751001 - Lecture BG 02.11 - Mauritius

Lectures by Date, 1975

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this Lecture

751001BG-MAURITIUS - October 01, 1975 - 29:28 Minutes

Harikeśa: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Two, text 11. (leads chanting of verse, etc.)

śrī bhagavān uvāca

aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ

prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase

gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca

nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ

(BG 2.11)

Translation: "The Blessed Lord 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 the dead."

Prabhupāda:

śrī bhagavān uvāca

aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ

prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase

gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca

nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ

(BG 2.11)

This is the version of Kṛṣṇa in the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. So first of all it is said here, Vyāsadeva, the author . . . not author, the compiler who recorded the talks between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna and then put it systematically in a book form. So he says that bhagavān uvāca. Bhagavān means the Supreme Person. Just like in this meeting, amongst my students I am the supreme person, similarly, in the state there is a supreme person—the president or the prime minister—so everywhere you will find out one supreme person. Without a supreme person nothing can be managed, order-giving person. This is everlastingly existing, and you cannot avoid this. Even in Communist country they also have the supreme person, dictator. So taking the whole universal affair, the nature, how things are going on . . . the sun is rising early in the morning. It is setting exactly in due time. Then the moon is coming. Everyone in big, big planetary system, they are working very systematically. The astronomical calculation is so perfect that, they say, one ten-thousandth part of a second is also calculated. So accurately things are moving.

So in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, yac cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām (Bs. 5.52). The sun is the eye of all the planets. We have got eyes, but unless there is sunrise, what is the value of our eyes? We cannot see. We are very much proud of our eyes; we want to see everything. But we do not calculate the value of our eyes. Unless there is sunshine, we cannot see. At night, unless there is electricity or moonlight or some lamp, we cannot see. And still, we are very much proud of seeing. This is called illusion. We have no power. We are put under certain condition, then we work. Otherwise we cannot work. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni (BG 3.27). Prakṛti, material nature, puts us under certain condition, and we work accordingly, not independently. And the prakṛti, material nature, also working under somebody. Just like when you go on the street you see red light and green light. As soon as you see red light you stop your car. So this red light and green light is being manipulated by the police, and the police is working under government. Similarly, this whole material nature is acting like red light or green light, but behind that red light and green light there is the supreme brain. That is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So as a layman or as child cannot understand how the red light and blue light . . . green light is working . . . he sees simply, he thinks automatically it is being done. That is foolishness. It is not being automatically done. There is machine. There is manipulator behind this red light, this is intelligence. Anyone who is concluding that, "On the street the red light and green light is working automatically; there is no brain behind it," he's a rascal. Similarly, the whole material cosmic manifestation is working . . . even the big sun planet, it is also working under certain direction. Yac cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām. Without sunrise nobody can see, not only in this planet, in other planets also. Sakala-grahāṇām.

So this sun planet is so important . . . day and night, year and millions of years—everything is being calculated on the solar system. So this powerful planet is described as the eyes of everyone. Without sunshine nobody can see. Yac cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā. It is to be considered as the king of all planets, rājā, sakala-grahāṇām. All the planets, they are moving, rotating on the heat of the sun, heat and light, and they are working on the light of the sun. Sun is so important. Everything is described in the Vedic literature. So that sun also—working under somebody's direction. Yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. The sun is rotating in the orbit at the speed of sixteen thousand miles per second by the order of somebody. That is Govinda. Yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.

So this is knowledge. This is knowledge. So the Supreme Person is Bhagavān. Bhaga means six kinds of opulences: the richest, the most powerful, the wisest, the most beautiful and the most influential, and the most renounced at the same time. Just like this whole cosmic manifestation is created by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but you will not find Him here. Disinterested. Many millions of universes are working by His will, but He is not interested. The example is just like a big capitalist. He has got many factories, and if you go to the factory—there is a Tata factory, iron factory—you will find huge factories going on, but Mr. Tata is not there. Things are going on. Similarly, all cosmic manifestation going on, it is under the will of Kṛṣṇa. But He is not present here.

That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni (BG 9.4): "Everything is resting on Me." Any factory, every worker knows that the whole factory function resting on that supreme person. He knows that. So actually fact is that mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni nāhaṁ teṣu avasthitaḥ: "But I am not there. I am not there." Similarly, Bhagavān means that. Under His will, under His power, everything is working so nicely, systematically, but if you want to see God, Kṛṣṇa, you cannot see Him. He is not there. He is in Goloka Vṛndāvana. But His influence is so extensive that even without His personal presence, things are going on so nicely. This is called Bhagavān. Bhagavān means this.

So here in this Bhagavad-gītā, that Bhagavān is giving you knowledge. So how much perfect it is, you have to consider. Vyāsadeva could have said śrī-vyāsadeva uvāca. No. Bhagavān uvāca, so authoritative. So whatever He says, there cannot be any change. It is all perfect. Unfortunately we rascals, we do not take Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We want to change it according to our whims. This rascal havoc has ruined the whole world. Otherwise, if they would have preached Bhagavad-gītā as it is, the world situation would have been different. Everything would have been in order, tranquility, peace, and everybody would have been prosperous. But the rascals will not do that. That is the defect.

Therefore our tiny effort is how to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is. This is our mission. If we take . . . even now, in this distorted condition of the world, if we accept Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then still we will be benefited. There is no doubt about it. Therefore our appeal is that throughout the whole world people should come, try to understand Bhagavad-gītā, and set up examples and do the needful. Then everything will be peaceful. This is the peace formula. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram, suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānam (BG 5.29). Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānam. Suhṛt means well-wisher. Well-wisher. Here is the supreme well-wisher. He wants, Kṛṣṇa wants that wherever you live, you live peacefully and happily; therefore He is called suhṛt. He is desiring everyone's happiness. Therefore He comes Himself to advise, to instruct how to live, how to follow His instruction, and He leaves these behind Him such books as Bhagavad-gītā, and He sends His representative occasionally to revive our consciousness.

This business is going on, not only in the human society, even in the animal society. Anywhere, even in demigod society, things are going on like that. Therefore we should know, whatever Bhagavān says, there cannot be any mistake, any illusion, any cheating or any imperfectness. Then it will be very nice. And that is the fact. The word used, bhagavān uvāca, means this instruction is neither mistaken nor illusion nor cheating nor imperfect. Whatever we teach, we speak, we conditioned soul . . . as I said, that we are very much proud of our eyes, but we cannot see without sunrise . . . we cannot see without electricity. But that is our defect. We are possessing everything defective, still we are proud, "We are perfect." That is cheating. We are not perfect. But Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavān, is not like that. If we think Kṛṣṇa is also like us, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīm . . . (BG 9.11). Because He teaches exactly like a human being, He appears, therefore we think, "Oh, He may be little more intelligent than me. After all, He is like me." No. He is Bhagavān. We have to understand.

So the problem was that Arjuna was not willing to fight, considering his family members as not to be killed. Nobody, of course, should like to kill his family members, so that was natural. But this family relationship or national relationship, community relationship, this is due to this body. I accept somebody as my brother because he has got the body from the same father from whom I have got this body. But the body is by-product of the father's body. So this bodily relationship is material. Material means outward, external. It is not real relationship. The father is a soul, I am soul, my brother is a soul, so we are related on the spiritual platform in relationship with God because soul is not matter. Our material father is . . . material father means we see the material body. We do not see the soul of the father, neither the father sees the soul of the son. Everyone, under illusion, we are simply seeing the body and accepting as kinsman.

So this illusion was to be removed by Kṛṣṇa, and therefore He said, aśocyān anvaśocas tvam (BG 2.11): "You are lamenting over the body. Oh, it is very regrettable. You are lamenting." Aśocyān anvaśocaḥ. What is this body? It is simply lump of matter. As soon as the soul is out of this body, what is the value of this lump of matter? It will be thrown in the street, and somebody will kick on the face. Nobody will care. Nobody will care. But so long the soul is there, if you touch the hair even—"Why you are touching my hair?" But when the soul is not there, on the same face, if somebody kicks, nobody will care. This is the position of the body. Therefore it is said, aśocyān. "It is garbage. Why you are lamenting on this garbage?" Aśocyān anvaśocas tvam (BG 2.11). "You are talking, very learned man that, 'If I kill my brothers the . . . my brothers' wives will be widow, and there will be prostitution, and then the whole family will go to ruin.' These are all external condition."

He . . . this is real education, that "You are thinking on terms of the body; therefore it is not very important subject matter." Real subject matter—what will happen to the soul—that is real, important. But whole world, they do not know what is the important platform. All rascals, they are concerned with this body. That is not wonderful, that is natural. Even if we know, still, if there is some bodily pain we become very much disturbed. But we should know, always remember, that, "I am not this body." The same example, that I have got a very nice car, Rolls-Royce car, I have got attachment, that is all right, but we should know always that, "I am not this Rolls-Royce car. I am different from it." This is knowledge. I may have some attachment for my car. That is natural. I have paid for it. I like it. But in spite of all these consideration I am not the Rolls-Royce car. The Rolls-Royce car is a lump of matter. I am using it. Similarly, we should always remember that "I am using this material body for my transaction, different transaction, but I am not this material body."

But a devotee, he uses this material body, utilizes it properly. Just like we are also going by aeroplane, by motorcar, but we have no concern with the . . . I have come to your country by aeroplane not to see your country. I have come for Kṛṣṇa's business: to see if I can induce you to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise we have no concern with this aeroplane or motorcar or anything. We take advantage. Similarly, when we take advantage of this body for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then it is very nice. Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe (Brs. 1.2.255). That is also renouncement. He has no attachment, he simply uses things. Then that thing becomes spiritual. Actually it is spiritual, and when it is not used for spiritual purpose or Kṛṣṇa's purpose, it is material, the same thing. What is the difference between material and spiritual? That is, a picture is there. There are so many pictures. People may say that, "Here is the same picture. Why these people are worshiping and offering ārati and chanting?" But this picture is spiritual because it enhances or enthuses a spiritual consciousness. Therefore it is spiritual. Of course, it is not very easy to understand immediately, but on the ultimate issue, everything is created by Kṛṣṇa, or God, so by seeing everything, if you remember Kṛṣṇa, then that is spiritual. That is spiritual.

So anyway, for ordinary man this does not happen. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that, "You are lamenting for the body. Oh, it is very astonishing. And you are talking like a very learned man." Everyone you will find talking, very learned man. He knows something, but ask him, "What you are?" "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Mr. Such-and-such," "I am father of such and such." This is bodily. However great he may be, he is identified with the body. And according to śāstra, so long we shall identify with this body, we are no better than the cats and dogs, because they also identify with the body. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11). "Why? I am wrong?" Yes. Because gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca. The body, whether with the soul or without the soul, it is material.

So, so long even the soul is there, we should not be very much interested with the bodily comforts. We should be interested how to make progress in spiritual consciousness. And general people, they are simply engaged to get bodily comforts. The whole world is going on, the material civilization means bodily comfort. They are increasing their activities how to . . . they take it as civilization that to increase the bodily comforts of life. That is their idea. But they do not know that even if we are able to increase to the largest extent our bodily comfort, the body will not exist. It will die. But we do not see to that, that "Never mind we shall die. So long we live . . ." Yāvad jīvet sukhaṁ jīvet (Cārvāka Muni). "So long we live, let us live very happily."

So it is a great science. They do not know that . . . you may think that you are living very happily, but you have to change this body, and that body may not be very happy. That they do not know. This is ignorance, moha. Mohitaṁ nābhijānāti (BG 7.13). Being bewildered by the three modes of material nature, they do not know what is the actual fact. Therefore we have to learn from the perfect person, Kṛṣṇa, what is this position. Here it is said that aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānu . . . (BG 2.11) "This is not the subject matter of eulogizing or lamenting. The subject matter should be different. That is soul." Then He will explain, next verse.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Haribol! (end)