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Portable Gita

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srotram cakshuh sparsanam ca\nrasanam ghranam eva ca\nadhishthaya manas cayam\nvishayan upasevate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsrotram -- ears; cakshuh -- eyes; sparsanam -- touch; ca -- also; rasanam -- tongue; ghranam -- smelling power; eva -- also; ca -- and; adhishthaya -- being situated in; manah -- mind; ca -- also; ayam -- he; vishayan -- sense objects; upasevate -- enjoys.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn other words, if the living entity adulterates his consciousness with the qualities of cats and dogs, in his next life he gets a cat or dog body and enjoys. Consciousness is originally pure, like water. But if we mix water with a certain color, it changes. Similarly, consciousness is pure, for the spirit soul is pure. But consciousness is changed according to the association of the material qualities. Real consciousness is Krishna consciousness. When, therefore, one is situated in Krishna consciousness, he is in his pure life. But if his consciousness is adulterated by some type of material mentality, in the next life he gets a corresponding body. He does not necessarily get a human body again; he can get the body of a cat, dog, hog, demigod or one of many other forms, for there are 8,400,000 species.

yasya nahankrito bhavo\nbuddhir yasya na lipyate\nhatvapi sa iman lokan\nna hanti na nibadhyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyasya -- one whose; na -- never; ahankritah -- of false ego; bhavah -- nature; buddhih -- intelligence; yasya -- one whose; na -- never; lipyate -- is attached; hatva -- killing; api -- even; sah -- he; iman -- this; lokan -- world; na -- never; hanti -- kills; na -- never; nibadhyate -- becomes entangled.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who is not motivated by false ego, whose intelligence is not entangled, though he kills men in this world, does not kill. Nor is he bound by his actions.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn this verse the Lord informs Arjuna that the desire not to fight arises from false ego. Arjuna thought himself to be the doer of action, but he did not consider the supreme sanction within and without. If one does not know that a supersanction is there, why should he act? But one who knows the instruments of work, himself as the worker, and the Supreme Lord as the supreme sanctioner is perfect in doing everything. Such a person is never in illusion. Personal activity and responsibility arise from false ego and godlessness, or a lack of Krishna consciousness. Anyone who is acting in Krishna consciousness under the direction of the Supersoul or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even though killing, does not kill. Nor is he ever affected by the reaction of such killing. When a soldier kills under the command of a superior officer, he is not subject to be judged. But if a soldier kills on his own personal account, then he is certainly judged by a court of law.

sanjaya uvaca\ndrishtva tu pandavanikam\nvyudham duryodhanas tada\nacaryam upasangamya\nraja vacanam abravit\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsanjayah uvaca -- Sanjaya said; drishtva -- after seeing; tu -- but; pandava-anikam -- the soldiers of the Pandavas; vyudham -- arranged in a military phalanx; duryodhanah -- King Duryodhana; tada -- at that time; acaryam -- the teacher; upasangamya -- approaching; raja -- the king; vacanam -- words; abravit -- spoke.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSanjaya said: O King, after looking over the army arranged in military formation by the sons of Pandu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and spoke the following words.\n\nPURPORT\n\nDhritarashtra was blind from birth. Unfortunately, he was also bereft of spiritual vision. He knew very well that his sons were equally blind in the matter of religion, and he was sure that they could never reach an understanding with the Pandavas, who were all pious since birth. Still he was doubtful about the influence of the place of pilgrimage, and Sanjaya could understand his motive in asking about the situation on the battlefield. Sanjaya wanted, therefore, to encourage the despondent king and thus assured him that his sons were not going to make any sort of compromise under the influence of the holy place. Sanjaya therefore informed the king that his son, Duryodhana, after seeing the military force of the Pandavas, at once went to the commander in chief, Dronacarya, to inform him of the real position. Although Duryodhana is mentioned as the king, he still had to go to the commander on account of the seriousness of the situation. He was therefore quite fit to be a politician. But Duryodhana's diplomatic veneer could not disguise the fear he felt when he saw the military arrangement of the Pandavas.

tasya sanjanayan harsham\nkuru-vriddhah pitamahah\nsimha-nadam vinadyoccaih\nsankham dadhmau pratapavan\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntasya -- his; sanjanayan -- increasing; harsham -- cheerfulness; kuru-vriddhah -- the grandsire of the Kuru dynasty (Bhishma); pitamahah -- the grandfather; simha-nadam -- roaring sound, like that of a lion; vinadya -- vibrating; uccaih -- very loudly; sankham -- conchshell; dadhmau -- blew; pratapa-van -- the valiant.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThen Bhishma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters, blew his conchshell very loudly, making a sound like the roar of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe grandsire of the Kuru dynasty could understand the inner meaning of the heart of his grandson Duryodhana, and out of his natural compassion for him he tried to cheer him by blowing his conchshell very loudly, befitting his position as a lion. Indirectly, by the symbolism of the conchshell, he informed his depressed grandson Duryodhana that he had no chance of victory in the battle, because the Supreme Lord Krishna was on the other side. But still, it was his duty to conduct the fight, and no pains would be spared in that connection.

dhritarashtra uvaca\ndharma-kshetre kuru-kshetre\nsamaveta yuyutsavah\nmamakah pandavas caiva\nkim akurvata sanjaya\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ndhritarashtrah uvaca -- King Dhritarashtra said; dharma-kshetre -- in the place of pilgrimage; kuru-kshetre -- in the place named Kurukshetra; samavetah -- assembled; yuyutsavah -- desiring to fight; mamakah -- my party (sons); pandavah -- the sons of Pandu; ca -- and; eva -- certainly; kim -- what; akurvata -- did they do; sanjaya -- O Sanjaya.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nDhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?\n\nPURPORT\n\nBhagavad-gita is the widely read theistic science summarized in the Gita-mahatmya (Glorification of the Gita). There it says that one should read Bhagavad-gita very scrutinizingly with the help of a person who is a devotee of Sri Krishna and try to understand it without personally motivated interpretations. The example of clear understanding is there in the Bhagavad-gita itself, in the way the teaching is understood by Arjuna, who heard the Gita directly from the Lord. If someone is fortunate enough to understand Bhagavad-gita in that line of disciplic succession, without motivated interpretation, then he surpasses all studies of Vedic wisdom, and all scriptures of the world. One will find in the Bhagavad-gita all that is contained in other scriptures, but the reader will also find things which are not to be found elsewhere. That is the specific standard of the Gita. It is the perfect theistic science because it is directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna.\nThe topics discussed by Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya, as described in the Mahabharata, form the basic principle for this great philosophy. It is understood that this philosophy evolved on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, which is a sacred place of pilgrimage from the immemorial time of the Vedic age. It was spoken by the Lord when He was present personally on this planet for the guidance of mankind.\nThe word dharma-kshetra (a place where religious rituals are performed) is significant because, on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was present on the side of Arjuna. Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kurus, was highly doubtful about the possibility of his sons' ultimate victory. In his doubt, he inquired from his secretary Sanjaya, "What did they do?" He was confident that both his sons and the sons of his younger brother Pandu were assembled in that Field of Kurukshetra for a determined engagement of the war. Still, his inquiry is significant. He did not want a compromise between the cousins and brothers, and he wanted to be sure of the fate of his sons on the battlefield. Because the battle was arranged to be fought at Kurukshetra, which is mentioned elsewhere in the Vedas as a place of worship -- even for the denizens of heaven -- Dhritarashtra became very fearful about the influence of the holy place on the outcome of the battle. He knew very well that this would influence Arjuna and the sons of Pandu favorably, because by nature they were all virtuous. Sanjaya was a student of Vyasa, and therefore, by the mercy of Vyasa, Sanjaya was able to envision the Battlefield of Kurukshetra even while he was in the room of Dhritarashtra. And so, Dhritarashtra asked him about the situation on the battlefield.\nBoth the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra belong to the same family, but Dhritarashtra's mind is disclosed herein. He deliberately claimed only his sons as Kurus, and he separated the sons of Pandu from the family heritage. One can thus understand the specific position of Dhritarashtra in his relationship with his nephews, the sons of Pandu. As in the paddy field the unnecessary plants are taken out, so it is expected from the very beginning of these topics that in the religious field of Kurukshetra, where the father of religion, Sri Krishna, was present, the unwanted plants like Dhritarashtra's son Duryodhana and others would be wiped out and the thoroughly religious persons, headed by Yudhishthira, would be established by the Lord. This is the significance of the words dharma-kshetre and kuru-kshetre, apart from their historical and Vedic importance.

pasyaitam pandu-putranam\nacarya mahatim camum\nvyudham drupada-putrena\ntava sishyena dhimata\n\nSYNONYMS\n\npasya -- behold; etam -- this; pandu-putranam -- of the sons of Pandu; acarya -- O teacher; mahatim -- great; camum -- military force; vyudham -- arranged; drupada-putrena -- by the son of Drupada; tava -- your; sishyena -- disciple; dhi-mata -- very intelligent.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple the son of Drupada.\n\nPURPORT\n\nDuryodhana, a great diplomat, wanted to point out the defects of Dronacarya, the great brahmana commander in chief. Dronacarya had some political quarrel with King Drupada, the father of Draupadi, who was Arjuna's wife. As a result of this quarrel, Drupada performed a great sacrifice, by which he received the benediction of having a son who would be able to kill Dronacarya. Dronacarya knew this perfectly well, and yet as a liberal brahmana he did not hesitate to impart all his military secrets when the son of Drupada, Dhrishtadyumna, was entrusted to him for military education. Now, on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, Dhrishtadyumna took the side of the Pandavas, and it was he who arranged for their military phalanx, after having learned the art from Dronacarya. Duryodhana pointed out this mistake of Dronacarya's so that he might be alert and uncompromising in the fighting. By this he wanted to point out also that he should not be similarly lenient in battle against the Pandavas, who were also Dronacarya's affectionate students. Arjuna, especially, was his most affectionate and brilliant student. Duryodhana also warned that such leniency in the fight would lead to defeat.

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anantavijayam raja\nkunti-putro yudhishthirah\nnakulah sahadevas ca\nsughosha-manipushpakau\n\nkasyas ca parameshv-asah\nsikhandi ca maha-rathah\ndhrishtadyumno viratas ca\nsatyakis caparajitah\n\ndrupado draupadeyas ca\nsarvasah prithivi-pate\nsaubhadras ca maha-bahuh\nsankhan dadhmuh prithak prithak\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nananta-vijayam -- the conch named Ananta-vijaya; raja -- the king; kunti-putrah -- the son of Kunti; yudhishthirah -- Yudhishthira; nakulah -- Nakula; sahadevah -- Sahadeva; ca -- and; sughosha-manipushpakau -- the conches named Sughosha and Manipushpaka; kasyah -- the King of Kasi (Varanasi); ca -- and; parama-ishu-asah -- the great archer; sikhandi -- Sikhandi; ca -- also; maha-rathah -- one who can fight alone against thousands; dhrishtadyumnah -- Dhrishtadyumna (the son of King Drupada); viratah -- Virata (the prince who gave shelter to the Pandavas while they were in disguise); ca -- also; satyakih -- Satyaki (the same as Yuyudhana, the charioteer of Lord Krishna); ca -- and; aparajitah -- who had never been vanquished; drupadah -- Drupada, the King of Pancala; draupadeyah -- the sons of Draupadi; ca -- also; sarvasah -- all; prithivi-pate -- O King; saubhadrah -- Abhimanyu, the son of Subhadra; ca -- also; maha-bahuh -- mighty-armed; sankhan -- conchshells; dadhmuh -- blew; prithak prithak -- each separately.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nKing Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosha and Manipushpaka. That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their respective conchshells.\n\nPURPORT\n\nSanjaya informed King Dhritarashtra very tactfully that his unwise policy of deceiving the sons of Pandu and endeavoring to enthrone his own sons on the seat of the kingdom was not very laudable. The signs already clearly indicated that the whole Kuru dynasty would be killed in that great battle. Beginning with the grandsire, Bhishma, down to the grandsons like Abhimanyu and others -- including kings from many states of the world -- all were present there, and all were doomed. The whole catastrophe was due to King Dhritarashtra, because he encouraged the policy followed by his sons.

tatah svetair hayair yukte\nmahati syandane sthitau\nmadhavah pandavas caiva\ndivyau sankhau pradadhmatuh\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntatah -- thereafter; svetaih -- with white; hayaih -- horses; yukte -- being yoked; mahati -- in a great; syandane -- chariot; sthitau -- situated; madhavah -- Krishna (the husband of the goddess of fortune); pandavah -- Arjuna (the son of Pandu); ca -- also; eva -- certainly; divyau -- transcendental; sankhau -- conchshells; pradadhmatuh -- sounded.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOn the other side, both Lord Krishna and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot drawn by white horses, sounded their transcendental conchshells.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn contrast with the conchshell blown by Bhishmadeva, the conchshells in the hands of Krishna and Arjuna are described as transcendental. The sounding of the transcendental conchshells indicated that there was no hope of victory for the other side because Krishna was on the side of the Pandavas. Jayas tu pandu-putranam yesham pakshe janardanah. Victory is always with persons like the sons of Pandu because Lord Krishna is associated with them. And whenever and wherever the Lord is present, the goddess of fortune is also there because the goddess of fortune never lives alone without her husband. Therefore, victory and fortune were awaiting Arjuna, as indicated by the transcendental sound produced by the conchshell of Vishnu, or Lord Krishna. Besides that, the chariot on which both the friends were seated had been donated by Agni (the fire-god) to Arjuna, and this indicated that this chariot was capable of conquering all sides, wherever it was drawn over the three worlds.

pancajanyam hrishikeso\ndevadattam dhananjayah\npaundram dadhmau maha-sankham\nbhima-karma vrikodarah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\npancajanyam -- the conchshell named Pancajanya; hrishika-isah -- Hrishikesa (Krishna, the Lord who directs the senses of the devotees); devadattam -- the conchshell named Devadatta; dhanam-jayah -- Dhananjaya (Arjuna, the winner of wealth); paundram -- the conch named Paundra; dadhmau -- blew; maha-sankham -- the terrific conchshell; bhima-karma -- one who performs herculean tasks; vrika-udarah -- the voracious eater (Bhima).\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nLord Krishna blew His conchshell, called Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell, called Paundra.\n\nPURPORT\n\nLord Krishna is referred to as Hrishikesa in this verse because He is the owner of all senses. The living entities are part and parcel of Him, and therefore the senses of the living entities are also part and parcel of His senses. The impersonalists cannot account for the senses of the living entities, and therefore they are always anxious to describe all living entities as senseless, or impersonal. The Lord, situated in the hearts of all living entities, directs their senses. But He directs in terms of the surrender of the living entity, and in the case of a pure devotee He directly controls the senses. Here on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra the Lord directly controls the transcendental senses of Arjuna, and thus His particular name of Hrishikesa. The Lord has different names according to His different activities. For example, His name is Madhusudana because He killed the demon of the name Madhu; His name is Govinda because He gives pleasure to the cows and to the senses; His name is Vasudeva because He appeared as the son of Vasudeva; His name is Devaki-nandana because He accepted Devaki as His mother; His name is Yasoda-nandana because He awarded His childhood pastimes to Yasoda at Vrindavana; His name is Partha-sarathi because He worked as charioteer of His friend Arjuna. Similarly, His name is Hrishikesa because He gave direction to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra.\n\nArjuna is referred to as Dhananjaya in this verse because he helped his elder brother in fetching wealth when it was required by the king to make expenditures for different sacrifices. Similarly, Bhima is known as Vrikodara because he could eat as voraciously as he could perform herculean tasks, such as killing the demon Hidimba. So the particular types of conchshell blown by the different personalities on the side of the Pandavas, beginning with the Lord's, were all very encouraging to the fighting soldiers. On the other side there were no such credits, nor the presence of Lord Krishna, the supreme director, nor that of the goddess of fortune. So they were predestined to lose the battle -- and that was the message announced by the sounds of the conchshells.

bhishma-drona-pramukhatah\nsarvesham ca mahi-kshitam\nuvaca partha pasyaitan\nsamavetan kurun iti\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nbhishma -- Grandfather Bhishma; drona -- the teacher Drona; pramukhatah -- in front of; sarvesham -- all; ca -- also; mahi-kshitam -- chiefs of the world; uvaca -- said; partha -- O son of Pritha; pasya -- just behold; etan -- all of them; samavetan -- assembled; kurun -- the members of the Kuru dynasty; iti -- thus.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nIn the presence of Bhishma, Drona and all the other chieftains of the world, the Lord said, Just behold, Partha, all the Kurus assembled here.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAs the Supersoul of all living entities, Lord Krishna could understand what was going on in the mind of Arjuna. The use of the word Hrishikesa in this connection indicates that He knew everything. And the word Partha, or the son of Kunti, or Pritha, is also similarly significant in reference to Arjuna. As a friend, He wanted to inform Arjuna that because Arjuna was the son of Pritha, the sister of His own father Vasudeva, He had agreed to be the charioteer of Arjuna. Now what did Krishna mean when He told Arjuna to "behold the Kurus"? Did Arjuna want to stop there and not fight? Krishna never expected such things from the son of His aunt Pritha. The mind of Arjuna was thus predicted by the Lord in friendly joking.

yotsyamanan avekshe 'ham\nya ete 'tra samagatah\ndhartarashtrasya durbuddher\nyuddhe priya-cikirshavah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyotsyamanan -- those who will be fighting; avekshe -- let me see; aham -- I; ye -- who; ete -- those; atra -- here; samagatah -- assembled; dhartarashtrasya -- for the son of Dhritarashtra; durbuddheh -- evil-minded; yuddhe -- in the fight; priya -- well; cikirshavah -- wishing.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nLet me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIt was an open secret that Duryodhana wanted to usurp the kingdom of the Pandavas by evil plans, in collaboration with his father, Dhritarashtra. Therefore, all persons who had joined the side of Duryodhana must have been birds of the same feather. Arjuna wanted to see them on the battlefield before the fight was begun, just to learn who they were, but he had no intention of proposing peace negotiations with them. It was also a fact that he wanted to see them to make an estimate of the strength which he had to face, although he was quite confident of victory because Krishna was sitting by his side.

sanjaya uvaca\nevam ukto hrishikeso\ngudakesena bharata\nsenayor ubhayor madhye\nsthapayitva rathottamam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsanjayah uvaca -- Sanjaya said; evam -- thus; uktah -- addressed; hrishikesah -- Lord Krishna; gudakesena -- by Arjuna; bharata -- O descendant of Bharata; senayoh -- of the armies; ubhayoh -- both; madhye -- in the midst; sthapayitva -- placing; ratha-uttamam -- the finest chariot.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSanjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Krishna drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn this verse Arjuna is referred to as Gudakesa. Gudaka means sleep, and one who conquers sleep is called gudakesa. Sleep also means ignorance. So Arjuna conquered both sleep and ignorance because of his friendship with Krishna. As a great devotee of Krishna, he could not forget Krishna even for a moment, because that is the nature of a devotee. Either in waking or in sleep, a devotee of the Lord can never be free from thinking of Krishna's name, form, qualities and pastimes. Thus a devotee of Krishna can conquer both sleep and ignorance simply by thinking of Krishna constantly. This is called Krishna consciousness, or samadhi. As Hrishikesa, or the director of the senses and mind of every living entity, Krishna could understand Arjuna's purpose in placing the chariot in the midst of the armies. Thus He did so, and spoke as follows.

arjuna uvaca\nsenayor ubhayor madhye\nratham sthapaya me 'cyuta\nyavad etan nirikshe 'ham\nyoddhu-kaman avasthitan\nkair maya saha yoddhavyam\nasmin rana-samudyame\n\nSYNONYMS\n\narjunah uvaca -- Arjuna said; senayoh -- of the armies; ubhayoh -- both; madhye -- between; ratham -- the chariot; sthapaya -- please keep; me -- my; acyuta -- O infallible one; yavat -- as long as; etan -- all these; nirikshe -- may look upon; aham -- I; yoddhu-kaman -- desiring to fight; avasthitan -- arrayed on the battlefield; kaih -- with whom; maya -- by me; saha -- together; yoddhavyam -- have to fight; asmin -- in this; rana -- strife; samudyame -- in the attempt.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nArjuna said: O infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see those present here, who desire to fight, and with whom I must contend in this great trial of arms.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAlthough Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, out of His causeless mercy He was engaged in the service of His friend. He never fails in His affection for His devotees, and thus He is addressed herein as infallible. As charioteer, He had to carry out the orders of Arjuna, and since He did not hesitate to do so, He is addressed as infallible. Although He had accepted the position of a charioteer for His devotee, His supreme position was not challenged. In all circumstances, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hrishikesa, the Lord of the total senses. The relationship between the Lord and His servitor is very sweet and transcendental. The servitor is always ready to render service to the Lord, and, similarly, the Lord is always seeking an opportunity to render some service to the devotee. He takes greater pleasure in His pure devotee's assuming the advantageous position of ordering Him than He does in being the giver of orders. Since He is master, everyone is under His orders, and no one is above Him to order Him. But when He finds that a pure devotee is ordering Him, He obtains transcendental pleasure, although He is the infallible master of all circumstances.\n\nAs a pure devotee of the Lord, Arjuna had no desire to fight with his cousins and brothers, but he was forced to come onto the battlefield by the obstinacy of Duryodhana, who was never agreeable to any peaceful negotiation. Therefore, he was very anxious to see who the leading persons present on the battlefield were. Although there was no question of a peacemaking endeavor on the battlefield, he wanted to see them again, and to see how much they were bent upon demanding an unwanted war.

sa ghosho dhartarashtranam\nhridayani vyadarayat\nnabhas ca prithivim caiva\ntumulo 'bhyanunadayan\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsah -- that; ghoshah -- vibration; dhartarashtranam -- of the sons of Dhritarashtra; hridayani -- hearts; vyadarayat -- shattered; nabhah -- the sky; ca -- also; prithivim -- the surface of the earth; ca -- also; eva -- certainly; tumulah -- uproarious; abhyanunadayan -- resounding.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious. Vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhritarashtra.\n\nPURPORT\n\nWhen Bhishma and the others on the side of Duryodhana blew their respective conchshells, there was no heart-breaking on the part of the Pandavas. Such occurrences are not mentioned, but in this particular verse it is mentioned that the hearts of the sons of Dhritarashtra were shattered by the sounds vibrated by the Pandavas' party. This is due to the Pandavas and their confidence in Lord Krishna. One who takes shelter of the Supreme Lord has nothing to fear, even in the midst of the greatest calamity.

atrapasyat sthitan parthah\npitrin atha pitamahan\nacaryan matulan bhratrin\nputran pautran sakhims tatha\nsvasuran suhridas caiva\nsenayor ubhayor api\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntatra -- there; apasyat -- he could see; sthitan -- standing; parthah -- Arjuna; pitrin -- fathers; atha -- also; pitamahan -- grandfathers; acaryan -- teachers; matulan -- maternal uncles; bhratrin -- brothers; putran -- sons; pautran -- grandsons; sakhin -- friends; tatha -- too; svasuran -- fathers-in-law; suhridah -- well-wishers; ca -- also; eva -- certainly; senayoh -- of the armies; ubhayoh -- of both parties; api -- including.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThere Arjuna could see, within the midst of the armies of both parties, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his fathers-in-law and well-wishers.\n\nPURPORT\n\nOn the battlefield Arjuna could see all kinds of relatives. He could see persons like Bhurisrava, who were his father's contemporaries, grandfathers Bhishma and Somadatta, teachers like Dronacarya and Kripacarya, maternal uncles like Salya and Sakuni, brothers like Duryodhana, sons like Lakshmana, friends like Asvatthama, well-wishers like Kritavarma, etc. He could see also the armies which contained many of his friends.

tan samikshya sa kaunteyah\nsarvan bandhun avasthitan\nkripaya parayavishto\nvishidann idam abravit\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntan -- all of them; samikshya -- after seeing; sah -- he; kaunteyah -- the son of Kunti; sarvan -- all kinds of; bandhun -- relatives; avasthitan -- situated; kripaya -- by compassion; paraya -- of a high grade; avishtah -- overwhelmed; vishidan -- while lamenting; idam -- thus; abravit -- spoke.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nWhen the son of Kunti, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus.

arjuna uvaca\ndrishtvemam sva-janam krishna\nyuyutsum samupasthitam\nsidanti mama gatrani\nmukham ca parisushyati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\narjunah uvaca -- Arjuna said; drishtva -- after seeing; imam -- all these; sva-janam -- kinsmen; krishna -- O Krishna; yuyutsum -- all in a fighting spirit; samupasthitam -- present; sidanti -- are quivering; mama -- my; gatrani -- limbs of the body; mukham -- mouth; ca -- also; parisushyati -- is drying up.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nArjuna said: My dear Krishna, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAny man who has genuine devotion to the Lord has all the good qualities which are found in godly persons or in the demigods, whereas the nondevotee, however advanced he may be in material qualifications by education and culture, lacks in godly qualities. As such, Arjuna, just after seeing his kinsmen, friends and relatives on the battlefield, was at once overwhelmed by compassion for them who had so decided to fight amongst themselves. As far as his soldiers were concerned, he was sympathetic from the beginning, but he felt compassion even for the soldiers of the opposite party, foreseeing their imminent death. And while he was so thinking, the limbs of his body began to quiver, and his mouth became dry. He was more or less astonished to see their fighting spirit. Practically the whole community, all blood relatives of Arjuna, had come to fight with him. This overwhelmed a kind devotee like Arjuna. Although it is not mentioned here, still one can easily imagine that not only were Arjuna's bodily limbs quivering and his mouth drying up, but he was also crying out of compassion. Such symptoms in Arjuna were not due to weakness but to his softheartedness, a characteristic of a pure devotee of the Lord. It is said therefore:\n\nyasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana\nsarvair gunais tatra samasate surah\nharav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna\nmano-rathenasati dhavato bahih\n\n"One who has unflinching devotion for the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities of the demigods. But one who is not a devotee of the Lord has only material qualifications that are of little value. This is because he is hovering on the mental plane and is certain to be attracted by the glaring material energy." (Bhag. 5.18.12)

vyamisreneva vakyena\nbuddhim mohayasiva me\ntad ekam vada niscitya\nyena sreyo 'ham apnuyam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nvyamisrena -- by equivocal; iva -- certainly; vakyena -- words; buddhim -- intelligence; mohayasi -- You are bewildering; iva -- certainly; me -- my; tat -- therefore; ekam -- only one; vada -- please tell; niscitya -- ascertaining; yena -- by which; sreyah -- real benefit; aham -- I; apnuyam -- may have.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nMy intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively which will be most beneficial for me.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn the previous chapter, as a prelude to the Bhagavad-gita, many different paths were explained, such as sankhya-yoga, buddhi-yoga, control of the senses by intelligence, work without fruitive desire, and the position of the neophyte. This was all presented unsystematically. A more organized outline of the path would be necessary for action and understanding. Arjuna, therefore, wanted to clear up these apparently confusing matters so that any common man could accept them without misinterpretation. Although Krishna had no intention of confusing Arjuna by any jugglery of words, Arjuna could not follow the process of Krishna consciousness -- either by inertia or by active service. In other words, by his questions he is clearing the path of Krishna consciousness for all students who seriously want to understand the mystery of the Bhagavad-gita.

na ca saknomy avasthatum\nbhramativa ca me manah\nnimittani ca pasyami\nviparitani kesava\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- nor; ca -- also; saknomi -- am I able; avasthatum -- to stay; bhramati -- forgetting; iva -- as; ca -- and; me -- my; manah -- mind; nimittani -- causes; ca -- also; pasyami -- I see; viparitani -- just the opposite; kesava -- O killer of the demon Kesi (Krishna).\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nI am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling. I see only causes of misfortune, O Krishna, killer of the Kesi demon.\n\nPURPORT\n\nDue to his impatience, Arjuna was unable to stay on the battlefield, and he was forgetting himself on account of this weakness of his mind. Excessive attachment for material things puts a man in such a bewildering condition of existence. Bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syat (Bhag. 11.2.37): such fearfulness and loss of mental equilibrium take place in persons who are too affected by material conditions. Arjuna envisioned only painful reverses in the battlefield -- he would not be happy even by gaining victory over the foe. The words nimittani viparitani are significant. When a man sees only frustration in his expectations, he thinks, "Why am I here?" Everyone is interested in himself and his own welfare. No one is interested in the Supreme Self. Arjuna is showing ignorance of his real self-interest by Krishna's will. One's real self-interest lies in Vishnu, or Krishna. The conditioned soul forgets this, and therefore suffers material pains. Arjuna thought that his victory in the battle would only be a cause of lamentation for him.

na ca sreyo 'nupasyami\nhatva sva-janam ahave\nna kankshe vijayam krishna\nna ca rajyam sukhani ca\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- nor; ca -- also; sreyah -- good; anupasyami -- do I foresee; hatva -- by killing; sva-janam -- own kinsmen; ahave -- in the fight; na -- nor; kankshe -- do I desire; vijayam -- victory; krishna -- O Krishna; na -- nor; ca -- also; rajyam -- kingdom; sukhani -- happiness thereof; ca -- also.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nI do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I, my dear Krishna, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom, or happiness.\n\nPURPORT\n\nWithout knowing that one's self-interest is in Vishnu (or Krishna), conditioned souls are attracted by bodily relationships, hoping to be happy in such situations. In such a blind conception of life, they forget even the causes of material happiness. Arjuna appears to have even forgotten the moral codes for a kshatriya. It is said that two kinds of men, namely the kshatriya who dies directly in front of the battlefield under Krishna's personal orders and the person in the renounced order of life who is absolutely devoted to spiritual culture, are eligible to enter into the sun globe, which is so powerful and dazzling. Arjuna is reluctant even to kill his enemies, let alone his relatives. He thinks that by killing his kinsmen there would be no happiness in his life, and therefore he is not willing to fight, just as a person who does not feel hunger is not inclined to cook. He has now decided to go into the forest and live a secluded life in frustration. But as a kshatriya, he requires a kingdom for his subsistence, because the kshatriyas cannot engage themselves in any other occupation. But Arjuna has no kingdom. Arjuna's sole opportunity for gaining a kingdom lies in fighting with his cousins and brothers and reclaiming the kingdom inherited from his father, which he does not like to do. Therefore he considers himself fit to go to the forest to live a secluded life of frustration.

kim no rajyena govinda\nkim bhogair jivitena va\nyesham arthe kankshitam no\nrajyam bhogah sukhani ca\n\nta ime 'vasthita yuddhe\npranams tyaktva dhanani ca\nacaryah pitarah putras\ntathaiva ca pitamahah\n\nmatulah svasurah pautrah\nsyalah sambandhinas tatha\netan na hantum icchami\nghnato 'pi madhusudana\n\napi trailokya-rajyasya\nhetoh kim nu mahi-krite\nnihatya dhartarashtran nah\nka pritih syaj janardana\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkim -- what use; nah -- to us; rajyena -- is the kingdom; govinda -- O Krishna; kim -- what; bhogaih -- enjoyment; jivitena -- living; va -- either; yesham -- of whom; arthe -- for the sake; kankshitam -- is desired; nah -- by us; rajyam -- kingdom; bhogah -- material enjoyment; sukhani -- all happiness; ca -- also; te -- all of them; ime -- these; avasthitah -- situated; yuddhe -- on this battlefield; pranan -- lives; tyaktva -- giving up; dhanani -- riches; ca -- also; acaryah -- teachers; pitarah -- fathers; putrah -- sons; tatha -- as well as; eva -- certainly; ca -- also; pitamahah -- grandfathers; matulah -- maternal uncles; svasurah -- fathers-in-law; pautrah -- grandsons; syalah -- brothers-in-law; sambandhinah -- relatives; tatha -- as well as; etan -- all these; na -- never; hantum -- to kill; icchami -- do I wish; ghnatah -- being killed; api -- even; madhusudana -- O killer of the demon Madhu (Krishna); api -- even if; trai-lokya -- of the three worlds; rajyasya -- for the kingdom; hetoh -- in exchange; kim nu -- what to speak of; mahi-krite -- for the sake of the earth; nihatya -- by killing; dhartarashtran -- the sons of Dhritarashtra; nah -- our; ka -- what; pritih -- pleasure; syat -- will there be; janardana -- O maintainer of all living entities.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO Govinda, of what avail to us are a kingdom, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed on this battlefield? O Madhusudana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, why should I wish to kill them, even though they might otherwise kill me? O maintainer of all living entities, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth. What pleasure will we derive from killing the sons of Dhritarashtra?\n\nPURPORT\n\nArjuna has addressed Lord Krishna as Govinda because Krishna is the object of all pleasures for cows and the senses. By using this significant word, Arjuna indicates that Krishna should understand what will satisfy Arjuna's senses. But Govinda is not meant for satisfying our senses. If we try to satisfy the senses of Govinda, however, then automatically our own senses are satisfied. Materially, everyone wants to satisfy his senses, and he wants God to be the order supplier for such satisfaction. The Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent that they may covet. But when one takes the opposite way -- namely, when one tries to satisfy the senses of Govinda without desiring to satisfy one's own senses -- then by the grace of Govinda all desires of the living entity are satisfied. Arjuna's deep affection for community and family members is exhibited here partly due to his natural compassion for them. He is therefore not prepared to fight. Everyone wants to show his opulence to friends and relatives, but Arjuna fears that all his relatives and friends will be killed on the battlefield and he will be unable to share his opulence after victory. This is a typical calculation of material life. The transcendental life, however, is different. Since a devotee wants to satisfy the desires of the Lord, he can, Lord willing, accept all kinds of opulence for the service of the Lord, and if the Lord is not willing, he should not accept a farthing. Arjuna did not want to kill his relatives, and if there were any need to kill them, he desired that Krishna kill them personally. At this point he did not know that Krishna had already killed them before their coming into the battlefield and that he was only to become an instrument for Krishna. This fact is disclosed in following chapters. As a natural devotee of the Lord, Arjuna did not like to retaliate against his miscreant cousins and brothers, but it was the Lord's plan that they should all be killed. The devotee of the Lord does not retaliate against the wrongdoer, but the Lord does not tolerate any mischief done to the devotee by the miscreants. The Lord can excuse a person on His own account, but He excuses no one who has done harm to His devotees. Therefore the Lord was determined to kill the miscreants, although Arjuna wanted to excuse them.

apam evasrayed asman\nhatvaitan atatayinah\ntasman narha vayam hantum\ndhartarashtran sa-bandhavan\nsva-janam hi katham hatva\nsukhinah syama madhava\n\nSYNONYMS\n\npapam -- vices; eva -- certainly; asrayet -- must come upon; asman -- us; hatva -- by killing; etan -- all these; atatayinah -- aggressors; tasmat -- therefore; na -- never; arhah -- deserving; vayam -- we; hantum -- to kill; dhartarashtran -- the sons of Dhritarashtra; sa-bandhavan -- along with friends; sva-janam -- kinsmen; hi -- certainly; katham -- how; hatva -- by killing; sukhinah -- happy; syama -- will we become; madhava -- O Krishna, husband of the goddess of fortune.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhritarashtra and our friends. What should we gain, O Krishna, husband of the goddess of fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen?\n\nPURPORT\n\nAccording to Vedic injunctions there are six kinds of aggressors: (1) a poison giver, (2) one who sets fire to the house, (3) one who attacks with deadly weapons, (4) one who plunders riches, (5) one who occupies another's land, and (6) one who kidnaps a wife. Such aggressors are at once to be killed, and no sin is incurred by killing such aggressors. Such killing of aggressors is quite befitting any ordinary man, but Arjuna was not an ordinary person. He was saintly by character, and therefore he wanted to deal with them in saintliness. This kind of saintliness, however, is not for a kshatriya. Although a responsible man in the administration of a state is required to be saintly, he should not be cowardly. For example, Lord Rama was so saintly that people even now are anxious to live in the kingdom of Lord Rama (rama-rajya), but Lord Rama never showed any cowardice. Ravana was an aggressor against Rama because Ravana kidnapped Rama's wife, Sita, but Lord Rama gave him sufficient lessons, unparalleled in the history of the world. In Arjuna's case, however, one should consider the special type of aggressors, namely his own grandfather, own teacher, friends, sons, grandsons, etc. Because of them, Arjuna thought that he should not take the severe steps necessary against ordinary aggressors. Besides that, saintly persons are advised to forgive. Such injunctions for saintly persons are more important than any political emergency. Arjuna considered that rather than kill his own kinsmen for political reasons, it would be better to forgive them on grounds of religion and saintly behavior. He did not, therefore, consider such killing profitable simply for the matter of temporary bodily happiness. After all, kingdoms and pleasures derived therefrom are not permanent, so why should he risk his life and eternal salvation by killing his own kinsmen? Arjuna's addressing of Krishna as "Madhava," or the husband of the goddess of fortune, is also significant in this connection. He wanted to point out to Krishna that, as husband of the goddess of fortune, He should not induce Arjuna to take up a matter which would ultimately bring about misfortune. Krishna, however, never brings misfortune to anyone, to say nothing of His devotees.

yady apy ete na pasyanti\nlobhopahata-cetasah\nkula-kshaya-kritam dosham\nmitra-drohe ca patakam\n\nkatham na jneyam asmabhih\npapad asman nivartitum\nkula-kshaya-kritam dosham\nprapasyadbhir janardana\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyadi -- if; api -- even; ete -- they; na -- do not; pasyanti -- see; lobha -- by greed; upahata -- overpowered; cetasah -- their hearts; kula-kshaya -- in killing the family; kritam -- done; dosham -- fault; mitra-drohe -- in quarreling with friends; ca -- also; patakam -- sinful reactions; katham -- why; na -- should not; jneyam -- be known; asmabhih -- by us; papat -- from sins; asmat -- these; nivartitum -- to cease; kula-kshaya -- in the destruction of a dynasty; kritam -- done; dosham -- crime; prapasyadbhih -- by those who can see; janardana -- O Krishna.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO Janardana, although these men, their hearts overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one's family or quarreling with friends, why should we, who can see the crime in destroying a family, engage in these acts of sin?\n\nPURPORT\n\nA kshatriya is not supposed to refuse to battle or gamble when he is so invited by some rival party. Under such an obligation, Arjuna could not refuse to fight, because he had been challenged by the party of Duryodhana. In this connection, Arjuna considered that the other party might be blind to the effects of such a challenge. Arjuna, however, could see the evil consequences and could not accept the challenge. Obligation is actually binding when the effect is good, but when the effect is otherwise, then no one can be bound. Considering all these pros and cons, Arjuna decided not to fight.

kula-kshaye pranasyanti\nkula-dharmah sanatanah\ndharme nashte kulam kritsnam\nadharmo 'bhibhavaty uta\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkula-kshaye -- in destroying the family; pranasyanti -- become vanquished; kula-dharmah -- the family traditions; sanatanah -- eternal; dharme -- religion; nashte -- being destroyed; kulam -- family; kritsnam -- whole; adharmah -- irreligion; abhibhavati -- transforms; uta -- it is said.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nWith the destruction of dynasty, the eternal family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn the system of the varnasrama institution there are many principles of religious traditions to help members of the family grow properly and attain spiritual values. The elder members are responsible for such purifying processes in the family, beginning from birth to death. But on the death of the elder members, such family traditions of purification may stop, and the remaining younger family members may develop irreligious habits and thereby lose their chance for spiritual salvation. Therefore, for no purpose should the elder members of the family be slain.

adharmabhibhavat krishna\npradushyanti kula-striyah\nstrishu dushtasu varshneya\njayate varna-sankarah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nadharma -- irreligion; abhibhavat -- having become predominant; krishna -- O Krishna; pradushyanti -- become polluted; kula-striyah -- family ladies; strishu -- by the womanhood; dushtasu -- being so polluted; varshneya -- O descendant of Vrishni; jayate -- comes into being; varna-sankarah -- unwanted progeny.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nWhen irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krishna, the women of the family become polluted, and from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant of Vrishni, comes unwanted progeny.\n\nPURPORT\n\nGood population in human society is the basic principle for peace, prosperity and spiritual progress in life. The varnasrama religion's principles were so designed that the good population would prevail in society for the general spiritual progress of state and community. Such population depends on the chastity and faithfulness of its womanhood. As children are very prone to be misled, women are similarly very prone to degradation. Therefore, both children and women require protection by the elder members of the family. By being engaged in various religious practices, women will not be misled into adultery. According to Canakya Pandita, women are generally not very intelligent and therefore not trustworthy. So the different family traditions of religious activities should always engage them, and thus their chastity and devotion will give birth to a good population eligible for participating in the varnasrama system. On the failure of such varnasrama-dharma, naturally the women become free to act and mix with men, and thus adultery is indulged in at the risk of unwanted population. Irresponsible men also provoke adultery in society, and thus unwanted children flood the human race at the risk of war and pestilence.

sankaro narakayaiva\nkula-ghnanam kulasya ca\npatanti pitaro hy esham\nlupta-pindodaka-kriyah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsankarah -- such unwanted children; narakaya -- make for hellish life; eva -- certainly; kula-ghnanam -- for those who are killers of the family; kulasya -- for the family; ca -- also; patanti -- fall down; pitarah -- forefathers; hi -- certainly; esham -- of them; lupta -- stopped; pinda -- of offerings of food; udaka -- and water; kriyah -- performances.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAn increase of unwanted population certainly causes hellish life both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. The ancestors of such corrupt families fall down, because the performances for offering them food and water are entirely stopped.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAccording to the rules and regulations of fruitive activities, there is a need to offer periodical food and water to the forefathers of the family. This offering is performed by worship of Vishnu, because eating the remnants of food offered to Vishnu can deliver one from all kinds of sinful actions. Sometimes the forefathers may be suffering from various types of sinful reactions, and sometimes some of them cannot even acquire a gross material body and are forced to remain in subtle bodies as ghosts. Thus, when remnants of prasadam food are offered to forefathers by descendants, the forefathers are released from ghostly or other kinds of miserable life. Such help rendered to forefathers is a family tradition, and those who are not in devotional life are required to perform such rituals. One who is engaged in the devotional life is not required to perform such actions. Simply by performing devotional service, one can deliver hundreds and thousands of forefathers from all kinds of misery. It is stated in the Bhagavatam (11.5.41):\n\ndevarshi-bhutapta-nrinam pitrinam\nna kinkaro nayam rini ca rajan\nsarvatmana yah saranam saranyam\ngato mukundam parihritya kartam\n\n"Anyone who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, the giver of liberation, giving up all kinds of obligation, and has taken to the path in all seriousness, owes neither duties nor obligations to the demigods, sages, general living entities, family members, humankind or forefathers." Such obligations are automatically fulfilled by performance of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

doshair etaih kula-ghnanam\nvarna-sankara-karakaih\nutsadyante jati-dharmah\nkula-dharmas ca sasvatah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ndoshaih -- by such faults; etaih -- all these; kula-ghnanam -- of the destroyers of the family; varna-sankara -- of unwanted children; karakaih -- which are causes; utsadyante -- are devastated; jati-dharmah -- community projects; kula-dharmah -- family traditions; ca -- also; sasvatah -- eternal.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nBy the evil deeds of those who destroy the family tradition and thus give rise to unwanted children, all kinds of community projects and family welfare activities are devastated.\n\nPURPORT\n\nCommunity projects for the four orders of human society, combined with family welfare activities, as they are set forth by the institution of sanatana-dharma, or varnasrama-dharma, are designed to enable the human being to attain his ultimate salvation. Therefore, the breaking of the sanatana-dharma tradition by irresponsible leaders of society brings about chaos in that society, and consequently people forget the aim of life -- Vishnu. Such leaders are called blind, and persons who follow such leaders are sure to be led into chaos.

utsanna-kula-dharmanam\nmanushyanam janardana\nnarake niyatam vaso\nbhavatity anususruma\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nutsanna -- spoiled; kula-dharmanam -- of those who have the family traditions; manushyanam -- of such men; janardana -- O Krishna; narake -- in hell; niyatam -- always; vasah -- residence; bhavati -- it so becomes; iti -- thus; anususruma -- I have heard by disciplic succession.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO Krishna, maintainer of the people, I have heard by disciplic succession that those who destroy family traditions dwell always in hell.\n\nPURPORT\n\nArjuna bases his argument not on his own personal experience, but on what he has heard from the authorities. That is the way of receiving real knowledge. One cannot reach the real point of factual knowledge without being helped by the right person who is already established in that knowledge. There is a system in the varnasrama institution by which before death one has to undergo the process of atonement for his sinful activities. One who is always engaged in sinful activities must utilize the process of atonement called the prayascitta. Without doing so, one surely will be transferred to hellish planets to undergo miserable lives as the result of sinful activities.

aho bata mahat papam\nkartum vyavasita vayam\nyad rajya-sukha-lobhena\nhantum sva-janam udyatah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\naho -- alas; bata -- how strange it is; mahat -- great; papam -- sins; kartum -- to perform; vyavasitah -- have decided; vayam -- we; yat -- because; rajya-sukha-lobhena -- driven by greed for royal happiness; hantum -- to kill; sva-janam -- kinsmen; udyatah -- trying.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAlas, how strange it is that we are preparing to commit greatly sinful acts. Driven by the desire to enjoy royal happiness, we are intent on killing our own kinsmen.\n\nPURPORT\n\nDriven by selfish motives, one may be inclined to such sinful acts as the killing of one's own brother, father or mother. There are many such instances in the history of the world. But Arjuna, being a saintly devotee of the Lord, is always conscious of moral principles and therefore takes care to avoid such activities.

yadi mam apratikaram\nasastram sastra-panayah\ndhartarashtra rane hanyus\ntan me kshemataram bhavet\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyadi -- even if; mam -- me; apratikaram -- without being resistant; asastram -- without being fully equipped; sastra-panayah -- those with weapons in hand; dhartarashtrah -- the sons of Dhritarashtra; rane -- on the battlefield; hanyuh -- may kill; tat -- that; me -- for me; kshema-taram -- better; bhavet -- would be.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nBetter for me if the sons of Dhritarashtra, weapons in hand, were to kill me unarmed and unresisting on the battlefield.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIt is the custom -- according to kshatriya fighting principles -- that an unarmed and unwilling foe should not be attacked. Arjuna, however, decided that even if attacked by the enemy in such an awkward position, he would not fight. He did not consider how much the other party was bent upon fighting. All these symptoms are due to soft-heartedness resulting from his being a great devotee of the Lord.

sanjaya uvaca\nevam uktvarjunah sankhye\nrathopastha upavisat\nvisrijya sa-saram capam\nsoka-samvigna-manasah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsanjayah uvaca -- Sanjaya said; evam -- thus; uktva -- saying; arjunah -- Arjuna; sankhye -- in the battlefield; ratha -- of the chariot; upasthe -- on the seat; upavisat -- sat down again; visrijya -- putting aside; sa-saram -- along with arrows; capam -- the bow; soka -- by lamentation; samvigna -- distressed; manasah -- within the mind.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSanjaya said: Arjuna, having thus spoken on the battlefield, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed with grief.\n\nPURPORT\n\nWhile observing the situation of his enemy, Arjuna stood up on the chariot, but he was so afflicted with lamentation that he sat down again, setting aside his bow and arrows. Such a kind and soft-hearted person, in the devotional service of the Lord, is fit to receive self-knowledge.

vepathus ca sarire me\nroma-harshas ca jayate\ngandivam sramsate hastat\ntvak caiva paridahyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nvepathuh -- trembling of the body; ca -- also; sarire -- on the body; me -- my; roma-harshah -- standing of hair on end; ca -- also; jayate -- is taking place; gandivam -- the bow of Arjuna; sramsate -- is slipping; hastat -- from the hand; tvak -- skin; ca -- also; eva -- certainly; paridahyate -- is burning.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nMy whole body is trembling, my hair is standing on end, my bow Gandiva is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere are two kinds of trembling of the body, and two kinds of standings of the hair on end. Such phenomena occur either in great spiritual ecstasy or out of great fear under material conditions. There is no fear in transcendental realization. Arjuna's symptoms in this situation are out of material fear -- namely, loss of life. This is evident from other symptoms also; he became so impatient that his famous bow Gandiva was slipping from his hands, and, because his heart was burning within him, he was feeling a burning sensation of the skin. All these are due to a material conception of life.

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sanjaya uvaca\ntam tatha kripayavishtam\nasru-purnakulekshanam\nvishidantam idam vakyam\nuvaca madhusudanah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsanjayah uvaca -- Sanjaya said; tam -- unto Arjuna; tatha -- thus; kripaya -- by compassion; avishtam -- overwhelmed; asru-purna-akula -- full of tears; ikshanam -- eyes; vishidantam -- lamenting; idam -- these; vakyam -- words; uvaca -- said; madhu-sudanah -- the killer of Madhu.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusudana, Krishna, spoke the following words.\n\nPURPORT\n\nMaterial compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization. The word "Madhusudana" is significant in this verse. Lord Krishna killed the demon Madhu, and now Arjuna wanted Krishna to kill the demon of misunderstanding that had overtaken him in the discharge of his duty. No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress -- the gross material body. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress is called a sudra, or one who laments unnecessarily. Arjuna was a kshatriya, and this conduct was not expected from him. Lord Krishna, however, can dissipate the lamentation of the ignorant man, and for this purpose the Bhagavad-gita was sung by Him. This chapter instructs us in self-realization by an analytical study of the material body and the spirit soul, as explained by the supreme authority, Lord Sri Krishna. This realization is possible when one works without attachment to fruitive results and is situated in the fixed conception of the real self.

sri-bhagavan uvaca\nkutas tva kasmalam idam\nvishame samupasthitam\nanarya-jushtam asvargyam\nakirti-karam arjuna\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; kutah -- wherefrom; tva -- unto you; kasmalam -- dirtiness; idam -- this lamentation; vishame -- in this hour of crisis; samupasthitam -- arrived; anarya -- persons who do not know the value of life; jushtam -- practiced by; asvargyam -- which does not lead to higher planets; akirti -- infamy; karam -- the cause of; arjuna -- O Arjuna.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planets but to infamy.\n\nPURPORT\n\nKrishna and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are identical. Therefore Lord Krishna is referred to as Bhagavan throughout the Gita. Bhagavan is the ultimate in the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding, namely Brahman, or the impersonal all-pervasive spirit; Paramatma, or the localized aspect of the Supreme within the heart of all living entities; and Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11) this conception of the Absolute Truth is explained thus:\n\nvadanti tat tattva-vidas\ntattvam yaj jnanam advayam\nbrahmeti paramatmeti\nbhagavan iti sabdyate\n\n"The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding by the knower of the Absolute Truth, and all of them are identical. Such phases of the Absolute Truth are expressed as Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan."\n\nThese three divine aspects can be explained by the example of the sun, which also has three different aspects, namely the sunshine, the sun's surface and the sun planet itself. One who studies the sunshine only is the preliminary student. One who understands the sun's surface is further advanced. And one who can enter into the sun planet is the highest. Ordinary students who are satisfied by simply understanding the sunshine -- its universal pervasiveness and the glaring effulgence of its impersonal nature -- may be compared to those who can realize only the Brahman feature of the Absolute Truth. The student who has advanced still further can know the sun disc, which is compared to knowledge of the Paramatma feature of the Absolute Truth. And the student who can enter into the heart of the sun planet is compared to those who realize the personal features of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Therefore, the bhaktas, or the transcendentalists who have realized the Bhagavan feature of the Absolute Truth, are the topmost transcendentalists, although all students who are engaged in the study of the Absolute Truth are engaged in the same subject matter. The sunshine, the sun disc and the inner affairs of the sun planet cannot be separated from one another, and yet the students of the three different phases are not in the same category.\n\nThe Sanskrit word bhagavan is explained by the great authority Parasara Muni, the father of Vyasadeva. The Supreme Personality who possesses all riches, all strength, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation is called Bhagavan. There are many persons who are very rich, very powerful, very beautiful, very famous, very learned, and very much detached, but no one can claim that he possesses all riches, all strength, etc., entirely. Only Krishna can claim this because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No living entity, including Brahma, Lord Siva, or Narayana, can possess opulences as fully as Krishna. Therefore it is concluded in the Brahma-samhita by Lord Brahma himself that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one is equal to or above Him. He is the primeval Lord, or Bhagavan, known as Govinda, and He is the supreme cause of all causes:\n\nisvarah paramah krishnah\nsac-cid-ananda-vigrahah\nanadir adir govindah\nsarva-karana-karanam\n\n"There are many personalities possessing the qualities of Bhagavan, but Krishna is the supreme because none can excel Him. He is the Supreme Person, and His body is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. He is the primeval Lord Govinda and the cause of all causes." (Brahma-samhita 5.1)\n\nIn the Bhagavatam also there is a list of many incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Krishna is described as the original Personality of Godhead, from whom many, many incarnations and Personalities of Godhead expand:\n\nete camsa-kalah pumsah\nkrishnas tu bhagavan svayam\nindrari-vyakulam lokam\nmridayanti yuge yuge\n\n"All the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith are either plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of the Supreme Godhead, but Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself." (Bhag. 1.3.28)\n\nTherefore, Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, the source of both the Supersoul and the impersonal Brahman.\n\nIn the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna's lamentation for his kinsmen is certainly unbecoming, and therefore. Krishna expressed His surprise with the word kutah, "wherefrom." Such impurities were never expected from a person belonging to the civilized class of men known as Aryans. The word Aryan is applicable to persons who know the value of life and have a civilization based on spiritual realization. Persons who are led by the material conception of life do not know that the aim of life is realization of the Absolute Truth, Vishnu, or Bhagavan, and they are captivated by the external features of the material world, and therefore they do not know what liberation is. Persons who have no knowledge of liberation from material bondage are called non-Aryans. Although Arjuna was a kshatriya, he was deviating from his prescribed duties by declining to fight. This act of cowardice is described as befitting the non-Aryans. Such deviation from duty does not help one in the progress of spiritual life, nor does it even give one the opportunity to become famous in this world. Lord Krishna did not approve of the so-called compassion of Arjuna for his kinsmen.

klaibyam ma sma gamah partha\nnaitat tvayy upapadyate\nkshudram hridaya-daurbalyam\ntyaktvottishtha parantapa\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nklaibyam -- impotence; ma sma -- do not; gamah -- take to; partha -- O son of Pritha; na -- never; etat -- this; tvayi -- unto you; upadyate -- is befitting; kshudram -- petty; hridaya -- of the heart; daurbalyam -- weakness; tyaktva -- giving up; uttishtha -- get up; param-tapa -- O chastiser of the enemies.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO son of Pritha, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.\n\nPURPORT\n\nArjuna was addressed as the son of Pritha, who happened to be the sister of Krishna's father Vasudeva. Therefore Arjuna had a blood relationship with Krishna. If the son of a kshatriya declines to fight, he is a kshatriya in name only, and if the son of a brahmana acts impiously, he is a brahmana in name only. Such kshatriyas and brahmanas are unworthy sons of their fathers; therefore, Krishna did not want Arjuna to become an unworthy son of a kshatriya. Arjuna was the most intimate friend of Krishna, and Krishna was directly guiding him on the chariot; but in spite of all these credits, if Arjuna abandoned the battle he would be committing an infamous act. Therefore Krishna said that such an attitude in Arjuna did not fit his personality. Arjuna might argue that he would give up the battle on the grounds of his magnanimous attitude for the most respectable Bhishma and his relatives, but Krishna considered that sort of magnanimity mere weakness of heart. Such false magnanimity was not approved by any authority. Therefore, such magnanimity or so-called nonviolence should be given up by persons like Arjuna under the direct guidance of Krishna.

arjuna uvaca\nkatham bhishmam aham sankhye\ndronam ca madhusudana\nishubhih pratiyotsyami\npujarhav ari-sudana\n\nSYNONYMS\n\narjunah uvaca -- Arjuna said; katham -- how; bhishmam -- Bhishma; aham -- I; sankhye -- in the fight; dronam -- Drona; ca -- also; madhu-sudana -- O killer of Madhu; ishubhih -- with arrows; pratiyotsyami -- shall counterattack; puja-arhau -- those who are worshipable; ari-sudana -- O killer of the enemies.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nArjuna said: O killer of enemies, O killer of Madhu, how can I counterattack with arrows in battle men like Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship?\n\nPURPORT\n\nRespectable superiors like Bhishma the grandfather and Dronacarya the teacher are always worshipable. Even if they attack, they should not be counterattacked. It is general etiquette that superiors are not to be offered even a verbal fight. Even if they are sometimes harsh in behavior, they should not be harshly treated. Then, how is it possible for Arjuna to counterattack them? Would Krishna ever attack His own grandfather, Ugrasena, or His teacher, Sandipani Muni? These were some of the arguments offered by Arjuna to Krishna.

gurun ahatva hi mahanubhavan\nsreyo bhoktum bhaikshyam apiha loke\nhatvartha-kamams tu gurun ihaiva\nbhunjiya bhogan rudhira-pradigdhan\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ngurun -- the superiors; ahatva -- not killing; hi -- certainly; maha-anubhavan -- great souls; sreyah -- it is better; bhoktum -- to enjoy life; bhaikshyam -- by begging; api -- even; iha -- in this life; loke -- in this world; hatva -- killing; artha -- gain; kaman -- desiring; tu -- but; gurun -- superiors; iha -- in this world; eva -- certainly; bhunjiya -- one has to enjoy; bhogan -- enjoyable things; rudhira -- blood; pradigdhan -- tainted with.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nIt would be better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of the lives of great souls who are my teachers. Even though desiring worldly gain, they are superiors. If they are killed, everything we enjoy will be tainted with blood.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAccording to scriptural codes, a teacher who engages in an abominable action and has lost his sense of discrimination is fit to be abandoned. Bhishma and Drona were obliged to take the side of Duryodhana because of his financial assistance, although they should not have accepted such a position simply on financial considerations. Under the circumstances, they have lost the respectability of teachers. But Arjuna thinks that nevertheless they remain his superiors, and therefore to enjoy material profits after killing them would mean to enjoy spoils tainted with blood.

na caitad vidmah kataran no gariyo\nyad va jayema yadi va no jayeyuh\nyan eva hatva na jijivishamas\nte 'vasthitah pramukhe dhartarashtrah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- nor; ca -- also; etat -- this; vidmah -- do we know; katarat -- which; nah -- for us; gariyah -- better; yat va -- whether; jayema -- we may conquer; yadi -- if; va -- or; nah -- us; jayeyuh -- they conquer; yan -- those who; eva -- certainly; hatva -- by killing; na -- never; jijivishamah -- we would want to live; te -- all of them; avasthitah -- are situated; pramukhe -- in the front; dhartarashtrah -- the sons of Dhritarashtra.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nNor do we know which is better -- conquering them or being conquered by them. If we killed the sons of Dhritarashtra, we should not care to live. Yet they are now standing before us on the battlefield.\n\nPURPORT\n\nArjuna did not know whether he should fight and risk unnecessary violence, although fighting is the duty of the kshatriyas, or whether he should refrain and live by begging. If he did not conquer the enemy, begging would be his only means of subsistence. Nor was there certainty of victory, because either side might emerge victorious. Even if victory awaited them (and their cause was justified), still, if the sons of Dhritarashtra died in battle, it would be very difficult to live in their absence. Under the circumstances, that would be another kind of defeat for them. All these considerations by Arjuna definitely proved that not only was he a great devotee of the Lord but he was also highly enlightened and had complete control over his mind and senses. His desire to live by begging, although he was born in the royal household, is another sign of detachment. He was truly virtuous, as these qualities, combined with his faith in the words of instruction of Sri Krishna (his spiritual master), indicate. It is concluded that Arjuna was quite fit for liberation. Unless the senses are controlled, there is no chance of elevation to the platform of knowledge, and without knowledge and devotion there is no chance of liberation. Arjuna was competent in all these attributes, over and above his enormous attributes in his material relationships.

karpanya-doshopahata-svabhavah\npricchami tvam dharma-sammudha-cetah\nyac chreyah syan niscitam bruhi tan me\nsishyas te 'ham sadhi mam tvam prapannam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkarpanya -- of miserliness; dosha -- by the weakness; upahata -- being afflicted; sva-bhavah -- characteristics; pricchami -- I am asking; tvam -- unto You; dharma -- religion; sammudha -- bewildered; cetah -- in heart; yat -- what; sreyah -- all-good; syat -- may be; niscitam -- confidently; bruhi -- tell; tat -- that; me -- unto me; sishyah -- disciple; te -- Your; aham -- I am; sadhi -- just instruct; mam -- me; tvam -- unto You; prapannam -- surrendered.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nNow I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.\n\nPURPORT\n\nBy nature's own way the complete system of material activities is a source of perplexity for everyone. In every step there is perplexity, and therefore it behooves one to approach a bona fide spiritual master who can give one proper guidance for executing the purpose of life. All Vedic literatures advise us to approach a bona fide spiritual master to get free from the perplexities of life, which happen without our desire. They are like a forest fire that somehow blazes without being set by anyone. Similarly, the world situation is such' that perplexities of life automatically appear, without our wanting such confusion. No one wants fire, and yet it takes place, and we become perplexed. The Vedic wisdom therefore advises that in order to solve the perplexities of life and to understand the science of the solution, one must approach a spiritual master who is in the disciplic succession. A person with a bona fide spiritual master is supposed to know everything. One should not, therefore, remain in material perplexities but should approach a spiritual master. This is the purport of this verse.\n\nWho is the man in material perplexities? It is he who does not understand the problems of life. In the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad (3.8.10) the perplexed man is described as follows: yo va etad aksharam gargy aviditvasman lokat praiti sa kripanah. "He is a miserly man who does not solve the problems of life as a human and who thus quits this world like the cats and dogs, without understanding the science of self-realization." This human form of life is a most valuable asset for the living entity who can utilize it for solving the problems of life; therefore, one who does not utilize this opportunity properly is a miser. On the other hand, there is the brahmana, or he who is intelligent enough to utilize this body to solve all the problems of life. Ya etad aksharam gargi viditvasmat lokat praiti sa brahmanah.\n\nThe kripanas, or miserly persons, waste their time in being overly affectionate for family, society, country, etc., in the material conception of life. One is often attached to family life, namely to wife, children and other members, on the basis of "skin disease." The kripana thinks that he is able to protect his family members from death; or the kripana thinks that his family or society can save him from the verge of death. Such family attachment can be found even in the lower animals, who take care of children also. Being intelligent, Arjuna could understand that his affection for family members and his wish to protect them from death were the causes of his perplexities. Although he could understand that his duty to fight was awaiting him, still, on account of miserly weakness, he could not discharge the duties. He is therefore asking Lord Krishna, the supreme spiritual master, to make a definite solution. He offers himself to Krishna as a disciple. He wants to stop friendly talks. Talks between the master and the disciple are serious, and now Arjuna wants to talk very seriously before the recognized spiritual master. Krishna is therefore the original spiritual master of the science of Bhagavad-gita, and Arjuna is the first disciple for understanding the Gita. How Arjuna understands the Bhagavad-gita is stated in the Gita itself. And yet foolish mundane scholars explain that one need not submit to Krishna as a person, but to "the unborn within Krishna." There is no difference between Krishna's within and without. And one who has no sense of this understanding is the greatest fool in trying to understand Bhagavad-gita.

na hi prapasyami mamapanudyad\nyac chokam ucchoshanam indriyanam\navapya bhumav asapatnam riddham\nrajyam suranam api cadhipatyam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- do not; hi -- certainly; prapasyami -- I see; mama -- my; apanudyat -- can drive away; yat -- that which; sokam -- lamentation; ucchoshanam -- drying up; indriyanam -- of the senses; avapya -- achieving; bhumau -- on the earth; asapatnam -- without rival; riddham -- prosperous; rajyam -- kingdom; suranam -- of the demigods; api -- even; ca -- also; adhipatyam -- supremacy.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nI can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous, unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAlthough Arjuna was putting forward so many arguments based on knowledge of the principles of religion and moral codes, it appears that he was unable to solve his real problem without the help of the spiritual master, Lord Sri Krishna. He could understand that his so-called knowledge was useless in driving away his problems, which were drying up his whole existence; and it was impossible for him to solve such perplexities without the help of a spiritual master like Lord Krishna. Academic knowledge, scholarship, high position, etc., are all useless in solving the problems of life; help can be given only by a spiritual master like Krishna. Therefore, the conclusion is that a spiritual master who is one hundred percent Krishna conscious is the bona fide spiritual master, for he can solve the problems of life. Lord Caitanya said that one who is master in the science of Krishna consciousness, regardless of his social position, is the real spiritual master.\n\nkiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya\nyei krishna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya\n\n"It does not matter whether a person is a vipra [learned scholar in Vedic wisdom] or is born in a lower family, or is in the renounced order of life -- if he is master in the science of Krishna, he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual master." (Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 8.128) So without being a master in the science of Krishna consciousness, no one is a bona fide spiritual master. It is also said in Vedic literature:\n\nshat-karma-nipuno vipro\nmantra-tantra-visaradah\navaishnavo gurur na syad\nvaishnavah sva-paco guruh\n\n"A scholarly brahmana, expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a Vaishnava, or expert in the science of Krishna consciousness. But a person born in a family of a lower caste can become a spiritual master if he is a Vaishnava, or Krishna conscious." (Padma Purana)\n\nThe problems of material existence -- birth, old age, disease and death -- cannot be counteracted by accumulation of wealth and economic development. In many parts of the world there are states which are replete with all facilities of life, which are full of wealth and economically developed, yet the problems of material existence are still present. They are seeking peace in different ways, but they can achieve real happiness only if they consult Krishna, or the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam -- which constitute the science of Krishna -- through the bona fide representative of Krishna, the man in Krishna consciousness.\n\nIf economic development and material comforts could drive away one's lamentations for family, social, national or international inebrieties, then Arjuna would not have said that even an unrivaled kingdom on earth or supremacy like that of the demigods in the heavenly planets would be unable to drive away his lamentations. He sought, therefore, refuge in Krishna consciousness, and that is the right path for peace and harmony. Economic development or supremacy over the world can be finished at any moment by the cataclysms of material nature. Even elevation into a higher planetary situation, as men are now seeking on the moon planet, can also be finished at one stroke. The Bhagavad-gita confirms this: kshine punye martya-lokam visanti. "When the results of pious activities are finished, one falls down again from the peak of happiness to the lowest status of life." Many politicians of the world have fallen down in that way. Such downfalls only constitute more causes for lamentation.\n\nTherefore, if we want to curb lamentation for good, then we have to take shelter of Krishna, as Arjuna is seeking to do. So Arjuna asked Krishna to solve his problem definitely, and that is the way of Krishna consciousness.

sanjaya uvaca\nevam uktva hrishikesam\ngudakesah parantapah\nna yotsya iti govindam\nuktva tushnim babhuva ha\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsanjayah uvaca -- Sanjaya said; evam -- thus; uktva -- speaking; hrishikesam -- unto Krishna, the master of the senses; gudakesah -- Arjuna, the master of curbing ignorance; parantapah -- the chastiser of the enemies; na yotsye -- I shall not fight; iti -- thus; govindam -- unto Krishna, the giver of pleasure to the senses; uktva -- saying; tushnim -- silent; babhuva -- became; ha -- certainly.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSanjaya said: Having spoken thus, Arjuna, chastiser of enemies, told Krishna, "Govinda, I shall not fight," and fell silent.\n\nPURPORT\n\nDhritarashtra must have been very glad to understand that Arjuna was not going to fight and was instead leaving the battlefield for the begging profession. But Sanjaya disappointed him again in relating that Arjuna was competent to kill his enemies (parantapah). Although Arjuna was, for the time being, overwhelmed with false grief due to family affection, he surrendered unto Krishna, the supreme spiritual master, as a disciple. This indicated that he would soon be free from the false lamentation resulting from family affection and would be enlightened with perfect knowledge of self-realization, or Krishna consciousness, and would then surely fight. Thus Dhritarashtra's joy would be frustrated, since Arjuna would be enlightened by Krishna and would fight to the end.

tam uvaca hrishikesah\nprahasann iva bharata\nsenayor ubhayor madhye\nvishidantam idam vacah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntam -- unto him; uvaca -- said; hrishikesah -- the master of the senses, Krishna; prahasan -- smiling; iva -- like that; bharata -- O Dhritarashtra, descendant of Bharata; senayoh -- of the armies; ubhayoh -- of both parties; madhye -- between; vishidantam -- unto the lamenting one; idam -- the following; vacah -- words.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO descendant of Bharata, at that time Krishna, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe talk was going on between intimate friends, namely the Hrishikesa and the Gudakesa. As friends, both of them were on the same level, but one of them voluntarily became a student of the other. Krishna was smiling because a friend had chosen to become a disciple. As Lord of all, He is always in the superior position as the master of everyone, and yet the Lord agrees to be a friend, a son, or a lover for a devotee who wants Him in such a role. But when He was accepted as the master, He at once assumed the role and talked with the disciple like the master -- with gravity, as it is required. It appears that the talk between the master and the disciple was openly exchanged in the presence of both armies so that all were benefitted. So the talks of Bhagavad-gita are not for any particular person, society, or community, but they are for all, and friends or enemies are equally entitled to hear them.

sri-bhagavan uvaca\nasocyan anvasocas tvam\nprajna-vadams ca bhashase\ngatasun agatasums ca\nnanusocanti panditah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; asocyan -- not worthy of lamentation; anvasocah -- you are lamenting; tvam -- you; prajna-vadan -- learned talks; ca -- also; bhashase -- speaking; gata -- lost; asun -- life; agata -- not past; asun -- life; ca -- also; na -- never; anusocanti -- lament; panditah -- the learned.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe Lord at once took the position of the teacher and chastised the student, calling him, indirectly, a fool. The Lord said, "You are talking like a learned man, but you do not know that one who is learned -- one who knows what is body and what is soul -- does not lament for any stage of the body, neither in the living nor in the dead condition." As explained in later chapters, it will be clear that knowledge means to know matter and spirit and the controller of both. Arjuna argued that religious principles should be given more importance than politics or sociology, but he did not know that knowledge of matter, soul and the Supreme is even more important than religious formularies. And because he was lacking in that knowledge, he should not have posed himself as a very learned man. As he did not happen to be a very learned man, he was consequently lamenting for something which was unworthy of lamentation. The body is born and is destined to be vanquished today or tomorrow; therefore the body is not as important as the soul. One who knows this is actually learned, and for him there is no cause for lamentation, regardless of the condition of the material body.

na tv evaham jatu nasam\nna tvam neme janadhipah\nna caiva na bhavishyamah\nsarve vayam atah param\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; tu -- but; eva -- certainly; aham -- I; jatu -- at any time; na -- did not; asam -- exist; na -- not; tvam -- you; na -- not; ime -- all these; jana-adhipah -- kings; na -- never; ca -- also; eva -- certainly; na -- not; bhavishyamah -- shall exist; sarve vayam -- all of us; atah param -- hereafter.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nNever was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn the Vedas, in the Katha Upanishad as well as in the Svetasvatara Upanishad, it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the maintainer of innumerable living entities, in terms of their different situations according to individual work and reaction of work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is also, by His plenary portions, alive in the heart of every living entity. Only saintly persons who can see, within and without, the same Supreme Lord can actually attain to perfect and eternal peace.\n\nnityo nityanam cetanas cetananam\neko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman\ntam atma-stham ye 'nupasyanti dhiras\ntesham santih sasvati netaresham\n\nThe same Vedic truth given to Arjuna is given to all persons in the world who pose themselves as very learned but factually have but a poor fund of knowledge. The Lord says clearly that He Himself, Arjuna and all the kings who are assembled on the battlefield are eternally individual beings and that the Lord is eternally the maintainer of the individual living entities both in their conditioned and in their liberated situations. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme individual person, and Arjuna, the Lord's eternal associate, and all the kings assembled there are individual eternal persons. It is not that they did not exist as individuals in the past, and it is not that they will not remain eternal persons. Their individuality existed in the past, and their individuality will continue in the future without interruption. Therefore, there is no cause for lamentation for anyone.\n\nThe Mayavadi theory that after liberation the individual soul, separated by the covering of maya, or illusion, will merge into the impersonal Brahman and lose its individual existence is not supported herein by Lord Krishna, the supreme authority. Nor is the theory that we only think of individuality in the conditioned state supported herein. Krishna clearly says herein that in the future also the individuality of the Lord and others, as it is confirmed in the Upanishads, will continue eternally. This statement of Krishna's is authoritative because Krishna cannot be subject to illusion. If individuality were not a fact, then Krishna would not have stressed it so much -- even for the future. The Mayavadi may argue that the individuality spoken of by Krishna is not spiritual, but material. Even accepting the argument that the individuality is material, then how can one distinguish Krishna's individuality? Krishna affirms His individuality in the past and confirms His individuality in the future also. He has confirmed His individuality in many ways, and impersonal Brahman has been declared to be subordinate to Him. Krishna has maintained spiritual individuality all along; if He is accepted as an ordinary conditioned soul in individual consciousness, then His Bhagavad-gita has no value as authoritative scripture. A common man with all the four defects of human frailty is unable to teach that which is worth hearing. The Gita is above such literature. No mundane book compares with the Bhagavad-gita. When one accepts Krishna as an ordinary man, the Gita loses all importance. The Mayavadi argues that the plurality mentioned in this verse is conventional and that it refers to the body. But previous to this verse such a bodily conception is already condemned. After condemning the bodily conception of the living entities, how was it possible for Krishna to place a conventional proposition on the body again? Therefore, individuality is maintained on spiritual grounds and is thus confirmed by great acaryas like Sri Ramanuja and others. It is clearly mentioned in many places in the Gita that this spiritual individuality is understood by those who are devotees of the Lord. Those who are envious of Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead have no bona fide access to the great literature. The nondevotee's approach to the teachings of the Gita is something like that of a bee licking on a bottle of honey. One cannot have a taste of honey unless one opens the bottle. Similarly, the mysticism of the Bhagavad-gita can be understood only by devotees, and no one else can taste it, as it is stated in the Fourth Chapter of the book. Nor can the Gita be touched by persons who envy the very existence of the Lord. Therefore, the Mayavadi explanation of the Gita is a most misleading presentation of the whole truth. Lord Caitanya has forbidden us to read commentations made by the Mayavadis and warns that one who takes to such an understanding of the Mayavadi philosophy loses all power to understand the real mystery of the Gita. If individuality refers to the empirical universe, then there is no need of teaching by the Lord. The plurality of the individual soul and of the Lord is an eternal fact, and it is confirmed by the Vedas as above mentioned.

dehino 'smin yatha dehe\nkaumaram yauvanam jara\ntatha dehantara-praptir\ndhiras tatra na muhyati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ndehinah -- of the embodied; asmin -- in this; yatha -- as; dehe -- in the body; kaumaram -- boyhood; yauvanam -- youth; jara -- old age; tatha -- similarly; deha-antara -- of transference of the body; praptih -- achievement; dhirah -- the sober; tatra -- thereupon; na -- never; muhyati -- is deluded.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAs the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.\n\nPURPORT\n\nSince every living entity is an individual soul, each is changing his body every moment, manifesting sometimes as a child, sometimes as a youth, and sometimes as an old man. Yet the same spirit soul is there and does not undergo any change. This individual soul finally changes the body at death and transmigrates to another body; and since it is sure to have another body in the next birth -- either material or spiritual -- there was no cause for lamentation by Arjuna on account of death, neither for Bhishma nor for Drona, for whom he was so much concerned. Rather, he should rejoice for their changing bodies from old to new ones, thereby rejuvenating their energy. Such changes of body account for varieties of enjoyment or suffering, according to one's work in life. So Bhishma and Drona, being noble souls, were surely going to have spiritual bodies in the next life, or at least life in heavenly bodies for superior enjoyment of material existence. So, in either case, there was no cause of lamentation.\n\nAny man who has perfect knowledge of the constitution of the individual soul, the Supersoul, and nature -- both material and spiritual -- is called a dhira, or a most sober man. Such a man is never deluded by the change of bodies.\n\nThe Mayavadi theory of oneness of the spirit soul cannot be entertained, on the ground that the spirit soul cannot be cut into pieces as a fragmental portion. Such cutting into different individual souls would make the Supreme cleavable or changeable, against the principle of the Supreme Soul's being unchangeable. As confirmed in the Gita, the fragmental portions of the Supreme exist eternally (sanatana) and are called kshara; that is, they have a tendency to fall down into material nature. These fragmental portions are eternally so, and even after liberation the individual soul remains the same -- fragmental. But once liberated, he lives an eternal life in bliss and knowledge with the Personality of Godhead. The theory of reflection can be applied to the Supersoul, who is present in each and every individual body and is known as the Paramatma. He is different from the individual living entity. When the sky is reflected in water, the reflections represent both the sun and the moon and the stars also. The stars can be compared to the living entities and the sun or the moon to the Supreme Lord. The individual fragmental spirit soul is represented by Arjuna, and the Supreme Soul is the Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. They are not on the same level, as it will be apparent in the beginning of the Fourth Chapter. If Arjuna is on the same level with Krishna, and Krishna is not superior to Arjuna, then their relationship of instructor and instructed becomes meaningless. If both of them are deluded by the illusory energy (maya), then there is no need of one being the instructor and the other the instructed. Such instruction would be useless because, in the clutches of maya, no one can be an authoritative instructor. Under the circumstances, it is admitted that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord, superior in position to the living entity, Arjuna, who is a forgetful soul deluded by maya.

matra-sparsas tu kaunteya\nsitoshna-sukha-duhkha-dah\nagamapayino 'nityas\ntams titikshasva bharata\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nmatra-sparsah -- sensory perception; tu -- only; kaunteya -- O son of Kunti; sita -- winter; ushna -- summer; sukha -- happiness; duhkha -- and pain; dah -- giving; agama -- appearing; apayinah -- disappearing; anityah -- nonpermanent; tan -- all of them; titikshasva -- just try to tolerate; bharata -- O descendant of the Bharata dynasty.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn the proper discharge of duty, one has to learn to tolerate nonpermanent appearances and disappearances of happiness and distress. According to Vedic injunction, one has to take his bath early in the morning even during the month of Magha (January-February). It is very cold at that time, but in spite of that a man who abides by the religious principles does not hesitate to take his bath. Similarly, a woman does not hesitate to cook in the kitchen in the months of May and June, the hottest part of the summer season. One has to execute his duty in spite of climatic inconveniences. Similarly, to fight is the religious principle of the kshatriyas, and although one has to fight with some friend or relative, one should not deviate from his prescribed duty. One has to follow the prescribed rules and regulations of religious principles in order to rise up to the platform of knowledge, because by knowledge and devotion only can one liberate himself from the clutches of maya (illusion).\n\nThe two different names of address given to Arjuna are also significant. To address him as Kaunteya signifies his great blood relations from his mother's side; and to address him as Bharata signifies his greatness from his father's side. From both sides he is supposed to have a great heritage. A great heritage brings responsibility in the matter of proper discharge of duties; therefore, he cannot avoid fighting.

yam hi na vyathayanty ete\npurusham purusharshabha\nsama-duhkha-sukham dhiram\nso 'mritatvaya kalpate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyam -- one to whom; hi -- certainly; na -- never; vyathayanti -- are distressing; ete -- all these; purusham -- to a person; purusha-rishabha -- O best among men; sama -- unaltered; duhkha -- in distress; sukham -- and happiness; dhiram -- patient; sah -- he; amritatvaya -- for liberation; kalpate -- is considered eligible.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAnyone who is steady in his determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realization and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of distress and happiness is certainly a person eligible for liberation. In the varnasrama institution, the fourth stage of life, namely the renounced order (sannyasa), is a painstaking situation. But one who is serious about making his life perfect surely adopts the sannyasa order of life in spite of all difficulties. The difficulties usually arise from having to sever family relationships, to give up the connection of wife and children. But if anyone is able to tolerate such difficulties, surely his path to spiritual realization is complete. Similarly, in Arjuna's discharge of duties as a kshatriya, he is advised to persevere, even if it is difficult to fight with his family members or similarly beloved persons. Lord Caitanya took sannyasa at the age of twenty-four, and His dependents, young wife as well as old mother, had no one else to look after them. Yet for a higher cause He took sannyasa and was steady in the discharge of higher duties. That is the way of achieving liberation from material bondage.\n\n

nasato vidyate bhavo\nnabhavo vidyate satah\nubhayor api drishto 'ntas\ntv anayos tattva-darsibhih\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; asatah -- of the nonexistent; vidyate -- there is; bhavah -- endurance; na -- never; abhavah -- changing quality; vidyate -- there is; satah -- of the eternal; ubhayoh -- of the two; api -- verily; drishtah -- observed; antah -- conclusion; tu -- indeed; anayoh -- of them; tattva -- of the truth; darsibhih -- by the seers.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThose who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere is no endurance of the changing body. That the body is changing every moment by the actions and reactions of the different cells is admitted by modern medical science; and thus growth and old age are taking place in the body. But the spirit soul exists permanently, remaining the same despite all changes of the body and the mind. That is the difference between matter and spirit. By nature, the body is ever changing, and the soul is eternal. This conclusion is established by all classes of seers of the truth, both impersonalist and personalist. In the Vishnu Purana (2.12.38) it is stated that Vishnu and His abodes all have self-illuminated spiritual existence (jyotimshi vishnur bhuvanani vishnuh). The words existent and nonexistent refer only to spirit and matter. That is the version of all seers of truth.\n\nThis is the beginning of the instruction by the Lord to the living entities who are bewildered by the influence of ignorance. Removal of ignorance involves the reestablishment of the eternal relationship between the worshiper and the worshipable and the consequent understanding of the difference between the part-and-parcel living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One can understand the nature of the Supreme by thorough study of oneself, the difference between oneself and the Supreme being understood as the relationship between the part and the whole. In the Vedanta-sutras, as well as in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Supreme has been accepted as the origin of all emanations. Such emanations are experienced by superior and inferior natural sequences. The living entities belong to the superior nature, as it will be revealed in the Seventh Chapter. Although there is no difference between the energy and the energetic, the energetic is accepted as the Supreme, and energy or nature is accepted as the subordinate. The living entities, therefore, are always subordinate to the Supreme Lord, as in the case of the master and the servant, or the teacher and the taught. Such clear knowledge is impossible to understand under the spell of ignorance, and to drive away such ignorance the Lord teaches the Bhagavad-gita for the enlightenment of all living entities for all time.

avinasi tu tad viddhi\nyena sarvam idam tatam\nvinasam avyayasyasya\nna kascit kartum arhati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\navinasi -- imperishable; tu -- but; tat -- that; viddhi -- know it; yena -- by whom; sarvam -- all of the body; idam -- this; tatam -- pervaded; vinasam -- destruction; avyayasya -- of the imperishable; asya -- of it; na kascit -- no one; kartum -- to do; arhati -- is able.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThat which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThis verse more clearly explains the real nature of the soul, which is spread all over the body. Anyone can understand what is spread all over the body: it is consciousness. Everyone is conscious of the pains and pleasures of the body in part or as a whole. This spreading of consciousness is limited within one's own body. The pains and pleasures of one body are unknown to another. Therefore, each and every body is the embodiment of an individual soul, and the symptom of the soul's presence is perceived as individual consciousness. This soul is described as one ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of the hair point in size. The Svetasvatara Upanishad (5.9) confirms this:\n\nbalagra-sata-bhagasya\nsatadha kalpitasya ca\nbhago jivah vijneyah\nsa canantyaya kalpate\n\n"When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul." Similarly the same version is stated:\n\nkesagra-sata-bhagasya\nsatamsah sadrisatmakah\njivah sukshma-svarupo 'yam\nsankhyatito hi cit-kanah\n[Cc. Madya 19.140]\n\n"There are innumerable particles of spiritual atoms, which are measured as one ten-thousandth of the upper portion of the hair."\n\nTherefore, the individual particle of spirit soul is a spiritual atom smaller than the material atoms, and such atoms are innumerable. This very small spiritual spark is the basic principle of the material body, and the influence of such a spiritual spark is spread all over the body as the influence of the active principle of some medicine spreads throughout the body. This current of the spirit soul is felt all over the body as consciousness, and that is the proof of the presence of the soul. Any layman can understand that the material body minus consciousness is a dead body, and this consciousness cannot be revived in the body by any means of material administration. Therefore, consciousness is not due to any amount of material combination, but to the spirit soul. In the Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.9) the measurement of the atomic spirit soul is further explained:\n\nesho 'nur atma cetasa veditavyo\nyasmin pranah pancadha samvivesa\npranais cittam sarvam otam prajanam\nyasmin visuddhe vibhavaty esha atma\n\n"The soul is atomic in size and can be perceived by perfect intelligence. This atomic soul is floating in the five kinds of air (prana, apana, vyana, samana and udana), is situated within the heart, and spreads its influence all over the body of the embodied living entities. When the soul is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of material air, its spiritual influence is exhibited."\n\nThe hatha-yoga system is meant for controlling the five kinds of air encircling the pure soul by different kinds of sitting postures -- not for any material profit, but for liberation of the minute soul from the entanglement of the material atmosphere.\n\nSo the constitution of the atomic soul is admitted in all Vedic literatures, and it is also actually felt in the practical experience of any sane man. Only the insane man can think of this atomic soul as all-pervading vishnu-tattva.\n\nThe influence of the atomic soul can be spread all over a particular body. According to the Mundaka Upanishad, this atomic soul is situated in the heart of every living entity, and because the measurement of the atomic soul is beyond the power of appreciation of the material scientists, some of them assert foolishly that there is no soul. The individual atomic soul is definitely there in the heart along with the Supersoul, and thus all the energies of bodily movement are emanating from this part of the body. The corpuscles which carry the oxygen from the lungs gather energy from the soul. When the soul passes away from this position, the activity of the blood, generating fusion, ceases. Medical science accepts the importance of the red corpuscles, but it cannot ascertain that the source of the energy is the soul. Medical science, however, does admit that the heart is the seat of all energies of the body.\n\nSuch atomic particles of the spirit whole are compared to the sunshine molecules. In the sunshine there are innumerable radiant molecules. Similarly, the fragmental parts of the Supreme Lord are atomic sparks of the rays of the Supreme Lord, called by the name prabha, or superior energy. So whether one follows Vedic knowledge or modern science, one cannot deny the existence of the spirit soul in the body, and the science of the soul is explicitly described in the Bhagavad-gita by the Personality of Godhead Himself.

antavanta ime deha\nnityasyoktah saririnah\nanasino 'prameyasya\ntasmad yudhyasva bharata\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nanta-vantah -- perishable; ime -- all these; dehah -- material bodies; nityasya -- eternal in existence; uktah -- are said; saririnah -- of the embodied soul; anasinah -- never to be destroyed; aprameyasya -- immeasurable; tasmat -- therefore; yudhyasva -- fight; bharata -- O descendant of Bharata.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe material body is perishable by nature. It may perish immediately, or it may do so after a hundred years. It is a question of time only. There is no chance of maintaining it indefinitely. But the spirit soul is so minute that it cannot even be seen by an enemy, to say nothing of being killed. As mentioned in the previous verse, it is so small that no one can have any idea how to measure its dimension. So from both viewpoints there is no cause of lamentation, because the living entity as he is cannot be killed nor can the material body be saved for any length of time or permanently protected. The minute particle of the whole spirit acquires this material body according to his work, and therefore observance of religious principles should be utilized. In the Vedanta-sutras the living entity is qualified as light because he is part and parcel of the supreme light. As sunlight maintains the entire universe, so the light of the soul maintains this material body. As soon as the spirit soul is out of this material body, the body begins to decompose; therefore it is the spirit soul which maintains this body. The body itself is unimportant. Arjuna was advised to fight and not sacrifice the cause of religion for material, bodily considerations.

ya enam vetti hantaram\nyas cainam manyate hatam\nubhau tau na vijanito\nnayam hanti na hanyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyah -- anyone who; enam -- this; vetti -- knows; hantaram -- the killer; yah -- anyone who; ca -- also; enam -- this; manyate -- thinks; hatam -- killed; ubhau -- both; tau -- they; na -- never; vijanitah -- are in knowledge; na -- never; ayam -- this; hanti -- kills; na -- nor; hanyate -- is killed.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nNeither he who thinks the living entity the slayer nor he who thinks it slain is in knowledge, for the self slays not nor is slain.\n\nPURPORT\n\nWhen an embodied living entity is hurt by fatal weapons, it is to be known that the living entity within the body is not killed. The spirit soul is so small that it is impossible to kill him by any material weapon, as will be evident from subsequent verses. Nor is the living entity killable, because of his spiritual constitution. What is killed, or is supposed to be killed, is the body only. This, however, does not at all encourage killing of the body. The Vedic injunction is ma himsyat sarva bhutani: never commit violence to anyone. Nor does understanding that the living entity is not killed encourage animal slaughter. Killing the body of anyone without authority is abominable and is punishable by the law of the state as well as by the law of the Lord. Arjuna, however, is being engaged in killing for the principle of religion, and not whimsically.

na jayate mriyate va kadacin\nnayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah\najo nityah sasvato 'yam purano\nna hanyate hanyamane sarire\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; jayate -- takes birth; mriyate -- dies; va -- either; kadacit -- at any time (past, present or future); na -- never; ayam -- this; bhutva -- having come into being; bhavita -- will come to be; va -- or; na -- not; bhuyah -- or is again coming to be; ajah -- unborn; nityah -- eternal; sasvatah -- permanent; ayam -- this; puranah -- the oldest; na -- never; hanyate -- is killed; hanyamane -- being killed; sarire -- the body.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nFor the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.\n\nPURPORT\n\nQualitatively, the small atomic fragmental part of the Supreme Spirit is one with the Supreme. He undergoes no changes like the body. Sometimes the soul is called the steady, or kuta-stha. The body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth from the womb of the mother's body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion. The soul, however, does not go through such changes. The soul is not born, but, because he takes on a material body, the body takes its birth. The soul does not take birth there, and the soul does not die. Anything which has birth also has death. And because the soul has no birth, he therefore has no past, present or future. He is eternal, ever-existing, and primeval -- that is, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth, etc., of the soul. The soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels himself to be in the same spirit as in his childhood or youth. The changes of the body do not affect the soul. The soul does not deteriorate like a tree, nor anything material. The soul has no by-product either. The by-products of the body, namely children, are also different individual souls; and, owing to the body, they appear as children of a particular man. The body develops because of the soul's presence, but the soul has neither offshoots nor change. Therefore, the soul is free from the six changes of the body.\n\nIn the Katha Upanishad (1.2.18) we also find a similar passage, which reads:\n\nna jayate mriyate va vipascin\nnayam kutascin na babhuva kascit\najo nityah sasvato 'yam purano\nna hanyate hanyamane sarire\n\nThe meaning and purport of this verse is the same as in the Bhagavad-gita, but here in this verse there is one special word, vipascit, which means learned or with knowledge.\n\nThe soul is full of knowledge, or full always with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, where he is situated, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do not find the sun in the sky owing to clouds, or for some other reason, but the light of the sun is always there, and we are convinced that it is therefore daytime. As soon as there is a little light in the sky early in the morning, we can understand that the sun is in the sky. Similarly, since there is some consciousness in all bodies -- whether man or animal -- we can understand the presence of the soul. This consciousness of the soul is, however, different from the consciousness of the Supreme because the supreme consciousness is all-knowledge -- past, present and future. The consciousness of the individual soul is prone to be forgetful. When he is forgetful of his real nature, he obtains education and enlightenment from the superior lessons of Krishna. But Krishna is not like the forgetful soul. If so, Krishna's teachings of Bhagavad-gita would be useless.\n\nThere are two kinds of souls -- namely the minute particle soul (anu-atma) and the Supersoul (vibhu-atma). This is also confirmed in the Katha Upanishad (1.2.20) in this way:\n\nanor aniyan mahato mahiyan\natmasya jantor nihito guhayam\ntam akratuh pasyati vita-soko\ndhatuh prasadan mahimanam atmanah\n\n"Both the Supersoul [Paramatma] and the atomic soul [jivatma] are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of the living being, and only one who has become free from all material desires as well as lamentations can, by the grace of the Supreme, understand the glories of the soul." Krishna is the fountainhead of the Supersoul also, as it will be disclosed in the following chapters, and Arjuna is the atomic soul, forgetful of his real nature; therefore he requires to be enlightened by Krishna, or by His bona fide representative (the spiritual master).

vedavinasinam nityam\nya enam ajam avyayam\nkatham sa purushah partha\nkam ghatayati hanti kam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nveda -- knows; avinasinam -- indestructible; nityam -- always existing; yah -- one who; enam -- this (soul); ajam -- unborn; avyayam -- immutable; katham -- how; sah -- that; purushah -- person; partha -- O Partha (Arjuna); kam -- whom; ghatayati -- causes to hurt; hanti -- kills; kam -- whom.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?\n\nPURPORT\n\nEverything has its proper utility, and a man who is situated in complete knowledge knows how and where to apply a thing for its proper utility. Similarly, violence also has its utility, and how to apply violence rests with the person in knowledge. Although the justice of the peace awards capital punishment to a person condemned for murder, the justice of the peace cannot be blamed, because he orders violence to another person according to the codes of justice. In Manu-samhita, the lawbook for mankind, it is supported that a murderer should be condemned to death so that in his next life he will not have to suffer for the great sin he has committed. Therefore, the king's punishment of hanging a murderer is actually beneficial. Similarly, when Krishna orders fighting, it must be concluded that violence is for supreme justice, and thus Arjuna should follow the instruction, knowing well that such violence, committed in the act of fighting for Krishna, is not violence at all because, at any rate, the man, or rather the soul, cannot be killed; so for the administration of justice, so-called violence is permitted. A surgical operation is not meant to kill the patient, but to cure him. Therefore the fighting to be executed by Arjuna at the instruction of Krishna is with full knowledge, so there is no possibility of sinful reaction.

yas tv indriyani manasa\nniyamyarabhate 'rjuna\nkarmendriyaih karma-yogam\nasaktah sa visishyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyah -- one who; tu -- but; indriyani -- the senses; manasa -- by the mind; niyamya -- regulating; arabhate -- begins; arjuna -- O Arjuna; karma-indriyaih -- by the active sense organs; karma-yogam -- devotion; asaktah -- without attachment; sah -- he; visishyate -- is by far the better.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOn the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga [in Krishna consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior.\n\nPURPORT\n\nInstead of becoming a pseudo transcendentalist for the sake of wanton living and sense enjoyment, it is far better to remain in one's own business and execute the purpose of life, which is to get free from material bondage and enter into the kingdom of God. The prime svartha-gati, or goal of self-interest, is to reach Vishnu. The whole institution of varna and asrama is designed to help us reach this goal of life. A householder can also reach this destination by regulated service in Krishna consciousness. For self-realization, one can live a controlled life, as prescribed in the sastras, and continue carrying out his business without attachment, and in that way make progress. A sincere person who follows this method is far better situated than the false pretender who adopts show-bottle spiritualism to cheat the innocent public. A sincere sweeper in the street is far better than the charlatan meditator who meditates only for the sake of making a living.

arjuna uvaca\njyayasi cet karmanas te\nmata buddhir janardana\ntat kim karmani ghore mam\nniyojayasi kesava\n\nSYNONYMS\n\narjunah uvaca -- Arjuna said; jyayasi -- better; cet -- if; karmanah -- than fruitive action; te -- by You; mata -- is considered; buddhih -- intelligence; janardana -- O Krishna; tat -- therefore; kim -- why; karmani -- in action; ghore -- ghastly; mam -- me; niyojayasi -- You are engaging; kesava -- O Krishna.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nArjuna said: O Janardana, O Kesava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna has very elaborately described the constitution of the soul in the previous chapter, with a view to delivering His intimate friend Arjuna from the ocean of material grief. And the path of realization has been recommended: buddhi-yoga, or Krishna consciousness. Sometimes Krishna consciousness is misunderstood to be inertia, and one with such a misunderstanding often withdraws to a secluded place to become fully Krishna conscious by chanting the holy name of Lord Krishna. But without being trained in the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, it is not advisable to chant the holy name of Krishna in a secluded place, where one may acquire only cheap adoration from the innocent public. Arjuna also thought of Krishna consciousness or buddhi-yoga, or intelligence in spiritual advancement of knowledge, as something like retirement from active life and the practice of penance and austerity at a secluded place. In other words, he wanted to skillfully avoid the fighting by using Krishna consciousness as an excuse. But as a sincere student, he placed the matter before his master and questioned Krishna as to his best course of action. In answer, Lord Krishna elaborately explained karma-yoga, or work in Krishna consciousness, in this Third Chapter.

na karmanam anarambhan\nnaishkarmyam purusho 'snute\nna ca sannyasanad eva\nsiddhim samadhigacchati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- not; karmanam -- of prescribed duties; anarambhat -- by nonperformance; naishkarmyam -- freedom from reaction; purushah -- a man; asnute -- achieves; na -- nor; ca -- also; sannyasanat -- by renunciation; eva -- simply; siddhim -- success; samadhigacchati -- attains.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nNot by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe renounced order of life can be accepted when one has been purified by the discharge of the prescribed form of duties which are laid down just to purify the hearts of materialistic men. Without purification, one cannot attain success by abruptly adopting the fourth order of life (sannyasa). According to the empirical philosophers, simply by adopting sannyasa, or retiring from fruitive activities, one at once becomes as good as Narayana. But Lord Krishna does not approve this principle. Without purification of heart, sannyasa is simply a disturbance to the social order. On the other hand, if someone takes to the transcendental service of the Lord, even without discharging his prescribed duties, whatever he may be able to advance in the cause is accepted by the Lord (buddhi-yoga). Sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat. Even a slight performance of such a principle enables one to overcome great difficulties.

sri-bhagavan uvaca\nloke 'smin dvi-vidha nishtha\npura prokta mayanagha\njnana-yogena sankhyanam\nkarma-yogena yoginam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; loke -- in the world; asmin -- this; dvi-vidha -- two kinds of; nishtha -- faith; pura -- formerly; prokta -- were said; maya -- by Me; anagha -- O sinless one; jnana-yogena -- by the linking process of knowledge; sankhyanam -- of the empiric philosophers; karma-yogena -- by the linking process of devotion; yoginam -- of the devotees.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O sinless Arjuna, I have already explained that there are two classes of men who try to realize the self. Some are inclined to understand it by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others by devotional service.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn the Second Chapter, verse 39, the Lord explained two kinds of procedures -- namely sankhya-yoga and karma-yoga, or buddhi-yoga. In this verse, the Lord explains the same more clearly. Sankhya-yoga, or the analytical study of the nature of spirit and matter, is the subject matter for persons who are inclined to speculate and understand things by experimental knowledge and philosophy. The other class of men work in Krishna consciousness, as it is explained in the 61st verse of the Second Chapter. The Lord has explained, also in the 39th verse, that by working by the principles of buddhi-yoga, or Krishna consciousness, one can be relieved from the bonds of action; and, furthermore, there is no flaw in the process. The same principle is more clearly explained in the 61st verse -- that this buddhi-yoga is to depend entirely on the Supreme (or more specifically, on Krishna), and in this way all the senses can be brought under control very easily. Therefore, both the yogas are interdependent, as religion and philosophy. Religion without philosophy is sentiment, or sometimes fanaticism, while philosophy without religion is mental speculation. The ultimate goal is Krishna, because the philosophers who are also sincerely searching after the Absolute Truth come in the end to Krishna consciousness. This is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita. The whole process is to understand the real position of the self in relation to the Superself. The indirect process is philosophical speculation, by which, gradually, one may come to the point of Krishna consciousness; and the other process is directly connecting with everything in Krishna consciousness. Of these two, the path of Krishna consciousness is better because it does not depend on purifying the senses by a philosophical process. Krishna consciousness is itself the purifying process, and by the direct method of devotional service it is simultaneously easy and sublime.

karmendriyani samyamya\nya aste manasa smaran\nindriyarthan vimudhatma\nmithyacarah sa ucyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkarma-indriyani -- the five working sense organs; samyamya -- controlling; yah -- anyone who; aste -- remains; manasa -- by the mind; smaran -- thinking of; indriya-arthan -- sense objects; vimudha -- foolish; atma -- soul; mithya-acarah -- pretender; sah -- he; ucyate -- is called.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere are many pretenders who refuse to work in Krishna consciousness but make a show of meditation, while actually dwelling within the mind upon sense enjoyment. Such pretenders may also speak on dry philosophy in order to bluff sophisticated followers, but according to this verse these are the greatest cheaters. For sense enjoyment one can act in any capacity of the social order, but if one follows the rules and regulations of his particular status, he can make gradual progress in purifying his existence. But he who makes a show of being a yogi while actually searching for the objects of sense gratification must be called the greatest cheater, even though he sometimes speaks of philosophy. His knowledge has no value, because the effects of such a sinful man's knowledge are taken away by the illusory energy of the Lord. Such a pretender's mind is always impure, and therefore his show of yogic meditation has no value whatsoever.

na hi kascit kshanam api\njatu tishthaty akarma-krit\nkaryate hy avasah karma\nsarvah prakriti-jair gunaih\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- nor; hi -- certainly; kascit -- anyone; kshanam -- a moment; api -- also; jatu -- at any time; tishthati -- remains; akarma-krit -- without doing something; karyate -- is forced to do; hi -- certainly; avasah -- helplessly; karma -- work; sarvah -- all; prakriti-jaih -- born of the modes of material nature; gunaih -- by the qualities.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nEveryone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIt is not a question of embodied life, but it is the nature of the soul to be always active. Without the presence of the spirit soul, the material body cannot move. The body is only a dead vehicle to be worked by the spirit soul, which is always active and cannot stop even for a moment. As such, the spirit soul has to be engaged in the good work of Krishna consciousness, otherwise it will be engaged in occupations dictated by illusory energy. In contact with material energy, the spirit soul acquires material modes, and to purify the soul from such affinities it is necessary to engage in the prescribed duties enjoined in the sastras. But if the soul is engaged in his natural function of Krishna consciousness, whatever he is able to do is good for him. The Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.5.17) affirms this:\n\ntyaktva sva-dharmam caranambujam harer\nbhajann apakvo 'tha patet tato yadi\nyatra kva vabhadram abhud amushya kim\nko vartha apto 'bhajatam sva-dharmatah\n\n"If someone takes to Krishna consciousness, even though he may not follow the prescribed duties in the sastras or execute the devotional service properly, and even though he may fall down from the standard, there is no loss or evil for him. But if he carries out all the injunctions for purification in the sastras, what does it avail him if he is not Krishna conscious?" So the purificatory process is necessary for reaching this point of Krishna consciousness. Therefore, sannyasa, or any purificatory process, is to help reach the ultimate goal of becoming Krishna conscious, without which everything is considered a failure.

yada hi nendriyartheshu\nna karmasv anushajjate\nsarva-sankalpa-sannyasi\nyogarudhas tadocyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyada -- when; hi -- certainly; na -- not; indriya-artheshu -- in sense gratification; na -- never; karmasu -- in fruitive activities; anushajjate -- one necessarily engages; sarva-sankalpa -- of all material desires; sannyasi -- renouncer; yoga-arudhah -- elevated in yoga; tada -- at that time; ucyate -- is said to be.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nA person is said to be elevated in yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities.\n\nPURPORT\n\nWhen a person is fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he is pleased in himself, and thus he is no longer engaged in sense gratification or in fruitive activities. Otherwise, one must be engaged in sense gratification, since one cannot live without engagement. Without Krishna consciousness, one must be always seeking self-centered or extended selfish activities. But a Krishna conscious person can do everything for the satisfaction of Krishna and thereby be perfectly detached from sense gratification. One who has no such realization must mechanically try to escape material desires before being elevated to the top rung of the yoga ladder.

naiva tasya kritenartho\nnakriteneha kascana\nna casya sarva-bhuteshu\nkascid artha-vyapasrayah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; eva -- certainly; tasya -- his; kritena -- by discharge of duty; arthah -- purpose; na -- nor; akritena -- without discharge of duty; iha -- in this world; kascana -- whatever; na -- never; ca -- and; asya -- of him; sarva-bhuteshu -- among all living beings; kascit -- any; artha -- purpose; vyapasrayah -- taking shelter of.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nA self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being.\n\nPURPORT\n\nA self-realized man is no longer obliged to perform any prescribed duty, save and except activities in Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is not inactivity either, as will be explained in the following verses. A Krishna conscious man does not take shelter of any person -- man or demigod. Whatever he does in Krishna consciousness is sufficient in the discharge of his obligation.

niyatam kuru karma tvam\nkarma jyayo hy akarmanah\nsarira-yatrapi ca te\nna prasiddhyed akarmanah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nniyatam -- prescribed; kuru -- do; karma -- duties; tvam -- you; karma -- work; jyayah -- better; hi -- certainly; akarmanah -- than no work; sarira -- bodily; yatra -- maintenance; api -- even; ca -- also; te -- your; na -- never; prasiddhyet -- is effected; akarmanah -- without work.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nPerform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain one's physical body without work.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere are many pseudo meditators who misrepresent themselves as belonging to high parentage, and great professional men who falsely pose that they have sacrificed everything for the sake of advancement in spiritual life. Lord Krishna did not want Arjuna to become a pretender. Rather, the Lord desired that Arjuna perform his prescribed duties as set forth for kshatriyas. \n\nArjuna was a householder and a military general, and therefore it was better for him to remain as such and perform his religious duties as prescribed for the householder kshatriya. Such activities gradually cleanse the heart of a mundane man and free him from material contamination. So-called renunciation for the purpose of maintenance is never approved by the Lord, nor by any religious scripture. After all, one has to maintain one's body and soul together by some work. Work should not be given up capriciously, without purification of materialistic propensities. \n\nAnyone who is in the material world is certainly possessed of the impure propensity for lording it over material nature, or, in other words, for sense gratification. Such polluted propensities have to be cleared. Without doing so, through prescribed duties, one should never attempt to become a so-called transcendentalist, renouncing work and living at the cost of others.

yajnarthat karmano 'nyatra\nloko 'yam karma-bandhanah\ntad-artham karma kaunteya\nmukta-sangah samacara\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyajna-arthat -- done only for the sake of Yajna, or Vishnu; karmanah -- than work; anyatra -- otherwise; lokah -- world; ayam -- this; karma-bandhanah -- bondage by work; tat -- of Him; artham -- for the sake; karma -- work; kaunteya -- O son of Kunti; mukta-sangah -- liberated from association; samacara -- do perfectly.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nWork done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.\n\nPURPORT\n\nSince one has to work even for the simple maintenance of the body, the prescribed duties for a particular social position and quality are so made that that purpose can be fulfilled. Yajna means Lord Vishnu, or sacrificial performances. All sacrificial performances also are meant for the satisfaction of Lord Vishnu. The Vedas enjoin: yajno vai vishnuh. In other words, the same purpose is served whether one performs prescribed yajnas or directly serves Lord Vishnu. Krishna consciousness is therefore performance of yajna as it is prescribed in this verse. The varnasrama institution also aims at satisfying Lord Vishnu. Varnasramacaravata purushena parah puman/ vishnur aradhyate (Vishnu Purana 3.8.8).\n\nTherefore one has to work for the satisfaction of Vishnu. Any other work done in this material world will be a cause of bondage, for both good and evil work have their reactions, and any reaction binds the performer. Therefore, one has to work in Krishna consciousness to satisfy Krishna (or Vishnu); and while performing such activities one is in a liberated stage. This is the great art of doing work, and in the beginning this process requires very expert guidance. One should therefore act very diligently, under the expert guidance of a devotee of Lord Krishna, or under the direct instruction of Lord Krishna Himself (under whom Arjuna had the opportunity to work). Nothing should be performed for sense gratification, but everything should be done for the satisfaction of Krishna. This practice will not only save one from the reaction of work, but also gradually elevate one to transcendental loving service of the Lord, which alone can raise one to the kingdom of God.

devan bhavayatanena\nte deva bhavayantu vah\nparasparam bhavayantah\nsreyah param avapsyatha\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ndevan -- demigods; bhavayata -- having pleased; anena -- by this sacrifice; te -- those; devah -- demigods; bhavayantu -- will please; vah -- you; parasparam -- mutually; bhavayantah -- pleasing one another; sreyah -- benediction; param -- the supreme; avapsyatha -- you will achieve.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe demigods are empowered administrators of material affairs. The supply of air, light, water and all other benedictions for maintaining the body and soul of every living entity is entrusted to the demigods, who are innumerable assistants in different parts of the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Their pleasures and displeasures are dependent on the performance of yajnas by the human being. Some of the yajnas are meant to satisfy particular demigods; but even in so doing, Lord Vishnu is worshiped in all yajnas as the chief beneficiary. It is stated also in the Bhagavad-gita that Krishna Himself is the beneficiary of all kinds of yajnas: bhoktaram yajna-tapasam. Therefore, ultimate satisfaction of the yajna-pati is the chief purpose of all yajnas. When these yajnas are perfectly performed, naturally the demigods in charge of the different departments of supply are pleased, and there is no scarcity in the supply of natural products.\n\nPerformance of yajnas has many side benefits, ultimately leading to liberation from material bondage. By performance of yajnas, all activities become purified, as it is stated in the Vedas: ahara-suddhau sattva-suddhih sattva-suddhau dhruva smritih smriti-lambhe sarvagranthinam vipramokshah. By performance of yajna one's eatables become sanctified, and by eating sanctified foodstuffs one's very existence becomes purified; by the purification of existence finer tissues in the memory become sanctified, and when memory is sanctified one can think of the path of liberation, and all these combined together lead to Krishna consciousness, the great necessity of present-day society.

saha-yajnah prajah srishtva\npurovaca prajapatih\nanena prasavishyadhvam\nesha vo 'stv ishta-kama-dhuk\n\nSYNONYMS\nsaha -- along with; yajnah -- sacrifices; prajah -- generations; srishtva -- creating; pura -- anciently; uvaca -- said; praja-patih -- the Lord of creatures; anena -- by this; prasavishyadhvam -- be more and more prosperous; eshah -- this; vah -- your; astu -- let it be; ishta -- of all desirable things; kama-dhuk -- bestower.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nIn the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Vishnu, and blessed them by saying, "Be thou happy by this yajna [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation."\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe material creation by the Lord of creatures (Vishnu) is a chance offered to the conditioned souls to come back home -- back to Godhead. All living entities within the material creation are conditioned by material nature because of their forgetfulness of their relationship to Vishnu, or Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic principles are to help us understand this eternal relation, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita: vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah. The Lord says that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand Him. In the Vedic hymns it is said: patim visvasyatmesvaram. Therefore, the Lord of the living entities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam also (2.4.20) Srila Sukadeva Gosvami describes the Lord as pati in so many ways:\n\nsriyah patir yajna-patih praja-patir\ndhiyam patir loka-patir dhara-patih\npatir gatis candhaka-vrishni-satvatam\nprasidatam me bhagavan satam patih\n\nThe praja-pati is Lord Vishnu, and He is the Lord of all living creatures, all worlds, and all beauties, and the protector of everyone. The Lord created this material world to enable the conditioned souls to learn how to perform yajnas (sacrifices) for the satisfaction of Vishnu, so that while in the material world they can live very comfortably without anxiety and after finishing the present material body they can enter into the kingdom of God. That is the whole program for the conditioned soul. By performance of yajna, the conditioned souls gradually become Krishna conscious and become godly in all respects. In the Age of Kali, the sankirtana-yajna (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age. Sankirtana-yajna and Krishna consciousness go well together. Lord Krishna in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the sankirtana-yajna:\n\nkrishna-varnam tvishakrishnam\nsangopangastra-parshadam\nyajnaih sankirtana-prayair\nyajanti hi su-medhasah\n\n"In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of sankirtana-yajna." Other yajnas prescribed in the Vedic literatures are not easy to perform in this Age of Kali, but the sankirtana-yajna is easy and sublime for all purposes, as recommended in Bhagavad-gita also (9.14).

yajna-sishtasinah santo\nmucyante sarva-kilbishaih\nbhunjate te tv agham papa\nye pacanty atma-karanat\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyajna-sishta -- of food taken after performance of yajna; asinah -- eaters; santah -- the devotees; mucyante -- get relief; sarva -- all kinds of; kilbishaih -- from sins; bhunjate -- enjoy; te -- they; tu -- but; agham -- grievous sins; papah -- sinners; ye -- who; pacanti -- prepare food; atma-karanat -- for sense enjoyment.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe devotees of the Supreme Lord, or the persons who are in Krishna consciousness, are called santas, and they are always in love with the Lord as it is described in the Brahma-samhita (5.38): premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hridayeshu vilokayanti. The santas, being always in a compact of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda (the giver of all pleasures), or Mukunda (the giver of liberation), or Krishna (the all-attractive person), cannot accept anything without first offering it to the Supreme Person. Therefore, such devotees always perform yajnas in different modes of devotional service, such as sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, arcanam, etc., and these performances of yajnas keep them always aloof from all kinds of contamination of sinful association in the material world. Others, who prepare food for self or sense gratification, are not only thieves but also the eaters of all kinds of sins. How can a person be happy if he is both a thief and sinful? It is not possible. Therefore, in order for people to become happy in all respects, they must be taught to perform the easy process of sankirtana-yajna, in full Krishna consciousness. Otherwise, there can be no peace or happiness in the world.

ishtan bhogan hi vo deva\ndasyante yajna-bhavitah\ntair dattan apradayaibhyo\nyo bhunkte stena eva sah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nishtan -- desired; bhogan -- necessities of life; hi -- certainly; vah -- unto you; devah -- the demigods; dasyante -- will award; yajna-bhavitah -- being satisfied by the performance of sacrifices; taih -- by them; dattan -- things given; apradaya -- without offering; ebhyah -- to these demigods; yah -- he who; bhunkte -- enjoys; stenah -- thief; eva -- certainly; sah -- he.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nIn charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajna [sacrifice], will supply all necessities to you. But he who enjoys such gifts without offering them to the demigods in return is certainly a thief.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe demigods are authorized supplying agents on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu. Therefore, they must be satisfied by the performance of prescribed yajnas. In the Vedas, there are different kinds of yajnas prescribed for different kinds of demigods, but all are ultimately offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For one who cannot understand what the Personality of Godhead is, sacrifice to the demigods is recommended. According to the different material qualities of the persons concerned, different types of yajnas are recommended in the Vedas. Worship of different demigods is also on the same basis -- namely, according to different qualities. For example, the meat-eaters are recommended to worship the goddess Kali, the ghastly form of material nature, and before the goddess the sacrifice of animals is recommended. But for those who are in the mode of goodness, the transcendental worship of Vishnu is recommended. But ultimately all yajnas are meant for gradual promotion to the transcendental position. For ordinary men, at least five yajnas, known as panca-maha-yajna, are necessary.\n\nOne should know, however, that all the necessities of life that the human society requires are supplied by the demigod agents of the Lord. No one can manufacture anything. Take, for example, all the eatables of human society. These eatables include grains, fruits, vegetables, milk, sugar, etc., for the persons in the mode of goodness, and also eatables for the nonvegetarians, like meats, none of which can be manufactured by men. Then again, take for example heat, light, water, air, etc., which are also necessities of life -- none of them can be manufactured by the human society. Without the Supreme Lord, there can be no profuse sunlight, moonlight, rainfall, breeze, etc., without which no one can live. Obviously, our life is dependent on supplies from the Lord. Even for our manufacturing enterprises, we require so many raw materials like metal, sulphur, mercury, manganese, and so many essentials -- all of which are supplied by the agents of the Lord, with the purpose that we should make proper use of them to keep ourselves fit and healthy for the purpose of self-realization, leading to the ultimate goal of life, namely, liberation from the material struggle for existence. This aim of life is attained by performance of yajnas. If we forget the purpose of human life and simply take supplies from the agents of the Lord for sense gratification and become more and more entangled in material existence, which is not the purpose of creation, certainly we become thieves, and therefore we are punished by the laws of material nature. A society of thieves can never be happy, because they have no aim in life. The gross materialist thieves have no ultimate goal of life. They are simply directed to sense gratification; nor do they have knowledge of how to perform yajnas. Lord Caitanya, however, inaugurated the easiest performance of yajna, namely the sankirtana-yajna, which can be performed by anyone in the world who accepts the principles of Krishna consciousness.

yas tv atma-ratir eva syad\natma-triptas ca manavah\natmany eva ca santushtas\ntasya karyam na vidyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyah -- one who; tu -- but; atma-ratih -- taking pleasure in the self; eva -- certainly; syat -- remains; atma-triptah -- self-illuminated; ca -- and; manavah -- a man; atmani -- in himself; eva -- only; ca -- and; santushtah -- perfectly satiated; tasya -- his; karyam -- duty; na -- does not; vidyate -- exist.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nBut for one who takes pleasure in the self, whose human life is one of self-realization, and who is satisfied in the self only, fully satiated -- for him there is no duty.\n\nPURPORT\n\nA person who is fully Krishna conscious, and is fully satisfied by his acts in Krishna consciousness, no longer has any duty to perform. Due to his being Krishna conscious, all impiety within is instantly cleansed, an effect of many, many thousands of yajna performances. By such clearing of consciousness, one becomes fully confident of his eternal position in relationship with the Supreme. His duty thus becomes self-illuminated by the grace of the Lord, and therefore he no longer has any obligations to the Vedic injunctions. Such a Krishna conscious person is no longer interested in material activities and no longer takes pleasure in material arrangements like wine, women and similar infatuations.

evam pravartitam cakram\nnanuvartayatiha yah\naghayur indriyaramo\nmogham partha sa jivati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nevam -- thus; pravartitam -- established by the Vedas; cakram -- cycle; na -- does not; anuvartayati -- adopt; iha -- in this life; yah -- one who; agha-ayuh -- whose life is full of sins; indriya-aramah -- satisfied in sense gratification; mogham -- uselessly; partha -- O son of Pritha (Arjuna); sah -- he; jivati -- lives.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nMy dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe mammonist philosophy of "work very hard and enjoy sense gratification" is condemned herein by the Lord. Therefore, for those who want to enjoy this material world, the above-mentioned cycle of performing yajnas is absolutely necessary. One who does not follow such regulations is living a very risky life, being condemned more and more. By nature's law, this human form of life is specifically meant for self-realization, in either of the three ways -- namely karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, or bhakti-yoga. There is no necessity of rigidly following the performances of the prescribed yajnas for the transcendentalists who are above vice and virtue; but those who are engaged in sense gratification require purification by the above mentioned cycle of yajna performances. There are different kinds of activities. Those who are not Krishna conscious are certainly engaged in sensory consciousness; therefore they need to execute pious work. The yajna system is planned in such a way that sensory conscious persons may satisfy their desires without becoming entangled in the reaction of sense-gratificatory work. The prosperity of the world depends not on our own efforts but on the background arrangement of the Supreme Lord, directly carried out by the demigods. Therefore, the yajnas are directly aimed at the particular demigods mentioned in the Vedas. Indirectly, it is the practice of Krishna consciousness, because when one masters the performance of yajnas one is sure to become Krishna conscious. But if by performing yajnas one does not become Krishna conscious, such principles are counted as only moral codes. One should not, therefore, limit his progress only to the point of moral codes, but should transcend them, to attain Krishna consciousness.

karma brahmodbhavam viddhi\nbrahmakshara-samudbhavam\ntasmat sarva-gatam brahma\nnityam yajne pratishthitam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkarma -- work; brahma -- from the Vedas; udbhavam -- produced; viddhi -- you should know; brahma -- the Vedas; akshara -- from the Supreme Brahman (Personality of Godhead); samudbhavam -- directly manifested; tasmat -- therefore; sarva-gatam -- all-pervading; brahma -- transcendence; nityam -- eternally; yajne -- in sacrifice; pratishthitam -- situated.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nRegulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice.\n\nPURPORT\n\nYajnartha-karma, or the necessity of work for the satisfaction of Krishna only, is more expressly stated in this verse. If we have to work for the satisfaction of the yajna-purusha, Vishnu, then we must find out the direction of work in Brahman, or the transcendental Vedas. The Vedas are therefore codes of working directions. Anything performed without the direction of the Vedas is called vikarma, or unauthorized or sinful work. Therefore, one should always take direction from the Vedas to be saved from the reaction of work. As one has to work in ordinary life by the direction of the state, one similarly has to work under direction of the supreme state of the Lord. Such directions in the Vedas are directly manifested from the breathing of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is said, asya mahato bhutasya nisvasitam etad yad rig-vedo yajur-vedah samavedo 'tharvangirasah. "The four Vedas -- namely the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda -- are all emanations from the breathing of the great Personality of Godhead." (Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad 4.5.11) The Lord, being omnipotent, can speak by breathing air, for as it is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita, the Lord has the omnipotence to perform through each of His senses the actions of all other senses. In other words, the Lord can speak through His breathing, and He can impregnate by His eyes. In fact, it is said that He glanced over material nature and thus fathered all living entities. After creating or impregnating the conditioned souls into the womb of material nature, He gave His directions in the Vedic wisdom as to how such conditioned souls can return home, back to Godhead. We should always remember that the conditioned souls in material nature are all eager for material enjoyment. But the Vedic directions are so made that one can satisfy one's perverted desires, then return to Godhead, having finished his so-called enjoyment. It is a chance for the conditioned souls to attain liberation; therefore the conditioned souls must try to follow the process of yajna by becoming Krishna conscious. Even those who have not followed the Vedic injunctions may adopt the principles of Krishna consciousness, and that will take the place of performance of Vedic yajnas, or karmas.

annad bhavanti bhutani\nparjanyad anna-sambhavah\nyajnad bhavati parjanyo\nyajnah karma-samudbhavah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nannat -- from grains; bhavanti -- grow; bhutani -- the material bodies; parjanyat -- from rains; anna -- of food grains; sambhavah -- production; yajnat -- from the performance of sacrifice; bhavati -- becomes possible; parjanyah -- rain; yajnah -- performance of yajna; karma -- prescribed duties; samudbhavah -- born of.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAll living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties.\n\nPURPORT\n\nSrila Baladeva Vidyabhushana, a great commentator on the Bhagavad-gita, writes as follows: ye indrady-angatayavasthitam yajnam sarvesvaram vishnum abhyarcya tac-chesham asnanti tena tad deha-yatram sampadayanti, te santah sarvesvarasya yajna-purushasya bhaktah sarva-kilbishair anadi-kala-vivriddhair atmanubhava-prati bandhakair nikhilaih papair vimucyante. The Supreme Lord, who is known as the yajna-purusha, or the personal beneficiary of all sacrifices, is the master of all the demigods, who serve Him as the different limbs of the body serve the whole. Demigods like Indra, Candra and Varuna are appointed officers who manage material affairs, and the Vedas direct sacrifices to satisfy these demigods so that they may be pleased to supply air, light and water sufficiently to produce food grains. When Lord Krishna is worshiped, the demigods, who are different limbs of the Lord, are also automatically worshiped; therefore there is no separate need to worship the demigods. For this reason, the devotees of the Lord, who are in Krishna consciousness, offer food to Krishna and then eat -- a process which nourishes the body spiritually. By such action not only are past sinful reactions in the body vanquished, but the body becomes immunized to all contamination of material nature. When there is an epidemic disease, an antiseptic vaccine protects a person from the attack of such an epidemic. Similarly, food offered to Lord Vishnu and then taken by us makes us sufficiently resistant to material affection, and one who is accustomed to this practice is called a devotee of the Lord. Therefore, a person in Krishna consciousness, who eats only food offered to Krishna, can counteract all reactions of past material infections, which are impediments to the progress of self-realization. On the other hand, one who does not do so continues to increase the volume of sinful action, and this prepares the next body to resemble hogs and dogs, to suffer the resultant reactions of all sins. The material world is full of contaminations, and one who is immunized by accepting prasadam of the Lord (food offered to Vishnu) is saved from the attack, whereas one who does not do so becomes subjected to contamination.\n\nFood grains or vegetables are factually eatables. The human being eats different kinds of food grains, vegetables, fruits, etc., and the animals eat the refuse of the food grains and vegetables, grass, plants, etc. Human beings who are accustomed to eating meat and flesh must also depend on the production of vegetation in order to eat the animals. Therefore, ultimately, we have to depend on the production of the field and not on the production of big factories. The field production is due to sufficient rain from the sky, and such rains are controlled by demigods like Indra, sun, moon, etc., and they are all servants of the Lord. The Lord can be satisfied by sacrifices; therefore, one who cannot perform them will find himself in scarcity -- that is the law of nature. Yajna, specifically the sankirtana-yajna prescribed for this age, must therefore be performed to save us at least from scarcity of food supply.

tasmad asaktah satatam\nkaryam karma samacara\nasakto hy acaran karma\nparam apnoti purushah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntasmat -- therefore; asaktah -- without attachment; satatam -- constantly; karyam -- as duty; karma -- work; samacara -- perform; asaktah -- unattached; hi -- certainly; acaran -- performing; karma -- work; param -- the Supreme; apnoti -- achieves; purushah -- a man.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nTherefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe Supreme is the Personality of Godhead for the devotees, and liberation for the impersonalist. A person, therefore, acting for Krishna, or in Krishna consciousness, under proper guidance and without attachment to the result of the work, is certainly making progress toward the supreme goal of life. Arjuna is told that he should fight in the Battle of Kurukshetra for the interest of Krishna because Krishna wanted him to fight. To be a good man or a nonviolent man is a personal attachment, but to act on behalf of the Supreme is to act without attachment for the result. That is perfect action of the highest degree, recommended by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna.\n\nVedic rituals, like prescribed sacrifices, are performed for purification of impious activities that were performed in the field of sense gratification. But action in Krishna consciousness is transcendental to the reactions of good or evil work. A Krishna conscious person has no attachment for the result but acts on behalf of Krishna alone. He engages in all kinds of activities, but is completely nonattached.

karmanaiva hi samsiddhim\nasthita janakadayah\nloka-sangraham evapi\nsampasyan kartum arhasi\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkarmana -- by work; eva -- even; hi -- certainly; samsiddhim -- in perfection; asthitah -- situated; janaka-adayah -- Janaka and other kings; loka-sangraham -- the people in general; eva api -- also; sampasyan -- considering; kartum -- to act; arhasi -- you deserve.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nKings such as Janaka attained perfection solely by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.\n\nPURPORT\n\nKings like Janaka were all self-realized souls; consequently they had no obligation to perform the prescribed duties in the Vedas. Nonetheless they performed all prescribed activities just to set examples for the people in general. Janaka was the father of Sita and father-in-law of Lord Sri Rama. Being a great devotee of the Lord, he was transcendentally situated, but because he was the king of Mithila (a subdivision of Bihar province in India), he had to teach his subjects how to perform prescribed duties. Lord Krishna and Arjuna, the Lord's eternal friend, had no need to fight in the Battle of Kurukshetra, but they fought to teach people in general that violence is also necessary in a situation where good arguments fail. Before the Battle of Kurukshetra, every effort was made to avoid the war, even by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the other party was determined to fight. So for such a right cause, there is a necessity for fighting. Although one who is situated in Krishna consciousness may not have any interest in the world, he still works to teach the public how to live and how to act. Experienced persons in Krishna consciousness can act in such a way that others will follow, and this is explained in the following verse.

yad yad acarati sreshthas\ntat tad evetaro janah\nsa yat pramanam kurute\nlokas tad anuvartate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyat yat -- whatever; acarati -- he does; sreshthah -- a respectable leader; tat -- that; tat -- and that alone; eva -- certainly; itarah -- common; janah -- person; sah -- he; yat -- whichever; pramanam -- example; kurute -- does perform; lokah -- all the world; tat -- that; anuvartate -- follows in the footsteps.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nWhatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.\n\nPURPORT\n\nPeople in general always require a leader who can teach the public by practical behavior. A leader cannot teach the public to stop smoking if he himself smokes. Lord Caitanya said that a teacher should behave properly before he begins teaching. One who teaches in that way is called acarya, or the ideal teacher. Therefore, a teacher must follow the principles of sastra (scripture) to teach the common man. The teacher cannot manufacture rules against the principles of revealed scriptures. The revealed scriptures, like Manu-samhita and similar others, are considered the standard books to be followed by human society. Thus the leader's teaching should be based on the principles of such standard sastras. One who desires to improve himself must follow the standard rules as they are practiced by the great teachers. The Srimad-Bhagavatam also affirms that one should follow in the footsteps of great devotees, and that is the way of progress on the path of spiritual realization. The king or the executive head of a state, the father and the school teacher are all considered to be natural leaders of the innocent people in general. All such natural leaders have a great responsibility to their dependents; therefore they must be conversant with standard books of moral and spiritual codes.

yadi hy aham na varteyam\njatu karmany atandritah\nmama vartmanuvartante\nmanushyah partha sarvasah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyadi -- if; hi -- certainly; aham -- I; na -- do not; varteyam -- thus engage; jatu -- ever; karmani -- in the performance of prescribed duties; atandritah -- with great care; mama -- My; vartma -- path; anuvartante -- would follow; manushyah -- all men; partha -- O son of Pritha; sarvasah -- in all respects.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nFor if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Partha, certainly all men would follow My path.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn order to keep the balance of social tranquillity for progress in spiritual life, there are traditional family usages meant for every civilized man. Although such rules and regulations are for the conditioned souls and not Lord Krishna, because He descended to establish the principles of religion He followed the prescribed rules. Otherwise, common men would follow in His footsteps, because He is the greatest authority. From the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is understood that Lord Krishna was performing all the religious duties at home and out of home, as required of a householder.

na me parthasti kartavyam\ntrishu lokeshu kincana\nnanavaptam avaptavyam\nvarta eva ca karmani\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- not; me -- Mine; partha -- O son of Pritha; asti -- there is; kartavyam -- prescribed duty; trishu -- in the three; lokeshu -- planetary systems; kincana -- any; na -- nothing; anavaptam -- wanted; avaptavyam -- to be gained; varte -- I am engaged; eva -- certainly; ca -- also; karmani -- in prescribed duty.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO son of Pritha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything -- and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in the Vedic literatures as follows:\n\ntam isvaranam paramam mahesvaram\ntam devatanam paramam ca daivatam\npatim patinam paramam parastad\nvidama devam bhuvanesam idyam\n\nna tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate\nna tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drisyate\nparasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate\nsvabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca\n\n"The Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers, and He is the greatest of all the diverse planetary leaders. Everyone is under His control. All entities are delegated with particular power only by the Supreme Lord; they are not supreme themselves. He is also worshipable by all demigods and is the supreme director of all directors. Therefore, He is transcendental to all kinds of material leaders and controllers and is worshipable by all. There is no one greater than Him, and He is the supreme cause of all causes.\n\n"He does not possess bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity. There is no difference between His body and His soul. He is absolute. All His senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence." (Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.7-8)\n\nSince everything is in full opulence in the Personality of Godhead and is existing in full truth, there is no duty for the Supreme Personality of Godhead to perform. One who must receive the results of work has some designated duty, but one who has nothing to achieve within the three planetary systems certainly has no duty. And yet Lord Krishna is engaged on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra as the leader of the kshatriyas because the kshatriyas are duty-bound to give protection to the distressed. Although He is above all the regulations of the revealed scriptures, He does not do anything that violates the revealed scriptures.

ye tv etad abhyasuyanto\nnanutishthanti me matam\nsarva-jnana-vimudhams tan\nviddhi nashtan acetasah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nye -- those; tu -- however; etat -- this; abhyasuyantah -- out of envy; na -- do not; anutishthanti -- regularly perform; me -- My; matam -- injunction; sarva-jnana -- in all sorts of knowledge; vimudhan -- perfectly befooled; tan -- they are; viddhi -- know it well; nashtan -- all ruined; acetasah -- without Krishna consciousness.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nBut those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not follow them are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and ruined in their endeavors for perfection.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe flaw of not being Krishna conscious is clearly stated herein. As there is punishment for disobedience to the order of the supreme executive head, so there is certainly punishment for disobedience to the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A disobedient person, however great he may be, is ignorant of his own self, and of the Supreme Brahman, Paramatma and the Personality of Godhead, due to a vacant heart. Therefore there is no hope of perfection of life for him.

prakriteh kriyamanani\ngunaih karmani sarvasah\nahankara-vimudhatma\nkartaham iti manyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nprakriteh -- of material nature; kriyamanani -- being done; gunaih -- by the modes; karmani -- activities; sarvasah -- all kinds of; ahankara-vimudha -- bewildered by false ego; atma -- the spirit soul; karta -- doer; aham -- I; iti -- thus; manyate -- he thinks.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.\n\nPURPORT\n\nTwo persons, one in Krishna consciousness and the other in material consciousness, working on the same level, may appear to be working on the same platform, but there is a wide gulf of difference in their respective positions. The person in material consciousness is convinced by false ego that he is the doer of everything. He does not know that the mechanism of the body is produced by material nature, which works under the supervision of the Supreme Lord. The materialistic person has no knowledge that ultimately he is under the control of Krishna. The person in false ego takes all credit for doing everything independently, and that is the symptom of his nescience. He does not know that this gross and subtle body is the creation of material nature, under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such his bodily and mental activities should be engaged in the service of Krishna, in Krishna consciousness. The ignorant man forgets that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as Hrishikesa, or the master of the senses of the material body, for due to his long misuse of the senses in sense gratification, he is factually bewildered by the false ego, which makes him forget his eternal relationship with Krishna.

na buddhi-bhedam janayed\najnanam karma-sanginam\njoshayet sarva-karmani\nvidvan yuktah samacaran\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- not; buddhi-bhedam -- disruption of intelligence; janayet -- he should cause; ajnanam -- of the foolish; karma-sanginam -- who are attached to fruitive work; joshayet -- he should dovetail; sarva -- all; karmani -- work; vidvan -- a learned person; yuktah -- engaged; samacaran -- practicing.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSo as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work. Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities [for the gradual development of Krishna consciousness].\n\nPURPORT\n\nVedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah. That is the end of all Vedic rituals. All rituals, all performances of sacrifices, and everything that is put into the Vedas, including all direction for material activities, are meant for understanding Krishna, who is the ultimate goal of life. But because the conditioned souls do not know anything beyond sense gratification, they study the Vedas to that end. But through fruitive activities and sense gratification regulated by the Vedic rituals one is gradually elevated to Krishna consciousness. Therefore a realized soul in Krishna consciousness should not disturb others in their activities or understanding, but he should act by showing how the results of all work can be dedicated to the service of Krishna. The learned Krishna conscious person may act in such a way that the ignorant person working for sense gratification may learn how to act and how to behave. Although the ignorant man is not to be disturbed in his activities, a slightly developed Krishna conscious person may directly be engaged in the service of the Lord without waiting for other Vedic formulas. For this fortunate man there is no need to follow the Vedic rituals, because by direct Krishna consciousness one can have all the results one would otherwise derive from following one's prescribed duties.

utsideyur ime loka\nna kuryam karma ced aham\nsankarasya ca karta syam\nupahanyam imah prajah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nutsideyuh -- would be put into ruin; ime -- all these; lokah -- worlds; na -- not; kuryam -- I perform; karma -- prescribed duties; cet -- if; aham -- I; sankarasya -- of unwanted population; ca -- and; karta -- creator; syam -- would be; upahanyam -- would destroy; imah -- all these; prajah -- living entities.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nIf I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings.\n\nPURPORT\n\nVarna-sankara is unwanted population which disturbs the peace of the general society. In order to check this social disturbance, there are prescribed rules and regulations by which the population can automatically become peaceful and organized for spiritual progress in life. When Lord Krishna descends, naturally He deals with such rules and regulations in order to maintain the prestige and necessity of such important performances. The Lord is the father of all living entities, and if the living entities are misguided, indirectly the responsibility goes to the Lord. Therefore, whenever there is general disregard of regulative principles, the Lord Himself descends and corrects the society. We should, however, note carefully that although we have to follow in the footsteps of the Lord, we still have to remember that we cannot imitate Him. Following and imitating are not on the same level. We cannot imitate the Lord by lifting Govardhana Hill, as the Lord did in His childhood. It is impossible for any human being. We have to follow His instructions, but we may not imitate Him at any time. The Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.33.30-31) affirms:\n\nnaitat samacarej jatu\nmanasapi hy anisvarah\nvinasyaty acaran maudhyad\nyatha 'rudro 'bdhi-jam visham\n\nisvaranam vacah satyam\ntathaivacaritam kvacit\ntesham yat sva-vaco-yuktam\nbuddhimams tat samacaret\n\n"One should simply follow the instructions of the Lord and His empowered servants. Their instructions are all good for us, and any intelligent person will perform them as instructed. However, one should guard against trying to imitate their actions. One should not try to drink the ocean of poison in imitation of Lord Siva."\n\nWe should always consider the position of the isvaras, or those who can actually control the movements of the sun and moon, as superior. Without such power, one cannot imitate the isvaras, who are superpowerful. Lord Siva drank poison to the extent of swallowing an ocean, but if any common man tries to drink even a fragment of such poison, he will be killed. There are many pseudo devotees of Lord Siva who want to indulge in smoking ganja (marijuana) and similar intoxicating drugs, forgetting that by so imitating the acts of Lord Siva they are calling death very near. Similarly, there are some pseudo devotees of Lord Krishna who prefer to imitate the Lord in His rasa-lila, or dance of love, forgetting their inability to lift Govardhana Hill. It is best, therefore, that one not try to imitate the powerful, but simply follow their instructions; nor should one try to occupy their posts without qualification. There are so many "incarnations" of God without the power of the Supreme Godhead.

saktah karmany avidvamso\nyatha kurvanti bharata\nkuryad vidvams tathasaktas\ncikirshur loka-sangraham\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsaktah -- being attached; karmani -- in prescribed duties; avidvamsah -- the ignorant; yatha -- as much as; kurvanti -- they do; bharata -- O descendant of Bharata; kuryat -- must do; vidvan -- the learned; tatha -- thus; asaktah -- without attachment; cikirshuh -- desiring to lead; loka-sangraham -- the people in general.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAs the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.\n\nPURPORT\n\nA person in Krishna consciousness and a person not in Krishna consciousness are differentiated by different desires. A Krishna conscious person does not do anything which is not conducive to development of Krishna consciousness. He may even act exactly like the ignorant person, who is too much attached to material activities, but one is engaged in such activities for the satisfaction of his sense gratification, whereas the other is engaged for the satisfaction of Krishna. Therefore, the Krishna conscious person is required to show the people how to act and how to engage the results of action for the purpose of Krishna consciousness.

tattva-vit tu maha-baho\nguna-karma-vibhagayoh\nguna guneshu vartanta\niti matva na sajjate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntattva-vit -- the knower of the Absolute Truth; tu -- but; maha-baho -- O mighty-armed one; guna-karma -- of works under material influence; vibhagayoh -- differences; gunah -- senses; guneshu -- in sense gratification; vartante -- are being engaged; iti -- thus; matva -- thinking; na -- never; sajjate -- becomes attached.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the differences between work in devotion and work for fruitive results.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe knower of the Absolute Truth is convinced of his awkward position in material association. He knows that he is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, and that his position should not be in the material creation. He knows his real identity as part and parcel of the Supreme, who is eternal bliss and knowledge, and he realizes that somehow or other he is entrapped in the material conception of life. In his pure state of existence he is meant to dovetail his activities in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. He therefore engages himself in the activities of Krishna consciousness and becomes naturally unattached to the activities of the material senses, which are all circumstantial and temporary. He knows that his material condition of life is under the supreme control of the Lord; consequently he is not disturbed by all kinds of material reactions, which he considers to be the mercy of the Lord. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, one who knows the Absolute Truth in three different features -- namely Brahman, Paramatma, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead -- is called tattva-vit, for he knows also his own factual position in relationship with the Supreme.

prakriter guna-sammudhah\nsajjante guna-karmasu\ntan akritsna-vido mandan\nkritsna-vin na vicalayet\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nprakriteh -- of material nature; guna -- by the modes; sammudhah -- befooled by material identification; sajjante -- they become engaged; guna-karmasu -- in material activities; tan -- those; akritsna-vidah -- persons with a poor fund of knowledge; mandan -- lazy to understand self-realization; kritsna-vit -- one who is in factual knowledge; na -- not; vicalayet -- should try to agitate.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nBewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performers' lack of knowledge.\n\nPURPORT\n\nPersons who are unknowledgeable falsely identify with gross material consciousness and are full of material designations. This body is a gift of the material nature, and one who is too much attached to the bodily consciousness is called manda, or a lazy person without understanding of spirit soul. Ignorant men think of the body as the self; they accept bodily connections with others as kinsmanship, the land in which the body is obtained is their object of worship, and they consider the formalities of religious rituals to be ends in themselves. Social work, nationalism and altruism are some of the activities for such materially designated persons. Under the spell of such designations, they are always busy in the material field; for them spiritual realization is a myth, and so they are not interested. Those who are enlightened in spiritual life, however, should not try to agitate such materially engrossed persons. Better to prosecute one's own spiritual activities silently. Such bewildered persons may be engaged in such primary moral principles of life as nonviolence and similar materially benevolent work.\n\nMen who are ignorant cannot appreciate activities in Krishna consciousness, and therefore Lord Krishna advises us not to disturb them and simply waste valuable time. But the devotees of the Lord are more kind than the Lord because they understand the purpose of the Lord. Consequently they undertake all kinds of risks, even to the point of approaching ignorant men to try to engage them in the acts of Krishna consciousness, which are absolutely necessary for the human being.

ye me matam idam nityam\nanutishthanti manavah\nsraddhavanto 'nasuyanto\nmucyante te 'pi karmabhih\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nye -- those who; me -- My; matam -- injunctions; idam -- these; nityam -- as an eternal function; anutishthanti -- execute regularly; manavah -- human beings; sraddha-vantah -- with faith and devotion; anasuyantah -- without envy; mucyante -- become free; te -- all of them; api -- even; karmabhih -- from the bondage of the law of fruitive actions.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThose persons who execute their duties according to My injunctions and who follow this teaching faithfully, without envy, become free from the bondage of fruitive actions.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe injunction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is the essence of all Vedic wisdom and therefore is eternally true without exception. As the Vedas are eternal, so this truth of Krishna consciousness is also eternal. One should have firm faith in this injunction, without envying the Lord. There are many philosophers who write comments on the Bhagavad-gita but have no faith in Krishna. They will never be liberated from the bondage of fruitive action. But an ordinary man with firm faith in the eternal injunctions of the Lord, even though unable to execute such orders, becomes liberated from the bondage of the law of karma. In the beginning of Krishna consciousness, one may not fully discharge the injunctions of the Lord, but because one is not resentful of this principle and works sincerely without consideration of defeat and hopelessness, he will surely be promoted to the stage of pure Krishna consciousness.

mayi sarvani karmani\nsannyasyadhyatma-cetasa\nnirasir nirmamo bhutva\nyudhyasva vigata-jvarah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nmayi -- unto Me; sarvani -- all sorts of; karmani -- activities; sannyasya -- giving up completely; adhyatma -- with full knowledge of the self; cetasa -- by consciousness; nirasih -- without desire for profit; nirmamah -- without ownership; bhutva -- so being; yudhyasva -- fight; vigata-jvarah -- without being lethargic.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nTherefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThis verse clearly indicates the purpose of the Bhagavad-gita. The Lord instructs that one has to become fully Krishna conscious to discharge duties, as if in military discipline. Such an injunction may make things a little difficult; nevertheless duties must be carried out, with dependence on Krishna, because that is the constitutional position of the living entity. The living entity cannot be happy independent of the cooperation of the Supreme Lord, because the eternal constitutional position of the living entity is to become subordinate to the desires of the Lord. Arjuna was therefore ordered by Sri Krishna to fight as if the Lord were his military commander. One has to sacrifice everything for the good will of the Supreme Lord, and at the same time discharge prescribed duties without claiming proprietorship. Arjuna did not have to consider the order of the Lord; he had only to execute His order. The Supreme Lord is the soul of all souls; therefore, one who depends solely and wholly on the Supreme Soul without personal consideration, or in other words, one who is fully Krishna conscious, is called adhyatma-cetas. Nirasih means that one has to act on the order of the master but should not expect fruitive results. The cashier may count millions of dollars for his employer, but he does not claim a cent for himself. Similarly, one has to realize that nothing in the world belongs to any individual person, but that everything belongs to the Supreme Lord. That is the real purport of mayi, or "unto Me." And when one acts in such Krishna consciousness, certainly he does not claim proprietorship over anything. This consciousness is called nirmama, or "nothing is mine." And if there is any reluctance to execute such a stern order, which is without consideration of so-called kinsmen in the bodily relationship, that reluctance should be thrown off; in this way one may become vigata-jvara, or without feverish mentality or lethargy. Everyone, according to his quality and position, has a particular type of work to discharge, and all such duties may be discharged in Krishna consciousness, as described above. That will lead one to the path of liberation.

sadrisam ceshtate svasyah\nprakriter jnanavan api\nprakritim yanti bhutani\nnigrahah kim karishyati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsadrisam -- accordingly; ceshtate -- tries; svasyah -- by his own; prakriteh -- modes of nature; jnana-van -- learned; api -- although; prakritim -- nature; yanti -- undergo; bhutani -- all living entities; nigrahah -- repression; kim -- what; karishyati -- can do.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nEven a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes. What can repression accomplish?\n\nPURPORT\n\nUnless one is situated on the transcendental platform of Krishna consciousness, he cannot get free from the influence of the modes of material nature, as it is confirmed by the Lord in the Seventh Chapter (7.14). Therefore, even for the most highly educated person on the mundane plane, it is impossible to get out of the entanglement of maya simply by theoretical knowledge, or by separating the soul from the body. There are many so-called spiritualists who outwardly pose as advanced in the science but inwardly or privately are completely under particular modes of nature which they are unable to surpass. Academically, one may be very learned, but because of his long association with material nature, he is in bondage. Krishna consciousness helps one to get out of the material entanglement, even though one may be engaged in his prescribed duties in terms of material existence. Therefore, without being fully in Krishna consciousness, one should not give up his occupational duties. No one should suddenly give up his prescribed duties and become a so-called yogi or transcendentalist artificially. It is better to be situated in one's position and to try to attain Krishna consciousness under superior training. Thus one may be freed from the clutches of Krishna's maya.

sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah\npara-dharmat sv-anushthitat\nsva-dharme nidhanam sreyah\npara-dharmo bhayavahah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsreyan -- far better; sva-dharmah -- one's prescribed duties; vigunah -- even faulty; para-dharmat -- than duties mentioned for others; su-anushthitat -- perfectly done; sva-dharme -- in one's prescribed duties; nidhanam -- destruction; sreyah -- better; para-dharmah -- duties prescribed for others; bhaya-avahah -- dangerous.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nIt is far better to discharge one's prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another's duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous.\n\nPURPORT\n\nOne should therefore discharge his prescribed duties in full Krishna consciousness rather than those prescribed for others. Materially, prescribed duties are duties enjoined according to one's psychophysical condition, under the spell of the modes of material nature. Spiritual duties are as ordered by the spiritual master for the transcendental service of Krishna. But whether material or spiritual, one should stick to his prescribed duties even up to death, rather than imitate another's prescribed duties. Duties on the spiritual platform and duties on the material platform may be different, but the principle of following the authorized direction is always good for the performer. When one is under the spell of the modes of material nature, one should follow the prescribed rules for his particular situation and should not imitate others. For example, a brahmana, who is in the mode of goodness, is nonviolent, whereas a kshatriya, who is in the mode of passion, is allowed to be violent. As such, for a kshatriya it is better to be vanquished following the rules of violence than to imitate a brahmana who follows the principles of nonviolence. Everyone has to cleanse his heart by a gradual process, not abruptly. However, when one transcends the modes of material nature and is fully situated in Krishna consciousness, he can perform anything and everything under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master. In that complete stage of Krishna consciousness, the kshatriya may act as a brahmana, or a brahmana may act as a kshatriya. In the transcendental stage, the distinctions of the material world do not apply. For example, Visvamitra was originally a kshatriya, but later on he acted as a brahmana, whereas Parasurama was a brahmana but later on he acted as a kshatriya. Being transcendentally situated, they could do so; but as long as one is on the material platform, he must perform his duties according to the modes of material nature. At the same time, he must have a full sense of Krishna consciousness.

indriyasyendriyasyarthe\nraga-dveshau vyavasthitau\ntayor na vasam agacchet\ntau hy asya paripanthinau\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nindriyasya -- of the senses; indriyasya arthe -- in the sense objects; raga -- attachment; dveshau -- also detachment; vyavasthitau -- put under regulations; tayoh -- of them; na -- never; vasam -- control; agacchet -- one should come; tau -- those; hi -- certainly; asya -- his; paripanthinau -- stumbling blocks.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThere are principles to regulate attachment and aversion pertaining to the senses and their objects. One should not come under the control of such attachment and aversion, because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThose who are in Krishna consciousness are naturally reluctant to engage in material sense gratification. But those who are not in such consciousness should follow the rules and regulations of the revealed scriptures. Unrestricted sense enjoyment is the cause of material encagement, but one who follows the rules and regulations of the revealed scriptures does not become entangled by the sense objects. For example, sex enjoyment is a necessity for the conditioned soul, and sex enjoyment is allowed under the license of marriage ties. According to scriptural injunctions, one is forbidden to engage in sex relationships with any women other than one's wife. All other women are to be considered as one's mother. But in spite of such injunctions, a man is still inclined to have sex relationships with other women. These propensities are to be curbed; otherwise they will be stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization. As long as the material body is there, the necessities of the material body are allowed, but under rules and regulations. And yet, we should not rely upon the control of such allowances. One has to follow those rules and regulations, unattached to them, because practice of sense gratification under regulations may also lead one to go astray -- as much as there is always the chance of an accident, even on the royal roads. Although they may be very carefully maintained, no one can guarantee that there will be no danger even on the safest road. The sense enjoyment spirit has been current a very long, long time, owing to material association. Therefore, in spite of regulated sense enjoyment, there is every chance of falling down; therefore any attachment for regulated sense enjoyment must also be avoided by all means. But attachment to Krishna consciousness, or acting always in the loving service of Krishna, detaches one from all kinds of sensory activities. Therefore, no one should try to be detached from Krishna consciousness at any stage of life. The whole purpose of detachment from all kinds of sense attachment is ultimately to become situated on the platform of Krishna consciousness.

arjuna uvaca\natha kena prayukto 'yam\npapam carati purushah\nanicchann api varshneya\n\nbalad iva niyojitah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\narjunah uvaca -- Arjuna said; atha -- then; kena -- by what; prayuktah -- impelled; ayam -- one; papam -- sins; carati -- does; purushah -- a man; anicchan -- without desiring; api -- although; varshneya -- O descendant of Vrishni; balat -- by force; iva -- as if; niyojitah -- engaged.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nArjuna said: O descendant of Vrishni, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?\n\nPURPORT\n\nA living entity, as part and parcel of the Supreme, is originally spiritual, pure, and free from all material contaminations. Therefore, by nature he is not subject to the sins of the material world. But when he is in contact with the material nature, he acts in many sinful ways without hesitation, and sometimes even against his will. As such, Arjuna's question to Krishna is very sanguine, as to the perverted nature of the living entities. Although the living entity sometimes does not want to act in sin, he is still forced to act. Sinful actions are not, however, impelled by the Supersoul within, but are due to another cause, as the Lord explains in the next verse.

sri-bhagavan uvaca\nkama esha krodha esha\nrajo-guna-samudbhavah\nmahasano maha-papma\nviddhy enam iha vairinam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Personality of Godhead said; kamah -- lust; eshah -- this; krodhah -- wrath; eshah -- this; rajah-guna -- the mode of passion; samudbhavah -- born of; maha-asanah -- all-devouring; maha-papma -- greatly sinful; viddhi -- know; enam -- this; iha -- in the material world; vairinam -- greatest enemy.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.\n\nPURPORT\n\nWhen a living entity comes in contact with the material creation, his eternal love for Krishna is transformed into lust, in association with the mode of passion. Or, in other words, the sense of love of God becomes transformed into lust, as milk in contact with sour tamarind is transformed into yogurt. Then again, when lust is unsatisfied, it turns into wrath; wrath is transformed into illusion, and illusion continues the material existence. Therefore, lust is the greatest enemy of the living entity, and it is lust only which induces the pure living entity to remain entangled in the material world. Wrath is the manifestation of the mode of ignorance; these modes exhibit themselves as wrath and other corollaries. If, therefore, the mode of passion, instead of being degraded into the mode of ignorance, is elevated to the mode of goodness by the prescribed method of living and acting, then one can be saved from the degradation of wrath by spiritual attachment.\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead expanded Himself into many for His ever-increasing spiritual bliss, and the living entities are parts and parcels of this spiritual bliss. They also have partial independence, but by misuse of their independence, when the service attitude is transformed into the propensity for sense enjoyment, they come under the sway of lust. This material creation is created by the Lord to give facility to the conditioned souls to fulfill these lustful propensities, and when completely baffled by prolonged lustful activities, the living entities begin to inquire about their real position.\n\nThis inquiry is the beginning of the Vedanta-sutras, wherein it is said, athato brahma jijnasa: one should inquire into the Supreme. And the Supreme is defined in Srimad-Bhagavatam as janmady asya yato 'nvayad itaratas ca, or, "The origin of everything is the Supreme Brahman." Therefore the origin of lust is also in the Supreme. If, therefore, lust is transformed into love for the Supreme, or transformed into Krishna consciousness -- or, in other words, desiring everything for Krishna -- then both lust and wrath can be spiritualized. Hanuman, the great servitor of Lord Rama, exhibited his wrath by burning the golden city of Ravana, but by doing so he became the greatest devotee of the Lord. Here also, in Bhagavad-gita, the Lord induces Arjuna to engage his wrath upon his enemies for the satisfaction of the Lord. Therefore, lust and wrath, when they are employed in Krishna consciousness, become our friends instead of our enemies.

dhumenavriyate vahnir\nyathadarso malena ca\nyatholbenavrito garbhas\ntatha tenedam avritam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ndhumena -- by smoke; avriyate -- is covered; vahnih -- fire; yatha -- just as; adarsah -- mirror; malena -- by dust; ca -- also; yatha -- just as; ulbena -- by the womb; avritah -- is covered; garbhah -- embryo; tatha -- so; tena -- by that lust; idam -- this; avritam -- is covered.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAs fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere are three degrees of covering of the living entity by which his pure consciousness is obscured. This covering is but lust under different manifestations like smoke in the fire, dust on the mirror, and the womb about the embryo. When lust is compared to smoke, it is understood that the fire of the living spark can be a little perceived. In other words, when the living entity exhibits his Krishna consciousness slightly, he may be likened to the fire covered by smoke. Although fire is necessary where there is smoke, there is no overt manifestation of fire in the early stage. This stage is like the beginning of Krishna consciousness. The dust on the mirror refers to a cleansing process of the mirror of the mind by so many spiritual methods. The best process is to chant the holy names of the Lord. The embryo covered by the womb is an analogy illustrating a helpless position, for the child in the womb is so helpless that he cannot even move. This stage of living condition can be compared to that of the trees. The trees are also living entities, but they have been put in such a condition of life by such a great exhibition of lust that they are almost void of all consciousness. The covered mirror is compared to the birds and beasts, and the smoke-covered fire is compared to the human being. In the form of a human being, the living entity may revive a little Krishna consciousness, and, if he makes further development, the fire of spiritual life can be kindled in the human form of life. By careful handling of the smoke in the fire, fire can be made to blaze. Therefore the human form of life is a chance for the living entity to escape the entanglement of material existence. In the human form of life, one can conquer the enemy, lust, by cultivation of Krishna consciousness under able guidance.

avritam jnanam etena\njnanino nitya-vairina\nkama-rupena kaunteya\ndushpurenanalena ca\n\nSYNONYMS\n\navritam -- covered; jnanam -- pure consciousness; etena -- by this; jnaninah -- of the knower; nitya-vairina -- by the eternal enemy; kama-rupena -- in the form of lust; kaunteya -- O son of Kunti; dushpurena -- never to be satisfied; analena -- by the fire; ca -- also.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThus the wise living entity's pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIt is said in the Manu-smriti that lust cannot be satisfied by any amount of sense enjoyment, just as fire is never extinguished by a constant supply of fuel. In the material world, the center of all activities is sex, and thus this material world is called maithunya-agara, or the shackles of sex life. In the ordinary prison house, criminals are kept within bars; similarly, the criminals who are disobedient to the laws of the Lord are shackled by sex life. Advancement of material civilization on the basis of sense gratification means increasing the duration of the material existence of a living entity. Therefore, this lust is the symbol of ignorance by which the living entity is kept within the material world. While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.

indriyani mano buddhir\nasyadhishthanam ucyate\netair vimohayaty esha\njnanam avritya dehinam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nindriyani -- the senses; manah -- the mind; buddhih -- the intelligence; asya -- of this lust; adhishthanam -- sitting place; ucyate -- is called; etaih -- by all these; vimohayati -- bewilders; eshah -- this lust; jnanam -- knowledge; avritya -- covering; dehinam -- of the embodied.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe enemy has captured different strategic positions in the body of the conditioned soul, and therefore Lord Krishna is giving hints of those places, so that one who wants to conquer the enemy may know where he can be found. Mind is the center of all the activities of the senses, and thus when we hear about sense objects the mind generally becomes a reservoir of all ideas of sense gratification; and, as a result, the mind and the senses become the repositories of lust. Next, the intelligence department becomes the capital of such lustful propensities. Intelligence is the immediate next-door neighbor of the spirit soul. Lusty intelligence influences the spirit soul to acquire the false ego and identify itself with matter, and thus with the mind and senses. The spirit soul becomes addicted to enjoying the material senses and mistakes this as true happiness. This false identification of the spirit soul is very nicely explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.84.13):\n\nyasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke\nsva-dhih kalatradishu bhauma ijya-dhih\nyat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij\njaneshv abhijneshu sa eva go-kharah\n\n"A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of birth worshipable, and who goes to the place of pilgrimage simply to take a bath rather than meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered like an ass or a cow.

tasmat tvam indriyany adau\nniyamya bharatarshabha\npapmanam prajahi hy enam\njnana-vijnana-nasanam\n\nSYNONYMS\ntasmat -- therefore; tvam -- you; indriyani -- senses; adau -- in the beginning; niyamya -- by regulating; bharata-rishabha -- O chief amongst the descendants of harata; papmanam -- the great symbol of sin; prajahi -- curb; hi -- certainly; enam -- this; jnana -- of knowledge; vijnana -- and scientific knowledge of the pure soul; nasanam -- the destroyer.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nTherefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bharatas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe Lord advised Arjuna to regulate the senses from the very beginning so that he could curb the greatest sinful enemy, lust, which destroys the urge for self-realization and specific knowledge of the self. Jnana refers to knowledge of self as distinguished from non-self, or in other words, knowledge that the spirit soul is not the body. Vijnana refers to specific knowledge of the spirit soul's constitutional position and his relationship to the Supreme Soul. It is explained thus in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.9.31):\n\njnanam parama-guhyam me\nyad vijnana-samanvitam\nsa-rahasyam tad-angam ca\ngrihana gaditam maya\n\n"The knowledge of the self and Supreme Self is very confidential and mysterious, but such knowledge and specific realization can be understood if explained with their various aspects by the Lord Himself." Bhagavad-gita gives us that general and specific knowledge of the self. The living entities are parts and parcels of the Lord, and therefore they are simply meant to serve the Lord. This consciousness is called Krishna consciousness. So, from the very beginning of life one has to learn this Krishna consciousness, and thereby one may become fully Krishna conscious and act accordingly.\n\nLust is only the perverted reflection of the love of God which is natural for every living entity. But if one is educated in Krishna consciousness from the very beginning, that natural love of God cannot deteriorate into lust. When love of God deteriorates into lust, it is very difficult to return to the normal condition. Nonetheless, Krishna consciousness is so powerful that even a late beginner can become a lover of God by following the regulative principles of devotional service. So, from any stage of life, or from the time of understanding its urgency, one can begin regulating the senses in Krishna consciousness, devotional service of the Lord, and turn the lust into love of Godhead -- the highest perfectional stage of human life.

indriyani parany ahur\nindriyebhyah param manah\nmanasas tu para buddhir\nyo buddheh paratas tu sah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nindriyani -- senses; parani -- superior; ahuh -- are said; indriyebhyah -- more than the senses; param -- superior; manah -- the mind; manasah -- more than the mind; tu -- also; para -- superior; buddhih -- intelligence; yah -- who; buddheh -- more than the intelligence; paratah -- superior; tu -- but; sah -- he.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe senses are different outlets for the activities of lust. Lust is reserved within the body, but it is given vent through the senses. Therefore, the senses are superior to the body as a whole. These outlets are not in use when there is superior consciousness, or Krishna consciousness. In Krishna consciousness the soul makes direct connection with the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore the hierarchy of bodily functions, as described here, ultimately ends in the Supreme Soul. Bodily action means the functions of the senses, and stopping the senses means stopping all bodily actions. But since the mind is active, then even though the body may be silent and at rest, the mind will act -- as it does during dreaming. But above the mind is the determination of the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul proper. If, therefore, the soul is directly engaged with the Supreme, naturally all other subordinates, namely, the intelligence, mind and senses, will be automatically engaged. In the Katha Upanishad there is a similar passage, in which it is said that the objects of sense gratification are superior to the senses, and mind is superior to the sense objects. If, therefore, the mind is directly engaged in the service of the Lord constantly, then there is no chance that the senses will become engaged in other ways. This mental attitude has already been explained. param drishtva nivartate. If the mind is engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord, there is no chance of its being engaged in the lower propensities. In the Katha Upanishad the soul has been described as mahan, the great. Therefore the soul is above all -- namely, the sense objects, the senses, the mind and the intelligence. Therefore, directly understanding the constitutional position of the soul is the solution of the whole problem.\n\nWith intelligence one has to seek out the constitutional position of the soul and then engage the mind always in Krishna consciousness. That solves the whole problem. A neophyte spiritualist is generally advised to keep aloof from the objects of the senses. But aside from that, one has to strengthen the mind by use of intelligence. If by intelligence one engages one's mind in Krishna consciousness, by complete surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then, automatically, the mind becomes stronger, and even though the senses are very strong, like serpents, they will be no more effective than serpents with broken fangs. But even though the soul is the master of intelligence and mind, and the senses also, still, unless it is strengthened by association with Krishna in Krishna consciousness, there is every chance of falling down due to the agitated mind.

evam buddheh param buddhva\nsamstabhyatmanam atmana\njahi satrum maha-baho\nkama-rupam durasadam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nevam -- thus; buddheh -- to intelligence; param -- superior; buddhva -- knowing; samstabhya -- by steadying; atmanam -- the mind; atmana -- by deliberate intelligence; jahi -- conquer; satrum -- the enemy; maha-baho -- O mighty-armed one; kama-rupam -- in the form of lust; durasadam -- formidable.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence [Krishna consciousness] and thus -- by spiritual strength -- conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThis Third Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita is conclusively directive to Krishna consciousness by knowing oneself as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without considering impersonal voidness the ultimate end. In the material existence of life, one is certainly influenced by propensities for lust and desire for dominating the resources of material nature. Desire for overlording and for sense gratification is the greatest enemy of the conditioned soul; but by the strength of Krishna consciousness, one can control the material senses, the mind and the intelligence. One may not give up work and prescribed duties all of a sudden; but by gradually developing Krishna consciousness, one can be situated in a transcendental position without being influenced by the material senses and the mind -- by steady intelligence directed toward one's pure identity. This is the sum total of this chapter. In the immature stage of material existence, philosophical speculations and artificial attempts to control the senses by the so-called practice of yogic postures can never help a man toward spiritual life. He must be trained in Krishna consciousness by higher intelligence.

sri-bhagavan uvaca\nimam vivasvate yogam\nproktavan aham avyayam\nvivasvan manave praha\n\nmanur ikshvakave 'bravit\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; imam -- this; vivasvate -- unto the sun-god; yogam -- the science of one's relationship to the Supreme; proktavan -- instructed; aham -- I; avyayam -- imperishable; vivasvan -- Vivasvan (the sun-god's name); manave -- unto the father of mankind (of the name Vaivasvata); praha -- told; manuh -- the father of mankind; ikshvakave -- unto King Ikshvaku; abravit -- said.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, 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 Ikshvaku.\n\nPURPORT\n\nHerein we find the history of the Bhagavad-gita traced from a remote time when it was delivered to the royal order of all planets, beginning from the sun planet. The kings of all planets are especially meant for the protection of the inhabitants, and therefore the royal order should understand the science of Bhagavad-gita in order to be able to rule the citizens and protect them from 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 Krishna 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.\n\nIn 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 (5.52) it is stated:\n\nyac-cakshur esha savita sakala-grahanam\nraja samasta-sura-murtir asesha-tejah\nyasyajnaya bhramati sambhrita-kala-cakro\ngovindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami\n\n"Let me worship," Lord Brahma said, "the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krishna], 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."\n\nThe 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 Krishna, and Lord Krishna 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.\n\nIn the Mahabharata (Santi-parva 348.51-52) we can trace out the history of the Gita as follows:\n\ntreta-yugadau ca tato\nvivasvan manave dadau\nmanus ca loka-bhrity-artham\nsutayekshvakave dadau\nikshvakuna ca kathito\nvyapya lokan avasthitah\n\n"In the beginning of the millennium known as Treta-yuga 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 Ikshvaku, the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty, in which Lord Ramacandra appeared." Therefore, Bhagavad-gita existed in human society from the time of Maharaja Ikshvaku.\n\nAt 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 Ikshvaku, 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 Krishna. It was spoken to the sun-god Vivasvan because he is also a kshatriya and is the father of all kshatriyas who are descendants of the sun-god, or the surya-vamsa kshatriyas. Because Bhagavad-gita is as good as the Vedas, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this knowledge is apaurusheya, 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 Ikshvaku.

evam parampara-praptam\nimam rajarshayo viduh\nsa kaleneha mahata\nyogo nashtah parantapa\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nevam -- thus; parampara -- by disciplic succession; praptam -- received; imam -- this science; raja-rishayah -- the saintly kings; viduh -- understood; sah -- that knowledge; kalena -- in the course of time; iha -- in this world; mahata -- great; yogah -- the science of one's relationship with the Supreme; nashtah -- scattered; parantapa -- O Arjuna, subduer of the enemies.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThis 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIt 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, Krishna, although they make a good business on the words of Sri Krishna. 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.

sa evayam maya te 'dya\nyogah proktah puratanah\nbhakto 'si me sakha ceti\nrahasyam hy etad uttamam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsah -- the same; eva -- certainly; ayam -- this; maya -- by Me; te -- unto you; adya -- today; yogah -- the science of yoga; proktah -- spoken; puratanah -- very old; bhaktah -- devotee; asi -- you are; me -- My; sakha -- friend; ca -- also; iti -- therefore; rahasyam -- mystery; hi -- certainly; etat -- this; uttamam -- transcendental.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThat 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 and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere 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 being a 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. 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 Krishna 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, do not accept Lord Krishna as He is. Instead they concoct something about Krishna and mislead general readers from the path of Krishna's instructions. Here is a warning about such misleading paths. One should try to follow the disciplic succession from Arjuna, and thus be benefitted by this great science of Srimad Bhagavad-gita.

arjuna uvaca\naparam bhavato janma\nparam janma vivasvatah\nkatham etad vijaniyam\ntvam adau proktavan iti\n\nSYNONYMS\n\narjunah uvaca -- Arjuna said; aparam -- junior; bhavatah -- Your; janma -- birth; param -- superior; janma -- birth; vivasvatah -- of the sun-god; katham -- how; etat -- this; vijaniyam -- shall I understand; tvam -- You; adau -- in the beginning; proktavan -- instructed; iti -- thus.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nArjuna 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?\n\nPURPORT\n\nArjuna is an accepted devotee of the Lord, so how could he not believe Krishna'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 Krishna 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 Krishna. As it will be evident from the Tenth Chapter, Arjuna knew perfectly well that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the fountainhead of everything and the last word in transcendence. Of course, Krishna also appeared as the son of Devaki on this earth. How Krishna 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 Krishna so that He Himself could speak authoritatively. That Krishna 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 Krishna is the authority accepted by all, Arjuna put this question before Him in order that Krishna 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 Krishna. Therefore, when Krishna Himself speaks about Himself, it is auspicious for all the worlds. To the demons, such explanations by Krishna Himself may appear to be strange because the demons always study Krishna from their own standpoint, but those who are devotees heartily welcome the statements of Krishna when they are spoken by Krishna Himself. The devotees will always worship such authoritative statements of Krishna because they are always eager to know more and more about Him. The atheists, who consider Krishna an ordinary man, may in this way come to know that Krishna is superhuman, that He is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1] -- 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 Krishna, like Arjuna, is undoubtedly above any misunderstanding of the transcendental position of Krishna. Arjuna's putting this question before the Lord is simply an attempt by the devotee to defy the atheistic attitude of persons who consider Krishna to be an ordinary human being, subject to the modes of material nature.

sri-bhagavan uvaca\nbahuni me vyatitani\njanmani tava carjuna\ntany aham veda sarvani\nna tvam vettha parantapa\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Personality of Godhead said; bahuni -- many; me -- of Mine; vyatitani -- have passed; janmani -- births; tava -- of yours; ca -- and also; arjuna -- O Arjuna; tani -- those; aham -- I; veda -- do know; sarvani -- all; na -- not; tvam -- you; vettha -- know; parantapa -- O subduer of the enemy.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe Personality of Godhead said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn the Brahma-samhita (5.33) we have information of many, many incarnations of the Lord. It is stated there:\n\nadvaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam\nadyam purana-purusham nava-yauvanam ca\nvedeshu durlabham adurlabham atma-bhaktau\ngovindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami\n\n"I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krishna], who is the original person -- absolute, infallible, without beginning. Although expanded into unlimited forms, He is 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."\n\nIt is also stated in Brahma-samhita (5.39):\n\nramadi-murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan\nnanavataram akarod bhuvaneshu kintu\nkrishnah svayam samabhavat paramah puman yo\ngovindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami\n\n"I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krishna], who is always situated in various incarnations such as Rama, Nrisimha and many subincarnations as well, but who is the original Personality of Godhead known as Krishna, and who incarnates personally also."\n\nIn the Vedas also it is said that the Lord, although one without a second, manifests Himself in innumerable forms. He is like the vaidurya stone, which changes color yet still remains one. All those multiforms are understood by the pure, unalloyed devotees, but not by a simple study of the Vedas (vedeshu durlabham adurlabham 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 Krishna 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 incident 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. Krishna remembered acts which were performed by Him millions of years before, but Arjuna could not, despite the fact that both Krishna 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 that of the ordinary living entity, even when He descends to the material platform. The demons cannot adjust themselves to this transcendental nature of the Lord, which the Lord Himself explains in the following verse.

ajo 'pi sann avyayatma\nbhutanam isvaro 'pi san\nprakritim svam adhishthaya\nsambhavamy atma-mayaya\n\nSYNONYMS\n\najah -- unborn; api -- although; san -- being so; avyaya -- without deterioration; atma -- body; bhutanam -- of all those who are born; isvarah -- the Supreme Lord; api -- although; san -- being so; prakritim -- in the transcendental form; svam -- of Myself; adhishthaya -- being so situated; sambhavami -- I do incarnate; atma-mayaya -- by My internal energy.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAlthough I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe 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 Krishna. One should not be misled by such meaningless claims. Then again, the Lord explains His prakriti, or His form. Prakriti 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, Krishna 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 entity. And although His body does not deteriorate like a material body, it still appears that Lord Krishna grows from childhood to boyhood and from boyhood to youth. But astonishingly enough He never ages beyond youth. At the time of the Battle of Kurukshetra, 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 Krishna 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 is 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 Lord Krishna's 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 multimanifestations. 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, bestowed upon the living entities so that they can concentrate on the Supreme Lord as He is, and not on mental concoctions or imaginations, which the impersonalist wrongly thinks the Lord's forms to be. The word maya, or atma-maya, refers to the Lord's causeless mercy, according to the Visva-kosa 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.

yada yada hi dharmasya\nglanir bhavati bharata\nabhyutthanam adharmasya\ntadatmanam srijamy aham\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyada yada -- whenever and wherever; hi -- certainly; dharmasya -- of religion; glanih -- discrepancies; bhavati -- become manifested; bharata -- O descendant of Bharata; abhyutthanam -- predominance; adharmasya -- of irreligion; tada -- at that time; atmanam -- self; srijami -- manifest; aham -- I.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nWhenever 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe word srijami is significant herein. Srijami 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, srijami means that the Lord manifests Himself as He is. Although the Lord appears on schedule, namely at the end of the Dvapara-yuga of the twenty-eighth millennium of the seventh Manu in one day of Brahma, 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 sakshad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]). 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 demoniac, the Lord appears. From the Bhagavatam we understand that Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Krishna 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 manifest 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.\n\nThe 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 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 Krishna consciousness everywhere. Such consciousness is manifest and nonmanifest only under different circumstances.

paritranaya sadhunam\nvinasaya ca dushkritam\ndharma-samsthapanarthaya\nsambhavami yuge yuge\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nparitranaya -- for the deliverance; sadhunam -- of the devotees; vinasaya -- for the annihilation; ca -- and; dushkritam -- of the miscreants; dharma -- principles of religion; samsthapana-arthaya -- to reestablish; sambhavami -- I do appear; yuge -- millennium; yuge -- after millennium.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nTo deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAccording to Bhagavad-gita, a sadhu (holy man) is a man in Krishna consciousness. A person may appear to be irreligious, but if he has the qualifications of Krishna consciousness wholly and fully, he is to be understood to be a sadhu. And dushkritam applies to those who do not care for Krishna consciousness. Such miscreants, or dushkritam, are described as foolish and the lowest of mankind, even though they may be decorated with mundane education, whereas a person who is one hundred percent engaged in Krishna consciousness is accepted as a sadhu, even though such a person may be neither 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 demoniac. 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 Krishna, was the sister of Kamsa, she and her husband Vasudeva were persecuted only because Krishna was to be born of them. So Lord Krishna 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.\n\nIn the Caitanya-caritamrita of Krishnadasa Kaviraja, the following verses (Madhya 20.263-264) summarize these principles of incarnation:\n\nsrishti-hetu yei murti prapance avatare\nsei isvara-murti 'avatara' nama dhare\nmayatita paravyome sabara avasthana\nvisve avatari' dhare 'avatara' nama\n\n"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."\n\nThere are various kinds of avataras, such as purushavataras, gunavataras, lilavataras, sakty-avesa avataras, manvantara-avataras and yugavataras -- all appearing on schedule all over the universe. But Lord Krishna is the primeval Lord, the fountainhead of all avataras. Lord Sri Krishna descends for the specific purpose of mitigating the anxieties of the pure devotees, who are very anxious to see Him in His original Vrindavana pastimes. Therefore, the prime purpose of the Krishna avatara is to satisfy His unalloyed devotees.\n\nThe 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 Krishna by the sankirtana movement (congregational chanting of the holy names) and spread Krishna 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 Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, is described secretly but not directly in the confidential parts of the revealed scriptures, such as the Upanishads, Mahabharata and Bhagavatam. The devotees of Lord Krishna are very much attracted by the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya. This avatara of the Lord does not kill the miscreants, but delivers them by His causeless mercy.

janma karma ca me divyam\nevam yo vetti tattvatah\ntyaktva deham punar janma\nnaiti mam eti so 'rjuna\n\nSYNONYMS\n\njanma -- birth; karma -- work; ca -- also; me -- of Mine; divyam -- transcendental; evam -- like this; yah -- anyone who; vetti -- knows; tattvatah -- in reality; tyaktva -- leaving aside; deham -- this body; punah -- again; janma -- birth; na -- never; eti -- does attain; mam -- unto Me; eti -- does attain; sah -- he; arjuna -- O Arjuna.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe 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 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 to this material world. In the Brahma-samhita (5.33) 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 (Purusha-bodhini Upanishad):\n\neko devo nitya-lilanurakto\nbhakta-vyapi hridy antar-atma\n\n"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 tat tvam asi is actually applied in this case. Anyone who understands Lord Krishna 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:\n\ntam eva viditvati mrityum eti\nnanyah pantha vidyate 'yanaya\n\n"One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and there is no other way to achieve this perfection." (Svetasvatara Upanishad 3.8) That there is no alternative means that anyone who does not understand Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is surely in the mode of ignorance and 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 Krishna consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way attain perfection.

vita-raga-bhaya-krodha\nman-maya mam upasritah\nbahavo jnana-tapasa\nputa mad-bhavam agatah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nvita -- freed from; raga -- attachment; bhaya -- fear; krodhah -- and anger; mat-maya -- fully in Me; mam -- in Me; upasritah -- being fully situated; bahavah -- many; jnana -- of knowledge; tapasa -- by the penance; putah -- being purified; mat-bhavam -- transcendental love for Me; agatah -- attained.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nBeing 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAs 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 them to understand how the Supreme can be a person. Such materialists cannot even imagine 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 embarrassed 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 arises from frustration in 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.\n\nAccording to Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (1.4.15-16), the science of devotional service:\n\nadau sraddha tatah sadhu-\nsango 'tha bhajana-kriya\ntato 'nartha-nivrittih syat\ntato nishtha rucis tatah\n\nathasaktis tato bhavas\ntatah premabhyudancati\nsadhakanam ayam premnah\npradurbhave bhavet kramah\n\n"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 the 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 Krishna. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Krishna 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 that result in void philosophy. Then one can ultimately attain to the abode of the Supreme Lord.

ye yatha mam prapadyante\ntams tathaiva bhajamy aham\nmama vartmanuvartante\nmanushyah partha sarvasah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nye -- all who; yatha -- as; mam -- unto Me; prapadyante -- surrender; tan -- them; tatha -- so; eva -- certainly; bhajami -- reward; aham -- I; mama -- My; vartma -- path; anuvartante -- follow; manushyah -- all men; partha -- O son of Pritha; sarvasah -- in all respects.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAs all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha.\n\nPURPORT\n\nEveryone is searching for Krishna in the different aspects of His manifestations. Krishna, 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 Krishna is fully realized only by His pure devotees. Consequently, Krishna 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, Krishna reciprocates with His pure devotees in the transcendental attitude, just as the devotee wants Him. One devotee may want Krishna as supreme master, another as his personal friend, another as his son, and still another as his lover. Krishna 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, Krishna 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 firmly situated even in the impersonal existence, return to this material field to exhibit their dormant desires for activities. They are not admitted into 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 dependent 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 Krishna consciousness, all attempts remain imperfect, as is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.3.10):\n\nakamah sarva-kamo va\nmoksha-kama udara-dhih\ntivrena bhakti-yogena\nyajeta purusham param\n\n"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 Krishna consciousness."

kankshantah karmanam siddhim\nyajanta iha devatah\nkshipram hi manushe loke\nsiddhir bhavati karma-ja\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkankshantah -- desiring; karmanam -- of fruitive activities; siddhim -- perfection; yajante -- they worship by sacrifices; iha -- in the material world; devatah -- the demigods; kshipram -- very quickly; hi -- certainly; manushe -- in human society; loke -- within this world; siddhih -- success; bhavati -- comes; karma-ja -- from fruitive work.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nMen 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere 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 krishnah. The Supreme God is one -- Krishna -- 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, Vishnu, or Krishna. Anyone who thinks that God and the demigods are on the same level is called an atheist, or pashandi. 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, Vishnu, or Krishna, 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 Krishna, is beyond this material creation. However, foolish people (hrita-jnana) 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 Krishna 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, people 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 Krishna 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 Krishna consciousness. They are mostly interested in material enjoyment, and therefore they worship some powerful living entity.

catur-varnyam maya srishtam\nguna-karma-vibhagasah\ntasya kartaram api mam\nviddhy akartaram avyayam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ncatuh-varnyam -- the four divisions of human society; maya -- by Me; srishtam -- created; guna -- of quality; karma -- and work; vibhagasah -- in terms of division; tasya -- of that; kartaram -- the father; api -- although; mam -- Me; viddhi -- you may know; akartaram -- as the nondoer; avyayam -- unchangeable.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAccording to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe 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 kshatriyas 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 Krishna 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 above-mentioned divisions are created by the Lord for the systematic development of Krishna 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 the different modes of material nature, are described in the Eighteenth Chapter of this book. A person in Krishna consciousness, however, is above even the brahmanas. Although brahmanas by quality are supposed to know about Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth, most of them approach only the impersonal Brahman manifestation of Lord Krishna. But a man who transcends the limited knowledge of a brahmana and reaches the knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, becomes a person in Krishna consciousness -- or, in other words, a Vaishnava. Krishna consciousness includes knowledge of all different plenary expansions of Krishna, namely Rama, Nrisimha, Varaha, etc. And as Krishna is transcendental to this system of the four divisions of human society, a person in Krishna consciousness is also transcendental to all divisions of human society, whether we consider the divisions of community, nation or species.

na mam karmani limpanti\nna me karma-phale spriha\niti mam yo 'bhijanati\nkarmabhir na sa badhyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; mam -- Me; karmani -- all kinds of work; limpanti -- do affect; na -- nor; me -- My; karma-phale -- in fruitive action; spriha -- aspiration; iti -- thus; mam -- Me; yah -- one who; abhijanati -- does know; karmabhih -- by the reaction of such work; na -- never; sah -- he; badhyate -- becomes entangled.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThere 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAs 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 smriti confirms this fact as follows:\n\nnimitta-matram evasau\nsrijyanam sarga-karmani\npradhana-karani-bhuta\nyato vai srijya-saktayah\n\n"In the material creations, the Lord is only the supreme cause. The immediate cause is material nature, by which the cosmic manifestation is made 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-sutra (2.1.34) it is confirmed, vaishamya-nairghrinye na sapekshatvat: the Lord is never partial to any living entity. 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 Krishna 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 reactions. But one who knows the Supreme Truth is a liberated soul fixed in Krishna consciousness.

evam jnatva kritam karma\npurvair api mumukshubhih\nkuru karmaiva tasmat tvam\npurvaih purvataram kritam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nevam -- thus; jnatva -- knowing well; kritam -- was performed; karma -- work; purvaih -- by past authorities; api -- indeed; mumukshubhih -- who attained liberation; kuru -- just perform; karma -- prescribed duty; eva -- certainly; tasmat -- therefore; tvam -- you; purvaih -- by the predecessors; purva-taram -- in ancient times; kritam -- as performed.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAll the liberated souls in ancient times acted with this understanding of My transcendental nature. Therefore you should perform your duty, following in their footsteps.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere are two classes of men. Some of them are full of polluted material things within their hearts, and some of them are materially free. Krishna consciousness is equally beneficial for both of these persons. Those who are full of dirty things can take to the line of Krishna 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 Krishna consciousness so that others may follow their exemplary activities and thereby be benefited. Foolish persons or neophytes in Krishna consciousness often want to retire from activities without having knowledge of Krishna 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 Krishna consciousness and to sit aloof making a show of Krishna consciousness is less important than actually engaging in the field of activities for the sake of Krishna. Arjuna is here advised to act in Krishna 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 Krishna 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 Krishna are mentioned here as past liberated persons, engaged in the discharge of duties allotted by Krishna.

kim karma kim akarmeti\nkavayo 'py atra mohitah\ntat te karma pravakshyami\nyaj jnatva mokshyase 'subhat\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkim -- what is; karma -- action; kim -- what is; akarma -- inaction; iti -- thus; kavayah -- the intelligent; api -- also; atra -- in this matter; mohitah -- are bewildered; tat -- that; te -- unto you; karma -- work; pravakshyami -- I shall explain; yat -- which; jnatva -- knowing; mokshyase -- you will be liberated; asubhat -- from ill fortune.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nEven 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 all misfortune.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAction in Krishna 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 independent will be explained in the text to follow.\n\nTo act in Krishna 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 Krishna consciousness was first narrated to the sun-god, the sun-god explained it to his son Manu, Manu explained it to his son Ikshvaku, 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 Krishna consciousness. For this reason, the Lord decided to instruct Arjuna in Krishna consciousness directly. Because of the direct instruction of the Lord to Arjuna, anyone who follows in the footsteps of Arjuna is certainly not bewildered.\n\nIt 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 tu sakshad bhagavat-pranitam (Bhag. 6.3.19). No one can manufacture a religious principle by imperfect speculation. One must follow in the footsteps of great authorities like Brahma, Siva, Narada, Manu, the Kumaras, Kapila, Prahlada, Bhishma, Sukadeva Gosvami, Yamaraja, Janaka, and Bali Maharaja. 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 Krishna consciousness can deliver a person from the entanglement of material existence.

karmano hy api boddhavyam\nboddhavyam ca vikarmanah\nakarmanas ca boddhavyam\ngahana karmano gatih\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkarmanah -- of work; hi -- certainly; api -- also; boddhavyam -- should be understood; boddhavyam -- should be understood; ca -- also; vikarmanah -- of forbidden work; akarmanah -- of inaction; ca -- also; boddhavyam -- should be understood; gahana -- very difficult; karmanah -- of work; gatih -- entrance.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is.\n\nPURPORT\n\nIf 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 Krishna consciousness and action according to its modes, one has to learn one's relationship with the Supreme; i.e., one who has learned perfectly knows that every living entity is an eternal servitor of the Lord and that consequently one has to act in Krishna consciousness. The entire Bhagavad-gita is directed toward this conclusion. Any other conclusions, against this consciousness and its attendant actions, are vikarmas, or prohibited actions. To understand all this one has to associate with authorities in Krishna consciousness and learn the secret from them; this is as good as learning from the Lord directly. Otherwise, even the most intelligent persons will be bewildered.

karmany akarma yah pasyed\nakarmani ca karma yah\nsa buddhiman manushyeshu\nsa yuktah kritsna-karma-krit\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkarmani -- in action; akarma -- inaction; yah -- one who; pasyet -- observes; akarmani -- in inaction; ca -- also; karma -- fruitive action; yah -- one who; sah -- he; buddhi-man -- is intelligent; manushyeshu -- in human society; sah -- he; yuktah -- is in the transcendental position; kritsna-karma-krit -- although engaged in all activities.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.\n\nPURPORT\n\nA person acting in Krishna consciousness is naturally free from the bonds of karma. His activities are all performed for Krishna; 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 Krishna. 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 Krishna consciousness. Because everything is done for Krishna, 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 Krishna makes one immune to all sorts of reactionary elements of work.

yasya sarve samarambhah\nkama-sankalpa-varjitah\njnanagni-dagdha-karmanam\ntam ahuh panditam budhah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyasya -- one whose; sarve -- all sorts of; samarambhah -- attempts; kama -- based on desire for sense gratification; sankalpa -- determination; varjitah -- are devoid of; jnana -- of perfect knowledge; agni -- by the fire; dagdha -- burned; karmanam -- whose work; tam -- him; ahuh -- declare; panditam -- learned; budhah -- those who know.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages to be a worker for whom the reactions of work have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge.\n\nPURPORT\n\nOnly a person in full knowledge can understand the activities of a person in Krishna consciousness. Because the person in Krishna 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 eternal servitorship to the Lord is compared to fire. Such a fire, once kindled, can burn up all kinds of reactions to work.

tyaktva karma-phalasangam\nnitya-tripto nirasrayah\nkarmany abhipravritto 'pi\nnaiva kincit karoti sah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntyaktva -- having given up; karma-phala-asangam -- attachment for fruitive results; nitya -- always; triptah -- being satisfied; nirasrayah -- without any shelter; karmani -- in activity; abhipravrittah -- being fully engaged; api -- in spite of; na -- does not; eva -- certainly; kincit -- anything; karoti -- do; sah -- he.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAbandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThis freedom from the bondage of actions is possible only in Krishna consciousness, when one is doing everything for Krishna. A Krishna 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 Krishna. Nor is he anxious to secure things, nor to protect things already in his possession. He does his duty to the best of his ability and leaves everything to Krishna. 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 Krishna consciousness, is binding upon the worker, and that is the real aspect of vikarma, as explained hereinbefore.

nirasir yata-cittatma\ntyakta-sarva-parigrahah\nsariram kevalam karma\nkurvan napnoti kilbisham\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nnirasih -- without desire for the result; yata -- controlled; citta-atma -- mind and intelligence; tyakta -- giving up; sarva -- all; parigrahah -- sense of proprietorship over possessions; sariram -- in keeping body and soul together; kevalam -- only; karma -- work; kurvan -- doing; na -- never; apnoti -- does acquire; kilbisham -- sinful reactions.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSuch 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nA Krishna conscious person does not expect good or bad results in his activities. His mind and intelligence are fully controlled. He knows that because he is part and parcel of the Supreme, the part played by him, as a part and parcel of the whole, is not his own activity but is only being done through him by the Supreme. When the hand moves, it does not move out of its own accord, but by the endeavor of the whole body. A Krishna 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, so a Krishna 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 Krishna 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.

yadriccha-labha-santushto\ndvandvatito vimatsarah\nsamah siddhav asiddhau ca\nkritvapi na nibadhyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyadriccha -- out of its own accord; labha -- with gain; santushtah -- satisfied; dvandva -- duality; atitah -- surpassed; vimatsarah -- free from envy; samah -- steady; siddhau -- in success; asiddhau -- failure; ca -- also; kritva -- doing; api -- although; na -- never; nibadhyate -- becomes affected.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nHe who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.\n\nPURPORT\n\nA Krishna 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 independent in his livelihood. He does not allow anyone's service to hamper his own service in Krishna 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 Krishna conscious person is above duality because he does not hesitate to act in any way for the satisfaction of Krishna. Therefore he is steady both in success and in failure. These signs are visible when one is fully in transcendental knowledge.

gata-sangasya muktasya\njnanavasthita-cetasah\nyajnayacaratah karma\nsamagram praviliyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ngata-sangasya -- of one unattached to the modes of material nature; muktasya -- of the liberated; jnana-avasthita -- situated in transcendence; cetasah -- whose wisdom; yajnaya -- for the sake of Yajna (Krishna); acaratah -- acting; karma -- work; samagram -- in total; praviliyate -- merges entirely.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nBecoming fully Krishna 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 Krishna, and thus his mind cannot be drawn from Krishna consciousness. Consequently, whatever he does, he does for Krishna, who is the primeval Vishnu. Therefore, all his works are technically sacrifices because sacrifice aims at satisfying the Supreme Person, Vishnu, Krishna. The resultant reactions to all such work certainly merge into transcendence, and one does not suffer material effects.

brahmarpanam brahma havir\nbrahmagnau brahmana hutam\nbrahmaiva tena gantavyam\nbrahma-karma-samadhina\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nbrahma -- spiritual in nature; arpanam -- contribution; brahma -- the Supreme; havih -- butter; brahma -- spiritual; agnau -- in the fire of consummation; brahmana -- by the spirit soul; hutam -- offered; brahma -- spiritual kingdom; eva -- certainly; tena -- by him; gantavyam -- to be reached; brahma -- spiritual; karma -- in activities; samadhina -- by complete absorption.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nA person who is fully absorbed in Krishna 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nHow activities in Krishna consciousness can lead one ultimately to the spiritual goal is described here. There are various activities in Krishna consciousness, and all of them will be described in the following verses. But, for the present, just the principle of Krishna 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 Krishna 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 Krishna consciousness as set forth here in the Gita. This process is generally known as yajna, or activities (sacrifices) simply meant for the satisfaction of Vishnu, or Krishna. The more the activities of the material world are performed in Krishna consciousness, or for Vishnu only, the more the atmosphere becomes spiritualized by complete absorption. The word brahma (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 Krishna consciousness; thus the offering for the sake of Krishna 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. Krishna consciousness is the process of converting the illusory consciousness into Brahman, or the Supreme. When the mind is fully absorbed in Krishna 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 Krishna consciousness.

daivam evapare yajnam\nyoginah paryupasate\nbrahmagnav apare yajnam\nyajnenaivopajuhvati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ndaivam -- in worshiping the demigods; eva -- like this; apare -- some others; yajnam -- sacrifices; yoginah -- mystics; paryupasate -- worship perfectly; brahma -- of the Absolute Truth; agnau -- in the fire; apare -- others; yajnam -- sacrifice; yajnena -- by sacrifice; eva -- thus; upajuhvati -- offer.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSome yogis perfectly worship the demigods by offering different sacrifices to them, and some of them offer sacrifices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman.\n\nPURPORT\n\nAs described above, a person engaged in discharging duties in Krishna 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. Factually sacrifice means to satisfy the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, 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 Krishna 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 sacrifice 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 Krishna conscious person, like Arjuna, however, sacrifices everything for the satisfaction of Krishna, and thus all his material possessions as well as his own self -- everything -- is sacrificed for Krishna. Thus, he is the first-class yogi; but he does not lose his individual existence.

srotradinindriyany anye\nsamyamagnishu juhvati\nsabdadin vishayan anya\nindriyagnishu juhvati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsrotra-adini -- such as the hearing process; indriyani -- senses; anye -- others; samyama -- of restraint; agnishu -- in the fires; juhvati -- offer; sabda-adin -- sound vibration, etc.; vishayan -- objects of sense gratification; anye -- others; indriya -- of the sense organs; agnishu -- in the fires; juhvati -- they sacrifice.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nSome [the unadulterated brahmacaris] sacrifice the hearing process and the senses in the fire of mental control, and others [the regulated householders] sacrifice the objects of the senses in the fire of the senses.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe members of the four divisions of human life, namely the brahmacari, the grihastha, the vanaprastha and the sannyasi, are all meant to 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. A brahmacari hears only words concerning Krishna 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 Krishna, Hare Krishna. 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 gratification. Marriage on the 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.

sarvanindriya-karmani\nprana-karmani capare\natma-samyama-yogagnau\njuhvati jnana-dipite\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsarvani -- of all; indriya -- the senses; karmani -- functions; prana-karmani -- functions of the life breath; ca -- also; apare -- others; atma-samyama -- of controlling the mind; yoga -- the linking process; agnau -- in the fire of; juhvati -- offer; jnana-dipite -- because of the urge for self-realization.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOthers, who are interested in achieving self-realization through control of the mind and senses, offer the functions of all the senses, and of the life breath, as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe 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, but as soon as the same soul becomes detached from such sense enjoyment it is called pratyag-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 Patanjali 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 withdrawn 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.

dravya-yajnas tapo-yajna\nyoga-yajnas tathapare\nsvadhyaya-jnana-yajnas ca\nyatayah samsita-vratah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ndravya-yajnah -- sacrificing one's possessions; tapah-yajnah -- sacrifice in austerities; yoga-yajnah -- sacrifice in eightfold mysticism; tatha -- thus; apare -- others; svadhyaya -- sacrifice in the study of the Vedas; jnana-yajnah -- sacrifice in advancement of transcendental knowledge; ca -- also; yatayah -- enlightened persons; samsita-vratah -- taken to strict vows.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nHaving accepted strict vows, some become enlightened by sacrificing their possessions, and others by performing severe austerities, by practicing the yoga of eightfold mysticism, or by studying the Vedas to advance in transcendental knowledge.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThese 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 dharma-sala, anna-kshetra, atithi-sala, anathalaya and vidya-pitha. 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 or 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 ashtanga-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 Upanishads 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. Krishna consciousness, however, is different from these because it is the direct service of the Supreme Lord. Krishna consciousness cannot be attained by any one of the above-mentioned types of sacrifice but can be attained only by the mercy of the Lord and His bona fide devotees. Therefore, Krishna consciousness is transcendental.

apane juhvati pranam\nprane 'panam tathapare\npranapana-gati ruddhva\npranayama-parayanah\napare niyataharah\npranan praneshu juhvati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\napane -- in the air which acts downward; juhvati -- offer; pranam -- the air which acts outward; prane -- in the air going outward; apanam -- the air going downward; tatha -- as also; apare -- others; prana -- of the air going outward; apana -- and the air going downward; gati -- the movement; ruddhva -- checking; prana-ayama -- trance induced by stopping all breathing; parayanah -- so inclined; apare -- others; niyata -- having controlled; aharah -- eating; pranan -- the outgoing air; praneshu -- in the outgoing air; juhvati -- sacrifice.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nStill others, who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to remain in trance, practice by offering the movement of the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Others, curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself as a sacrifice.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThis 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 airs within the body so as to reverse the directions of their passage. 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. Offering the exhaled breath into the inhaled breath is called recaka. When both air currents are completely stopped, one is said to be in kumbhaka-yoga. By practice of kumbhaka-yoga. one can increase the duration of life for perfection in spiritual realization. The intelligent yogi is interested in attaining perfection in one life, without waiting for the next. For by practicing kumbhaka-yoga. the yogis increase the duration of life by many, many years. A Krishna 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 Krishna, have no chance of becoming otherwise engaged. So at the end of life, he is naturally transferred to the transcendental plane of Lord Krishna; consequently he makes no attempt to increase his longevity. He is at once raised to the platform of liberation, as stated in Bhagavad-gita (14.26):\n\nmam ca yo 'vyabhicarena\nbhakti-yogena sevate\nsa gunan samatityaitan\nbrahma-bhuyaya kalpate\n\n"One who engages in unalloyed devotional service to the Lord transcends the modes of material nature and is immediately elevated to the spiritual platform." A Krishna 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 krishna-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.

sarve 'py ete yajna-vido\nyajna-kshapita-kalmashah\nyajna-sishtamrita-bhujo\nyanti brahma sanatanam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsarve -- all; api -- although apparently different; ete -- these; yajna-vidah -- conversant with the purpose of performing sacrifices; yajna-kshapita -- being cleansed as the result of such performances; kalmashah -- of sinful reactions; yajna-sishta -- of the result of such performances of yajna; amrita-bhujah -- those who have tasted such nectar; yanti -- do approach; brahma -- the supreme; sanatanam -- eternal atmosphere.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAll these performers who know the meaning of sacrifice become cleansed of sinful reactions, and, having tasted the nectar of the results of sacrifices, they advance toward the supreme eternal atmosphere.\n\nPURPORT\n\nFrom the foregoing explanation of different 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, not only does one become 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, Krishna.

nayam loko 'sty ayajnasya\nkuto 'nyah kuru-sattama\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; ayam -- this; lokah -- planet; asti -- there is; ayajnasya -- for one who performs no sacrifice; kutah -- where is; anyah -- the other; kuru-sat-tama -- O best amongst the Kurus.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO best of the Kuru dynasty, without sacrifice one can never live happily on this planet or in this life: what then of the next?\n\nPURPORT\n\nWhatever 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 even in this body, and what to speak of another body on another planet? 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 Krishna consciousness. A life of Krishna consciousness is therefore the solution to all the problems of material existence.

evam bahu-vidha yajna\nvitata brahmano mukhe\nkarma-jan viddhi tan sarvan\nevam jnatva vimokshyase\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nevam -- thus; bahu-vidhah -- various kinds of; yajnah -- sacrifices; vitatah -- are spread; brahmanah -- of the Vedas; mukhe -- through the mouth; karma-jan -- born of work; viddhi -- you should know; tan -- them; sarvan -- all; evam -- thus; jnatva -- knowing; vimokshyase -- you will be liberated.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAll 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nDifferent 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, with the mind, or with 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.

sreyan dravya-mayad yajnaj\njnana-yajnah parantapa\nsarvam karmakhilam partha\njnane parisamapyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsreyan -- greater; dravya-mayat -- of material possessions; yajnat -- than the sacrifice; jnana-yajnah -- sacrifice in knowledge; parantapa -- O chastiser of the enemy; sarvam -- all; karma -- activities; akhilam -- in totality; partha -- O son of Pritha; jnane -- in knowledge; parisamapyate -- end.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nO chastiser of the enemy, the sacrifice performed in knowledge is better than the mere sacrifice of material possessions. After all, O son of Pritha, all sacrifices of work culminate in transcendental knowledge.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe 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 (Krishna 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 Krishna 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.

sri-bhagavan uvaca\nsannyasah karma-yogas ca\nnihsreyasa-karav ubhau\ntayos tu karma-sannyasat\nkarma-yogo visishyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Personality of Godhead said; sannyasah -- renunciation of work; karma-yogah -- work in devotion; ca -- also; nihsreyasa-karau -- leading to the path of liberation; ubhau -- both; tayoh -- of the two; tu -- but; karma-sannyasat -- in comparison to the renunciation of fruitive work; karma-yogah -- work in devotion; visishyate -- is better.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe Personality of Godhead replied: The renunciation of work and work in devotion are both good for liberation. But, of the two, work in devotional service is better than renunciation of work.\n\nPURPORT\n\nFruitive activities (seeking sense gratification) are cause for material bondage. As long as one is engaged in activities aimed at improving the standard of bodily comfort, one is sure to transmigrate to different types of bodies, thereby continuing material bondage perpetually. Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.4-6) confirms this as follows:\n\nnunam pramattah kurute vikarma\nyad indriya-pritaya aprinoti\nna sadhu manye yata atmano 'yam\nasann api klesa-da asa dehah\n\nparabhavas tavad abodha-jato\nyavan na jijnasata atma-tattvam\nyavat kriyas tavad idam mano vai\nkarmatmakam yena sarira-bandhah\n\nevam manah karma-vasam prayunkte\navidyayatmany upadhiyamane\npritir na yavan mayi vasudeve\nna mucyate deha-yogena tavat\n\n"People are mad after sense gratification, and they do not know that this present body, which is full of miseries, is a result of one's fruitive activities in the past. Although this body is temporary, it is always giving one trouble in many ways. Therefore, to act for sense gratification is not good. One is considered to be a failure in life as long as he makes no inquiry about his real identity. As long as he does not know his real identity, he has to work for fruitive results for sense gratification, and as long as one is engrossed in the consciousness of sense gratification one has to transmigrate from one body to another. Although the mind may be engrossed in fruitive activities and influenced by ignorance, one must develop a love for devotional service to Vasudeva. Only then can one have the opportunity to get out of the bondage of material existence."\n\nTherefore, jnana (or knowledge that one is not this material body but spirit soul) is not sufficient for liberation. One has to act in the status of spirit soul, otherwise there is no escape from material bondage. Action in Krishna consciousness is not, however, action on the fruitive platform. Activities performed in full knowledge strengthen one's advancement in real knowledge. Without Krishna consciousness, mere renunciation of fruitive activities does not actually purify the heart of a conditioned soul. As long as the heart is not purified, one has to work on the fruitive platform. But action in Krishna consciousness automatically helps one escape the result of fruitive action so that one need not descend to the material platform. Therefore action in Krishna consciousness is always superior to renunciation, which always entails a risk of falling. Renunciation without Krishna consciousness is incomplete, as is confirmed by Srila Rupa Gosvami in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (1.2.258):\n\nprapancikataya buddhya\nhari-sambandhi-vastunah\nmumukshubhih parityago\nvairagyam phalgu kathyate\n\n"When persons eager to achieve liberation renounce things related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinking them to be material, their renunciation is called incomplete." Renunciation is complete when it is in the knowledge that everything in existence belongs to the Lord and that no one should claim proprietorship over anything. One should understand that, factually, nothing belongs to anyone. Then where is the question of renunciation? One who knows that everything is Krishna's property is always situated in renunciation. Since everything belongs to Krishna, everything should be employed in the service of Krishna. This perfect form of action in Krishna consciousness is far better than any amount of artificial renunciation by a sannyasi of the Mayavadi school.

tad viddhi pranipatena\npariprasnena sevaya\nupadekshyanti te jnanam\njnaninas tattva-darsinah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntat -- that knowledge of different sacrifices; viddhi -- try to understand; pranipatena -- by approaching a spiritual master; pariprasnena -- by submissive inquiries; sevaya -- by the rendering of service; upadekshyanti -- they will initiate; te -- you; jnanam -- into knowledge; jnaninah -- the self-realized; tattva -- of the truth; darsinah -- seers.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nJust try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe 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 (6.3.19) says, dharmam tu sakshad bhagavat-pranitam: the path of religion is directly enunciated by the Lord. Therefore, mental speculation or dry arguments cannot help lead one to the right path. Nor by independent study of books of knowledge can 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. Not only should one 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.

yaj jnatva na punar moham\nevam yasyasi pandava\nyena bhutany aseshani\ndrakshyasy atmany atho mayi\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyat -- which; jnatva -- knowing; na -- never; punah -- again; moham -- to illusion; evam -- like this; yasyasi -- you shall go; pandava -- O son of Pandu; yena -- by which; bhutani -- living entities; aseshani -- all; drakshyasi -- you will see; atmani -- in the Supreme Soul; atha u -- or in other words; mayi -- in Me.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nHaving obtained real knowledge from a self-realized soul, you will never fall again into such illusion, for by this knowledge you will see that all living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, that they are Mine.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe 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 Krishna. The sense of an existence separate from Krishna is called maya (ma -- not, ya -- this). Some think that we have nothing to do with Krishna, that Krishna 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 Krishna. Krishna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the cause of everything. In the Brahma-samhita it is clearly stated that Krishna 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 Krishna. The Mayavadi philosophers wrongly think that Krishna 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.\n\nFor want of sufficient knowledge in the absolute science, we are now covered with illusion, and therefore we think that we are separate from Krishna. Although we are separated parts of Krishna, 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 Krishna. By maya alone Arjuna thought that the temporary bodily relationship with his kinsmen was more important than his eternal spiritual relationship with Krishna. The whole teaching of the Gita is targeted toward this end: that a living being, as Krishna's eternal servitor, cannot be separated from Krishna, and his sense of being an identity apart from Krishna 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 Krishna 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 Krishna. Perfect knowledge is that the Supreme Soul, Krishna, 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 Krishna. When, however, such deluded living entities become situated in Krishna consciousness, it is to be understood that they are on the path of liberation, as confirmed in the Bhagavatam (2.10.6): muktir hitvanyatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih. Liberation means to be situated in one's constitutional position as an eternal servitor of Krishna (Krishna consciousness).

api ced asi papebhyah\nsarvebhyah papa-krit-tamah\nsarvam jnana-plavenaiva\nvrijinam santarishyasi\n\nSYNONYMS\n\napi -- even; cet -- if; asi -- you are; papebhyah -- of sinners; sarvebhyah -- of all; papa-krit-tamah -- the greatest sinner; sarvam -- all such sinful reactions; jnana-plavena -- by the boat of transcendental knowledge; eva -- certainly; vrijinam -- the ocean of miseries; santarishyasi -- you will cross completely.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nEven 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nProper understanding of one's constitutional position in relationship to Krishna 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 Krishna consciousness is very simple, but at the same time the most sublime.\n\n

yathaidhamsi samiddho 'gnir\nbhasma-sat kurute 'rjuna\njnanagnih sarva-karmani\nbhasma-sat kurute tatha\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyatha -- just as; edhamsi -- firewood; samiddhah -- blazing; agnih -- fire; bhasma-sat -- ashes; kurute -- turns; arjuna -- O Arjuna; jnana-agnih -- the fire of knowledge; sarva-karmani -- all reactions to material activities; bhasma-sat -- to ashes; kurute -- it turns; tatha -- similarly.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nAs a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities.\n\nPURPORT\n\nPerfect 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 reactions, both a priori and a posteriori, are consumed. In the Vedas (Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad 4.4.22) it is stated, ubhe uhaivaisha ete taraty amritah sadhv-asadhuni: "One overcomes both the pious and impious reactions of work."

na hi jnanena sadrisam\npavitram iha vidyate\ntat svayam yoga-samsiddhah\nkalenatmani vindati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- nothing; hi -- certainly; jnanena -- with knowledge; sadrisam -- in comparison; pavitram -- sanctified; iha -- in this world; vidyate -- exists; tat -- that; svayam -- himself; yoga -- in devotion; samsiddhah -- he who is mature; kalena -- in course of time; atmani -- in himself; vindati -- enjoys.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nIn 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 become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in due course of time.\n\nPURPORT\n\nWhen 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 culminate in Krishna consciousness. That is the last word in the Bhagavad-gita.

sraddhaval labhate jnanam\ntat-parah samyatendriyah\njnanam labdhva param santim\nacirenadhigacchati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsraddha-van -- a faithful man; labhate -- achieves; jnanam -- knowledge; tat-parah -- very much attached to it; samyata -- controlled; indriyah -- senses; jnanam -- knowledge; labdhva -- having achieved; param -- transcendental; santim -- peace; acirena -- very soon; adhigacchati -- attains.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nA faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace.\n\nPURPORT\n\nSuch knowledge in Krishna consciousness can be achieved by a faithful person who believes firmly in Krishna. One is called a faithful man who thinks that simply by acting in Krishna consciousness he can attain the highest perfection. This faith is attained by the discharge of devotional service, and by chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, 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 Krishna and who controls the senses can easily attain perfection in the knowledge of Krishna consciousness without delay.

ajnas casraddadhanas ca\nsamsayatma vinasyati\nnayam loko 'sti na paro\nna sukham samsayatmanah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\najnah -- a fool who has no knowledge in standard scriptures; ca -- and; asraddadhanah -- without faith in revealed scriptures; ca -- also; samsaya -- of doubts; atma -- a person; vinasyati -- falls back; na -- never; ayam -- in this; lokah -- world; asti -- there is; na -- nor; parah -- in the next life; na -- not; sukham -- happiness; samsaya -- doubtful; atmanah -- of the person.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nBut ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.\n\nPURPORT\n\nOut 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 Krishna. Such persons cannot have any standing in Krishna consciousness. They fall down. Out of all the above-mentioned 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.

yoga-sannyasta-karmanam\njnana-sanchinna-samsayam\natmavantam na karmani\nnibadhnanti dhananjaya\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyoga -- by devotional service in karma-yoga; sannyasta -- one who has renounced; karmanam -- the fruits of actions; jnana -- by knowledge; sanchinna -- cut; samsayam -- doubts; atma-vantam -- situated in the self; na -- never; karmani -- works; nibadhnanti -- do bind; dhananjaya -- O conqueror of riches.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who acts in devotional service, renouncing the fruits of his actions, and whose doubts have been destroyed by transcendental knowledge, is situated factually in the self. Thus he is not bound by the reactions of work, O conqueror of riches.\n\nPURPORT\n\nOne who follows the instruction of the Bhagavad-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 Krishna consciousness, is already established in self-knowledge. As such, he is undoubtedly above bondage to action.

tasmad ajnana-sambhutam\nhrit-stham jnanasinatmanah\nchittvainam samsayam yogam\natishthottishtha bharata\n\nSYNONYMS\n\ntasmat -- therefore; ajnana-sambhutam -- born of ignorance; hrit-stham -- situated in the heart; jnana -- of knowledge; asina -- by the weapon; atmanah -- of the self; chittva -- cutting off; enam -- this; samsayam -- doubt; yogam -- in yoga; atishtha -- be situated; uttishtha -- stand up to fight; bharata -- O descendant of Bharata.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nTherefore 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.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe 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 Bhagavad-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 can easily understand 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 Krishna consciousness. Krishna 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 forgoing 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 Krishna 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 Bhagavad-gita.

arjuna uvaca\nsannyasam karmanam krishna\npunar yogam ca samsasi\nyac chreya etayor ekam\ntan me bruhi su-niscitam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\narjunah uvaca -- Arjuna said; sannyasam -- renunciation; karmanam -- of all activities; krishna -- O Krishna; punah -- again; yogam -- devotional service; ca -- also; samsasi -- You are praising; yat -- which; sreyah -- is more beneficial; etayoh -- of these two; ekam -- one; tat -- that; me -- unto me; bruhi -- please tell; su-niscitam -- definitely.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nArjuna said: O Krishna, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial?\n\nPURPORT\n\nIn this Fifth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says that work in devotional service is better than dry mental speculation. Devotional service is easier than the latter because, being transcendental in nature, it frees one from reaction. In the Second Chapter, preliminary knowledge of the soul and its entanglement in the material body were explained. How to get out of this material encagement by buddhi-yoga, or devotional service, was also explained therein. In the Third Chapter, it was explained that a person who is situated on the platform of knowledge no longer has any duties to perform. And in the Fourth Chapter the Lord told Arjuna that all kinds of sacrificial work culminate in knowledge. However, at the end of the Fourth Chapter, the Lord advised Arjuna to wake up and fight, being situated in perfect knowledge. Therefore, by simultaneously stressing the importance of both work in devotion and inaction in knowledge, Krishna has perplexed Arjuna and confused his determination. Arjuna understands that renunciation in knowledge involves cessation of all kinds of work performed as sense activities. But if one performs work in devotional service, then how is work stopped? In other words, he thinks that sannyasa, or renunciation in knowledge, should be altogether free from all kinds of activity, because work and renunciation appear to him to be incompatible. He appears not to have understood that work in full knowledge is nonreactive and is therefore the same as inaction. He inquires, therefore, whether he should cease work altogether or work with full knowledge.

jneyah sa nitya-sannyasi\nyo na dveshti na kankshati\nnirdvandvo hi maha-baho\nsukham bandhat pramucyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\njneyah -- should be known; sah -- he; nitya -- always; sannyasi -- renouncer; yah -- who; na -- never; dveshti -- abhors; na -- nor; kankshati -- desires; nirdvandvah -- free from all dualities; hi -- certainly; maha-baho -- O mighty-armed one; sukham -- happily; bandhat -- from bondage; pramucyate -- is completely liberated.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, free from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty-armed Arjuna.\n\nPURPORT\n\nOne who is fully in Krishna consciousness is always a renouncer because he feels neither hatred nor desire for the results of his actions. Such a renouncer, dedicated to the transcendental loving service of the Lord, is fully qualified in knowledge because he knows his constitutional position in his relationship with Krishna. He knows fully well that Krishna is the whole and that he is part and parcel of Krishna. Such knowledge is perfect because it is qualitatively and quantitatively correct. The concept of oneness with Krishna is incorrect because the part cannot be equal to the whole. Knowledge that one is one in quality yet different in quantity is correct transcendental knowledge leading one to become full in himself, having nothing to aspire to or lament over. There is no duality in his mind because whatever he does, he does for Krishna. Being thus freed from the platform of dualities, he is liberated -- even in this material world.

sankhya-yogau prithag balah\npravadanti na panditah\nekam apy asthitah samyag\nubhayor vindate phalam\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsankhya -- analytical study of the material world; yogau -- work in devotional service; prithak -- different; balah -- the less intelligent; pravadanti -- say; na -- never; panditah -- the learned; ekam -- in one; api -- even; asthitah -- being situated; samyak -- complete; ubhayoh -- of both; vindate -- enjoys; phalam -- the result.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOnly the ignorant speak of devotional service [karma-yoga] as being different from the analytical study of the material world [Sankhya]. Those who are actually learned say that he who applies himself well to one of these paths achieves the results of both.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe aim of the analytical study of the material world is to find the soul of existence. The soul of the material world is Vishnu, or the Supersoul. Devotional service to the Lord entails service to the Supersoul. One process is to find the root of the tree, and the other is to water the root. The real student of Sankhya philosophy finds the root of the material world, Vishnu, and then, in perfect knowledge, engages himself in the service of the Lord. Therefore, in essence, there is no difference between the two because the aim of both is Vishnu. Those who do not know the ultimate end say that the purposes of Sankhya and karma-yoga are not the same, but one who is learned knows the unifying aim in these different processes.

yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam\ntad yogair api gamyate\nekam sankhyam ca yogam ca\nyah pasyati sa pasyati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyat -- what; sankhyaih -- by means of Sankhya philosophy; prapyate -- is achieved; sthanam -- place; tat -- that; yogaih -- by devotional service; api -- also; gamyate -- one can attain; ekam -- one; sankhyam -- analytical study; ca -- and; yogam -- action in devotion; ca -- and; yah -- one who; pasyati -- sees; sah -- he; pasyati -- actually sees.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who knows that the position reached by means of analytical study can also be attained by devotional service, and who therefore sees analytical study and devotional service to be on the same level, sees things as they are.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe real purpose of philosophical research is to find the ultimate goal of life. Since the ultimate goal of life is self-realization, there is no difference between the conclusions reached by the two processes. By Sankhya philosophical research one comes to the conclusion that a living entity is not a part and parcel of the material world but of the supreme spirit whole. Consequently, the spirit soul has nothing to do with the material world; his actions must be in some relation with the Supreme. When he acts in Krishna consciousness, he is actually in his constitutional position. In the first process, Sankhya, one has to become detached from matter, and in the devotional yoga process one has to attach himself to the work of Krishna consciousness. Factually, both processes are the same, although superficially one process appears to involve detachment and the other process appears to involve attachment. Detachment from matter and attachment to Krishna are one and the same. One who can see this sees things as they are.

sannyasas tu maha-baho\nduhkham aptum ayogatah\nyoga-yukto munir brahma\nna cirenadhigacchati\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsannyasah -- the renounced order of life; tu -- but; maha-baho -- O mighty-armed one; duhkham -- distress; aptum -- afflicts one with; ayogatah -- without devotional service; yoga-yuktah -- one engaged in devotional service; munih -- a thinker; brahma -- the Supreme; na cirena -- without delay; adhigacchati -- attains.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nMerely renouncing all activities yet not engaging in the devotional service of the Lord cannot make one happy. But a thoughtful person engaged in devotional service can achieve the Supreme without delay.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThere are two classes of sannyasis, or persons in the renounced order of life. The Mayavadi sannyasis are engaged in the study of Sankhya philosophy, whereas the Vaishnava sannyasis are engaged in the study of Bhagavatam philosophy, which affords the proper commentary on the Vedanta-sutras. The Mayavadi sannyasis also study the Vedanta-sutras, but use their own commentary, called Sariraka-bhashya, written by Sankaracarya. The students of the Bhagavata school are engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, according to pancaratriki regulations, and therefore the Vaishnava sannyasis have multiple engagements in the transcendental service of the Lord. The Vaishnava sannyasis have nothing to do with material activities, and yet they perform various activities in their devotional service to the Lord. But the Mayavadi sannyasis, engaged in the studies of Sankhya and Vedanta and speculation, cannot relish the transcendental service of the Lord. Because their studies become very tedious, they sometimes become tired of Brahman speculation, and thus they take shelter of the Bhagavatam without proper understanding. Consequently their study of the Srimad-Bhagavatam becomes troublesome. Dry speculations and impersonal interpretations by artificial means are all useless for the Mayavadi sannyasis. The Vaishnava sannyasis, who are engaged in devotional service, are happy in the discharge of their transcendental duties, and they have the guarantee of ultimate entrance into the kingdom of God. The Mayavadi sannyasis sometimes fall down from the path of self-realization and again enter into material activities of a philanthropic and altruistic nature, which are nothing but material engagements. Therefore, the conclusion is that those who are engaged in Krishna conscious activities are better situated than the sannyasis engaged in simple speculation about what is Brahman and what is not Brahman, although they too come to Krishna consciousness, after many births.

yoga-yukto visuddhatma\nvijitatma jitendriyah\nsarva-bhutatma-bhutatma\nkurvann api na lipyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyoga-yuktah -- engaged in devotional service; visuddha-atma -- a purified soul; vijita-atma -- self-controlled; jita-indriyah -- having conquered the senses; sarva-bhuta -- to all living entities; atma-bhuta-atma -- compassionate; kurvan api -- although engaged in work; na -- never; lipyate -- is entangled.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him. Though always working, such a man is never entangled.\n\nPURPORT\n\nOne who is on the path of liberation by Krishna consciousness is very dear to every living being, and every living being is dear to him. This is due to his Krishna consciousness. Such a person cannot think of any living being as separate from Krishna, just as the leaves and branches of a tree are not separate from the tree. He knows very well that by pouring water on the root of the tree, the water will be distributed to all the leaves and branches, or by supplying food to the stomach, the energy is automatically distributed throughout the body. Because one who works in Krishna consciousness is servant to all, he is very dear to everyone. And because everyone is satisfied by his work, he is pure in consciousness. Because he is pure in consciousness, his mind is completely controlled. And because his mind is controlled, his senses are also controlled. Because his mind is always fixed on Krishna, there is no chance of his being deviated from Krishna. Nor is there a chance that he will engage his senses in matters other than the service of the Lord. He does not like to hear anything except topics relating to Krishna; he does not like to eat anything which is not offered to Krishna; and he does not wish to go anywhere if Krishna is not involved. Therefore, his senses are controlled. A man of controlled senses cannot be offensive to anyone. One may ask, "Why then was Arjuna offensive (in battle) to others? Wasn't he in Krishna consciousness?" Arjuna was only superficially offensive because (as has already been explained in the Second Chapter) all the assembled persons on the battlefield would continue to live individually, as the soul cannot be slain. So, spiritually, no one was killed on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra. Only their dresses were changed by the order of Krishna, who was personally present. Therefore Arjuna, while fighting on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, was not really fighting at all; he was simply carrying out the orders of Krishna in full Krishna consciousness. Such a person is never entangled in the reactions of work.

naiva kincit karomiti\nyukto manyeta tattva-vit\npasyan srinvan sprisan jighrann\nasnan gacchan svapan svasan\n\npralapan visrijan grihnann\nunmishan nimishann api\nindriyanindriyartheshu\nvartanta iti dharayan\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; eva -- certainly; kincit -- anything; karomi -- I do; iti -- thus; yuktah -- engaged in the divine consciousness; manyeta -- thinks; tattva-vit -- one who knows the truth; pasyan -- seeing; srinvan -- hearing; sprisan -- touching; jighran -- smelling; asnan -- eating; gacchan -- going; svapan -- dreaming; svasan -- breathing; pralapan -- talking; visrijan -- giving up; grihnan -- accepting; unmishan -- opening; nimishan -- closing; api -- in spite of; indriyani -- the senses; indriya-artheshu -- in sense gratification; vartante -- let them be so engaged; iti -- thus; dharayan -- considering.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nA person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them.\n\nPURPORT\n\nA person in Krishna consciousness is pure in his existence, and consequently he has nothing to do with any work which depends upon five immediate and remote causes: the doer, the work, the situation, the endeavor and fortune. This is because he is engaged in the loving transcendental service of Krishna. Although he appears to be acting with his body and senses, he is always conscious of his actual position, which is spiritual engagement. In material consciousness, the senses are engaged in sense gratification, but in Krishna consciousness the senses are engaged in the satisfaction of Krishna's senses. Therefore, the Krishna conscious person is always free, even though he appears to be engaged in affairs of the senses. Activities such as seeing and hearing are actions of the senses meant for receiving knowledge, whereas moving, speaking, evacuating, etc., are actions of the senses meant for work. A Krishna conscious person is never affected by the actions of the senses. He cannot perform any act except in the service of the Lord because he knows that he is the eternal servitor of the Lord.

brahmany adhaya karmani\nsangam tyaktva karoti yah\nlipyate na sa papena\npadma-patram ivambhasa\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nbrahmani -- unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; adhaya -- resigning; karmani -- all works; sangam -- attachment; tyaktva -- giving up; karoti -- performs; yah -- who; lipyate -- is affected; na -- never; sah -- he; papena -- by sin; padma-patram -- a lotus leaf; iva -- like; ambhasa -- by the water.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nOne who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.\n\nPURPORT\n\nHere brahmani means in Krishna consciousness. The material world is a sum total manifestation of the three modes of material nature, technically called the pradhana. The Vedic hymns sarvam hy etad brahma (Mandukya Upanishad 2), tasmad etad brahma nama-rupam annam ca jayate (Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.10), and, in the Bhagavad-gita (14.3), mama yonir mahad brahma indicate that everything in the material world is a manifestation of Brahman; and although the effects are differently manifested, they are nondifferent from the cause. In the Isopanishad it is said that everything is related to the Supreme Brahman, or Krishna, and thus everything belongs to Him only. One who knows perfectly well that everything belongs to Krishna, that He is the proprietor of everything and that, therefore, everything is engaged in the service of the Lord, naturally has nothing to do with the results of his activities, whether virtuous or sinful. Even one's material body, being a gift of the Lord for carrying out a particular type of action, can be engaged in Krishna consciousness. It is then beyond contamination by sinful reactions, exactly as the lotus leaf, though remaining in the water, is not wet. The Lord also says in the Gita (3.30), mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya: "Resign all works unto Me [Krishna]." The conclusion is that a person without Krishna consciousness acts according to the concept of the material body and senses, but a person in Krishna consciousness acts according to the knowledge that the body is the property of Krishna and should therefore be engaged in the service of Krishna.

kayena manasa buddhya\nkevalair indriyair api\nyoginah karma kurvanti\nsangam tyaktvatma-suddhaye\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nkayena -- with the body; manasa -- with the mind; buddhya -- with the intelligence; kevalaih -- purified; indriyaih -- with the senses; api -- even; yoginah -- Krishna conscious persons; karma -- actions; kurvanti -- they perform; sangam -- attachment; tyaktva -- giving up; atma -- of the self; suddhaye -- for the purpose of purification.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe yogis, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification.\n\nPURPORT\n\nWhen one acts in Krishna consciousness for the satisfaction of the senses of Krishna, any action, whether of the body, mind, intelligence or even the senses, is purified of material contamination. There are no material reactions resulting from the activities of a Krishna conscious person. Therefore purified activities, which are generally called sad-acara, can be easily performed by acting in Krishna consciousness. Sri Rupa Gosvami in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (1.2.187) describes this as follows:\n\niha yasya harer dasye\nkarmana manasa gira\nnikhilasv apy avasthasu\njivan-muktah sa ucyate\n\n"A person acting in Krishna consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Krishna) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities." He has no false ego, for he does not believe that he is this material body, or that he possesses the body. He knows that he is not this body and that this body does not belong to him. He himself belongs to Krishna, and the body too belongs to Krishna. When he applies everything produced of the body, mind, intelligence, words, life, wealth, etc. -- whatever he may have within his possession -- to Krishna's service, he is at once dovetailed with Krishna. He is one with Krishna and is devoid of the false ego that leads one to believe that he is the body, etc. This is the perfect stage of Krishna consciousness.

yuktah karma-phalam tyaktva\nsantim apnoti naishthikim\nayuktah kama-karena\nphale sakto nibadhyate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nyuktah -- one who is engaged in devotional service; karma-phalam -- the results of all activities; tyaktva -- giving up; santim -- perfect peace; apnoti -- achieves; naishthikim -- unflinching; ayuktah -- one who is not in Krishna consciousness; kama-karena -- for enjoying the result of work; phale -- in the result; saktah -- attached; nibadhyate -- becomes entangled.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe difference between a person in Krishna consciousness and a person in bodily consciousness is that the former is attached to Krishna whereas the latter is attached to the results of his activities. The person who is attached to Krishna and works for Him only is certainly a liberated person, and he has no anxiety over the results of his work. In the Bhagavatam, the cause of anxiety over the result of an activity is explained as being one's functioning in the conception of duality, that is, without knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Krishna is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. In Krishna consciousness, there is no duality. All that exists is a product of Krishna's energy, and Krishna is all good. Therefore, activities in Krishna consciousness are on the absolute plane; they are transcendental and have no material effect. One is therefore filled with peace in Krishna consciousness. But one who is entangled in profit calculation for sense gratification cannot have that peace. This is the secret of Krishna consciousness -- realization that there is no existence besides Krishna is the platform of peace and fearlessness.

sarva-karmani manasa\nsannyasyaste sukham vasi\nnava-dvare pure dehi\nnaiva kurvan na karayan\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nsarva -- all; karmani -- activities; manasa -- by the mind; sannyasya -- giving up; aste -- remains; sukham -- in happiness; vasi -- one who is controlled; nava-dvare -- in the place where there are nine gates; pure -- in the city; dehi -- the embodied soul; na -- never; eva -- certainly; kurvan -- doing anything; na -- not; karayan -- causing to be done.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nWhen the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe embodied soul lives in the city of nine gates. The activities of the body, or the figurative city of body, are conducted automatically by its particular modes of nature. The soul, although subjecting himself to the conditions of the body, can be beyond those conditions, if he so desires. Owing only to forgetfulness of his superior nature, he identifies with the material body, and therefore suffers. By Krishna consciousness, he can revive his real position and thus come out of his embodiment. Therefore, when one takes to Krishna consciousness, one at once becomes completely aloof from bodily activities. In such a controlled life, in which his deliberations are changed, he lives happily within the city of nine gates. The nine gates are mentioned as follows:\n\nnava-dvare pure dehi\nhamso lelayate bahih\nvasi sarvasya lokasya\nsthavarasya carasya ca\n\n"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is living within the body of a living entity, is the controller of all living entities all over the universe. The body consists of nine gates [two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, the anus and the genitals]. The living entity in his conditioned stage identifies himself with the body, but when he identifies himself with the Lord within himself, he becomes just as free as the Lord, even while in the body." (Svetasvatara Upanishad 3.18)\n\nTherefore, a Krishna conscious person is free from both the outer and inner activities of the material body.

na kartritvam na karmani\nlokasya srijati prabhuh\nna karma-phala-samyogam\nsvabhavas tu pravartate\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; kartritvam -- proprietorship; na -- nor; karmani -- activities; lokasya -- of the people; srijati -- creates; prabhuh -- the master of the city of the body; na -- nor; karma-phala -- with the results of activities; samyogam -- connection; svabhavah -- the modes of material nature; tu -- but; pravartate -- act.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nThe embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe living entity, as will be explained in the Seventh Chapter, is one of the energies or natures of the Supreme Lord but is distinct from matter, which is another nature -- called inferior -- of the Lord. Somehow the superior nature, the living entity, has been in contact with material nature since time immemorial. The temporary body or material dwelling place which he obtains is the cause of varieties of activities and their resultant reactions. Living in such a conditional atmosphere, one suffers the results of the activities of the body by identifying himself (in ignorance) with the body. It is ignorance acquired from time immemorial that is the cause of bodily suffering and distress. As soon as the living entity becomes aloof from the activities of the body, he becomes free from the reactions as well. As long as he is in the city of body, he appears to be the master of it, but actually he is neither its proprietor nor controller of its actions and reactions. He is simply in the midst of the material ocean, struggling for existence. The waves of the ocean are tossing him, and he has no control over them. His best solution is to get out of the water by transcendental Krishna consciousness. That alone will save him from all turmoil.

nadatte kasyacit papam\nna caiva sukritam vibhuh\najnanenavritam jnanam\ntena muhyanti jantavah\n\nSYNONYMS\n\nna -- never; adatte -- accepts; kasyacit -- anyone's; papam -- sin; na -- nor; ca -- also; eva -- certainly; su-kritam -- pious activities; vibhuh -- the Supreme Lord; ajnanena -- by ignorance; avritam -- covered; jnanam -- knowledge; tena -- by that; muhyanti -- are bewildered; jantavah -- the living entities.\n\nTRANSLATION\n\nNor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone's sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.\n\nPURPORT\n\nThe Sanskrit word vibhu means the Supreme Lord who is full of unlimited knowledge, riches, strength, fame, beauty and renunciation. He is always satisfied in Himself, undisturbed by sinful or pious activities. He does not create a particular situation for any living entity, but the living entity, bewildered by ignorance, desires to be put into certain conditions of life, and thereby his chain of action and reaction begins. A living entity is, by superior nature, full of knowledge. Nevertheless, he is prone to be influenced by ignorance due to his limited power. The Lord is omnipotent, but the living entity is not. The Lord is vibhu, or omniscient, but the living entity is anu, or atomic. Because he is a living soul, he has the capacity to desire by his free will. Such desire is fulfilled only by the omnipotent Lord. And so, when the living entity is bewildered in his desires, the Lord allows him to fulfill those desires, but the Lord is never responsible for the actions and reactions of the particular situation which may be desired. Being in a bewildered condition, therefore, the embodied soul identifies himself with the circumstantial material body and becomes subjected to the temporary misery and happiness of life. The Lord is the constant companion of the living entity as Paramatma, or the Supersoul, and therefore He can understand the desires of the individual soul, as one can smell the flavor of a flower by being near it. Desire is a subtle form of conditioning for the living entity. The Lord fulfills his desire as he deserves: Man proposes and God disposes. The individual is not, therefore, omnipotent in fulfilling his desires. The Lord, however, can fulfill all desires, and the Lord, being neutral to everyone, does not interfere with the desires of the minute independent living entities. However, when one desires Krishna, the Lord takes special care and encourages one to desire in such a way that one can attain to Him and be eternally happy. The Vedic hymns therefore declare, esha u hy eva sadhu karma karayati tam yam ebhyo lokebhya unninishate. esha u evasadhu karma karayati yam adho ninishate: "The Lord engages the living entity in pious activities so that he may be elevated. The Lord engages him in impious activities so that he may go to hell." (Kaushitaki Upanishad 3.8)\n\najno jantur aniso 'yam\natmanah sukha-duhkhayoh\nisvara-prerito gacchet\nsvargam vasv abhram eva ca\n\n"The living entity is completely dependent in his distress and happiness. By the will of the Supreme he can go to heaven or hell, as a cloud is driven by the air."\n\nTherefore the embodied soul, by his immemorial desire to avoid Krishna consciousness, causes his own bewilderment. Consequently, although he is constitutionally eternal, blissful and cognizant, due to the littleness of his existence he forgets his constitutional position of service to the Lord and is thus entrapped by nescience. And, under the spell of ignorance, the living entity claims that the Lord is responsible for his conditional existence. The Vedanta-sutras (2.1.34) also confirm this. Vaishamya-nairghrinye na sapekshatvat tatha hi darsayati: "The Lord neither hates nor likes anyone, though He appears to."

jnanena tu tad ajnanam\nyesham nasitam atmanah\ntesham aditya-vaj jnanam\nprakasayati tat param\n\nSYNONYMS\n\njnanena -- by knowledge; tu -- but; tat -- that; ajnanam -- nescience; yesham -- whose; nasitam -- is destroyed; atmanah -- of the living entity; tesham -- their; aditya-vat -- like the rising sun; jnanam -- knowledge; prakasayati -- disclose