and so the words that have come out of the lotus mouth of the Lord and are Avyaya. These words are never going to become lost or any less or be spent, this will not happen. These words will never be hidden and are therefore eternal words.

We can also take these words of Gita to be the form of the Lord. In the form of the Gita the Lord descended. And in the form of Bhagavad Gita although the Lord himself came out of his lotus mouth through his words, he did not become any less by expanding his form into the Gita.

om purnam adah purnam idam purnat purnam udacyate
purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate (Sri Isopanisad invocation).

So if from the complete the complete was taken away then what is left? The whole complete is left. One minus one is zero in this material world. If something is one whole thing and is taken away then nothing is left but here the supreme Lord is speaking and these words are his complete form and so the Lord does not any become less. The Lord is complete and the Bhagavad Gita, his spoken words also remain complete .

Sarvopanisado gavo dogdha gopala-nandana (Gita mahatmya 6)

Like this the greatness of the Bhagavad Gita has been sung. Sarvopanisado gavo. All the Upanisads in existence are in the form of the cow. How has the cow been made? From the Upanisads, Sastra. From these the cow has been made.

Dogdha gopala nandana. And Dogdha, who is milking this cow? Gopala nandana.
Parthovatsa. Partha, Arjuna who is he? Vatsa, the calf. What does the calf do? So Krishna is milking the cow, the Sastras he is wringing and Arjuna is drinking the milk of Sastras what Krishna is milking and wringing.

Sudheerbhoktha. The Gitamrutam which Arjuna is drinking (nectar of the Gita). Gitamrutam mahat. So the Gitamrutam which Arjuna is drinking, Sudheerbhoktha. This Amrita (nectar) that Arjuna has drunk, is Maha- Maha Prashad. Who drank it first? Arjuna drank it and in the form of Maha Prashad who will take it now? Sudheerbhoktha, those who are intelligent, Sudheer. What will they do? They will drink this Gita nectar through attentive listening and recitation, those who are intelligent will do this.

When one is intelligent and studies Bhagavad Gita they will become more intelligent. Only by intelligence does our life have existence just like a car driver or an air pilot. He is a very important person and even if the passengers fall asleep that’s okay but if the pilot becomes confused or inattentive then there can be devastation.

So in our lives intelligence has the most important role just like the driver of a car is the most important in making the car drive or move. This is the type of intelligence that the Lord is giving in the Bhagavad Gita.

Dadami buddhi yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te (BG 10.10)

So this intelligence should be used in what way? Yena mam upayanti te. ‘To come more closer to me they can use their intelligence, to come to me.’ So
How should we use this intelligence which has been given to us by the Lord? To get closer to him. This is the right way to use one’s intelligence. When I was small, even I was small at one time, there was that time as well. So when I would go to the temple with my mother, when she would go I would go along with her.

So my mother would tell me, ‘put your hands together, put your hands together.’ So I would do so and I remember then she would tell me to ask the Lord to give me intelligence. ‘Go on ask for intelligence, ask for intelligence. Oh Lord give him intelligence.’ Maybe your mothers have done this or said this before, ‘give my child intelligence.’ So finally when the Lord gave me intelligence and I became his devotee and joined Iskcon, when my mother found out she became very angry with the Lord.

‘Oh what sort or intelligence did god give you??!’ When I was young she would tell me to pray to the Lord to give me intelligence and when the Lord gave me this intelligence-

Yena mam upayanti te (BG 10.10). So that I could go closer to the Lord. This intelligence was at that time not pleasing to my mother, she was very hurt and upset. ‘Why did the Lord give you such intelligence and till when will you carry on thinking like this?’ She went to an astrologer to find out ‘till when will his intelligence, his thinking stay like this?’ So they also wanted to get some money, the astrologers so they said, ‘it won’t be for very long.’

So my family became happy but the prediction of the astrologer has not become true as yet. He had given them faith that it would not be for too long, maybe a month or two. So when I went back to my village I went to meet my older brother and the village people were saying ‘what a good boy he used to be.’ So I was before a good boy and when the Lord actually gave me intelligence I wasn’t good anymore.

Actually I became a Mahatma then and before this I was a Duratma. So now when I was a Mahatma they were saying ‘what a good boy he used to be.’ So I had gone for a very short time back to my village and my friends were playing cards. I was chanting japa.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

So my older sister, when she would see me chanting Japa and all the other boys playing, she would cry and pray to the Lord, ‘when will my brother play like this? When will you give my brother intelligence to do like this?’ She was praying to the Lord like this. Rukmini Dwarkadish ki jai!

So Bhagavad Gita is the most important thing given by the Lord, it is a gift and you could say it is a letter written by god. But who is this letter for, only Arjuna? Hari Hari. The Lord has written a letter. Who is this letter for? For all of us or for just you all or just for me? It is for all of you. So who has he written this for? For me and for all of us individuals the Lord has done what? The message is one for all of us, the message is the same. And what is that message?

Man mana bhava mad bhakto
madyaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ‘si me (BG 18.65)

This is the message and this is a very confidential message. The Lord said ‘now I will tell you something very confidential.’
Guhyatamam pravakshyamy (BG 9.1)
Guhyatamam, Guhya, Guhyatar, Guhyatam.
‘I will teach you the most confidential knowledge.’ After saying this the words spoken by the Lord are these.
Man mana bhava mad bhakto
madyaji mam namaskuru (BG 18.65)

The Lord said ‘work in this way.’ And what way is that? Man mana, meaning ‘think of me. Mat manah, put your mind on me.’ Give the Lord your mind, put that concentration of the mind on the Lord. So this one thing is now done, so now?

‘Become my devotee. Madyaji. Serve me and worship me. Mam namaskuru, bow down to me.’ None of this is difficult so become a devotee of the Lord. And whoever will do this, the Lord says and it is written on these pages- Mam evaisyasi. Those who do this Mam evaisyasi, they will attain me. ‘Satyam te’ he says that he is telling the truth.

The Lord has no need to convince us or say that he is telling the truth, to justify this fact. Because whatever the Lord says is always the truth and apart from the truth he doesn’t say anything else. In the court what book is there? Bhagavad Gita is there and it is said ‘whatever I say I will speak the truth and apart from lies I will not say anything else.’ (Laughter)

‘I’m telling the truth that apart from lies I wont speak anything else.’ But the Lord is the epitome, the form of truthfulness and whatever words are said from his lotus mouth are always the truth. He doesn’t have to separately state that he is telling the truth. For the sake of social customs we say ‘I am telling the truth’ but here the Lord says ‘Mam evaisyasi. Hey you persons who are doing man mana bhava mad bhakto madyaji mam namaskuru, you devotees will attain me.’

‘Satyam te I am telling the truth’ and that’s not all because further the Lord says, ‘Pratijane. I am promising you, this is my oath that I take.’ Why all of this? Priyo ‘si me. ‘Because you are all very dear to me. You are all mine- mamaivamso.’ The Lord says ‘mamaivamso jiva loke jiva bhutah sanatanah (BG 15.7). You are my parts and parcels and you are my limbs. You are not separate from me.

Yes it’s true that you are lost to me and wandering about aimlessly but nevertheless you are mine.’ So this is true that we belong to the Lord and that the Lord is ours and so the Lord is telling us to go back to him, to attain him. We are missing the Lord and the Lord also wants us to be back with him in his abode. So this unusual discourse- we were not there at that time five thousand years ago.

Well of course we were around and we must have been somewhere but we were not in Kuruksetra and we did not get the good fortune to hear Bhagavad Gita there as it happened. If we had heard it there at that time then would we be here now sitting in Amravati? We were not there and the proof of that is what? We are here now which means we were not there then and that is why we are here now.

If we had been there then we would not have stayed here but would have gone back long ago to the Lord’s abode by becoming devotees. After becoming devotees some stay here to preach the Lord’s message. Some devotees the Lord calls back to his abode and some devotees he sends and keeps in this material world.

Bhutani bhavyani janardanasya (SB 3.5.3)
Lord Janardana’s great souls, the Mahapurushas take the Lord’s message and spread it to others. So this is service of the Lord and upon those who do this service the Lord becomes very pleased. So whoever understands the knowledge of the Gita and then explains it to others, when the Lord sees this he becomes very happy and pleased. Why does he become pleased? Because he knows that when my message is heard and understood by the devotee, then what will happen?

Bhakti Yoga. There will be a link, forever there will be a bond between the Lord and the soul which is currently imprisoned in the material ocean of birth, death, old age and disease. Punar janma na vidyate (BG 8.16). ‘He will not attain another birth again and he will establish a relationship with me,’ the Lord is saying. So whoever helps one make a sacrifice in Yoga, in helping one to establish a relationship with the Lord, giving a helping hand by putting their hand forward to help someone, the Lord is very pleased with such a person who helps others in this way. He is called Bhurida.

Bhuvi grananti te bhuri dhajana. Whoever on this planet gives this message to others in his life- tava kathamrtam tapta jivanam. This life is like what? This Samsara is Davanal, this world is on fire. This type of fire is found in most cases and is everywhere in this material world in the form of fire, fever, poisons and various kinds of heat. So by hearing and understanding this Kathamrita or this Gitamrita a person becomes relieved and is freed and becomes a devotee.

So those who help others like this, they are the greatest benefactors. They are kind and benevolent who spread this knowledge to others, they are most benevolent as they share their own wealth. This Bhagavad Gita is the greatest possession, it is the greatest of riches and therefore those who distribute their wealth in the form of knowledge of Bhagavad Gita, they are the greatest philanthropist, giver of charity.

By giving clothes or any other thing in charity we help others, it is service to society and in doing this we fulfil our duty, but the greatest charity is the charity of spreading the knowledge of Gita. And whosoever attains the charity of this knowledge becomes wealthy. One who is knowledgeable is wealthy as well, and this is the actual wealth. From this wealth and knowledge come worthiness and then happiness.

By this Happiness which is eternal, the happiness of the soul is achieved. The soul will achieve happiness. So the endeavours made in the material world- yesterday we went to a school ‘Adarsh Vidyalaya.’ So for the many students Gita Jayanti Mahotsava was being explained over there. The devotees were explaining how one old lady went out to do her shopping and she bought a cage for her bird.

She put the bird in the cage but gave more attention to the cage and polished the cage frequently. Hardly any attention was paid to the bird inside the cage. She wasn’t feeding the bird so it was becoming weak and so one day came when the bird was no more. The lady still continued polishing the cage, making it shine. So she called her neighbours, ‘please come, please come and look at the cage! Look at the cage!’

Her friends were seeing the cage but at the same time they could smell a horrible, nasty smell. What was this smell? The poor bird that was dead in the cage, that was the horrible smell coming from the cage. So from this we learn that our body is alike to the cage and the bird in the cage is who? That is the soul. Is the cage most important or the bird? The animal, the bird is most important.

So who should be looked after more? The animal and not the cage. This the Gita teaches us and explains to us. It gives us knowledge of the soul and knowledge of how to keep or make soul happy.

Brahma bhutah prasannatma
na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu
mad bhaktim labhate param (BG 18.54)

The process to give the soul happiness is explained in the Bhagavad Gita. We can see that this world is looking for further knowledge of matter constantly and will continue to do so. Atoms and the molecule and nucleus, neutron, proton all these things they’ll put under a microscope and with the help of these microscopes and telescopes people are trying to go to the moon!

But the Lord is in the heart, so close to us and within us and yet we cannot go there, there is no endeavour to go there. ‘We are thinking ‘where shall we go elsewhere, further?’ We don’t want to go within or be absorbed in our inner self. So this Bhagavad Gita gives us actual eyes to wake us up and it open our eyes. This Bhagavad Gita is a pair of spectacles that we must wear to see ourselves, to see the Lord and to see our own families.

Those who we call our own family members we have not yet seen. We actually have not seen our own kin and do not see them throughout our whole lives and that is why when there is death we cry and say- what do we say? ‘He has gone.’ Well who is it that has left? That person with whom you were has gone but the body is lying there. It is either on your lap or on the bed but nevertheless it’s lying there in front of you.

You are saying ‘he’s gone, he’s gone.’ But who has gone? The soul has gone. But we never recognised that soul and the actual person who is the soul we did not take care of or worry about them. We did not make any arrangements to nourish that soul or we did not serve that soul in any way. If we did do anything, any service, then it was for the cage, the body and that’s all.

So this is the knowledge that is in need and this knowledge is available in Gita. Srimad Bhagavad Gita ki jai! Gita Jayanti Mahotsava ki jai! Rukmini Dwarkadish ki jai! Srila Prabhupada ki jai.

So we have another two, three days left and so we will further speak the message of Bhagavad Gita to understand it and put it into practice. We can plan and have a think about all this. About practicing and spreading this message, we can speak about this as well as think about it. This can all be the talk in the coming days and the fact that you all are present here, you have come, you are welcome and I thank you from my heart for your coming here.

Please continue coming and we will speak further and there will be an endeavour to understand the Gita. So it is all profitable. The actual profit is attaining the Lord, what is the profit? Attainment of the Lord by the help of Gita. Who do we need to attain through the assistance of the Gita? The supreme Lord. The Gita is his words which is the only thing he left here when he went away. So through concentration on these words..

When we understand these words we will be able to understand the Lord and attain him. This is profit and apart from this profit there is no other profit.

Sukh Sampati Ghar Ave (a song which asks the Lord for happiness and material gain and mental peace). This all carries on but this is not the profit we are talking about. Dhanam Janam Sundarim (wealth, long life and beautiful women). These things are useless and temporary. This sort of profit will bring us distress alongside the temporary so called happiness. It is duality and this is what we are trapped in, Bhagavad Gita teaches us this.

We need to be transcendental to this duality of happiness and distress, rising above it. we need to transcend victory and defeat and this is the highest point, to learn this and then we will not be so unsettled. We are trapped in these dualities of happiness and distress, day and night, poor and rich, man and woman, countryman and foreigner, Hindu and Muslim and the list is very long.

How to arise above these dualities? We are actually going backwards not forwards. So the Gita teaches us liberation from all these struggles. So please begin study of Gita or continue this study and we will further speak on this matter tomorrow and the day after.

Gaura Prem Anande Hari Haribol.

End.